Chapter one Response
There’s not a lot to really talk about in chapter one. It’s
a setup chapter, explaining the basics of genre, different types of genres,
rhetoric, appeals, media, etc., yadda. It’s more of a toolkit than anything
else, but there were a couple bits that caught my notice. On page 5, you have
this:
Before digital composing, writers
who wanted to record their thoughts wrote with a pen in a journal or diary, in
a physical notebook. Then blogs were created.
The thing here is that in a chapter talking about multiple
media types, visual aids, audio, even pill collages, there’s the above line,
just sitting there. In caveman times, we
wrote with PENS in NOTEBOOKS, then blogs were created, (Angelic Chorus sings here). It’s like
typewriters, tape recorders, video cameras, all media and media creation tools
that predate blogs never existed. First pens, then blogs. More amusing, it just
leaves blogs hanging there. Dangling with no reason as to why all writers everywhere jumped
to them. As best I can tell, the book exists in the same world as Twitter, yet
doesn't jump from pen to tweets. It’s curious, and I wonder at why that
part was written that way.
The same curiosity applies to the paragraphs on Annie Burton’s
memoirs (pg. 6-7). The book initially fobs off Burton’s choice of memoir
primarily on popularity. This is kind of weird, because a paragraph or so
later, the book talks about Burton’s story in a way that shows a memoir to be
the only method that made sense for the story she wanted to tell. It also shows
a touch of ignorance at how information spread in the early days of the 20th
century. Lots of books were published in Boston and read in Chicago, Dallas,
and other places. Trains existed, and were used rather heavily. The
Transcontinental Railroad (U.S. version) had opened in 1869, four years after
the end of the Civil War, and a primary purpose of railroads was mail/package
delivery. It
was an extensive, effective system.
As a first chapter goes, it’s not bad, but it's a bit disjointed, and could use more pathos and less logos.
I agree with what you are saying about the toolbox. The first chapter does give us every tool we would need to write about any kind of genre in any platform style. It is funny to think about writers no longer actually WRITING their thoughts out on paper, but instead typing them on a computer. Whenever I think of a writer I always think about Annie Dillard's "The Writing Life." In the book she talks about going to a remote island and locking herself in some sort of cabin for days at a time in order to write something good for her books, but even then I think she brought along a type writer.
ReplyDeleteI think the toolbox description of the chapter is really well done. We learn about how to write in different styles to a wide array of audiences. I agree with the sentiment that the first chapter wasn't bad. I personally was rather bored with it but I've seen much worse. The way we write seems to have changed so much from a candlelit room and an ink quill to someone sitting at a computer typing a stream of consciousness.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your stance on the books approach to Annie Burton's Memoirs. I feel like it really only focused on the fact that it was a memoir and it acted like that the other genre's were never used. I feel like they could've expanded upon the other genre's that were utilized during that time like posters being used in the visual genre. I think it would've been cool if you dived into the use of comics in genre's but you blog really stood out and it shows me how critically prepared you are.
ReplyDeleteI have a few comments on the last large paragraph of your response. Firstly, I don't believe the chapter ever implies that a memoir is the only genre that makes sense for Burton's story. The authors simply describe the components of Burton's work that allow them to conclude that the work is in fact a memoir. I am confused by your claim that the chapter shows ignorance about the spread of information. What part of the section on Annie L. Burton led you to think that?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your statements about how this chapter kind of skipped over all of the other genres. It did seem to skip straight to blogs and focus very heavily on memoirs and nothing else. I think that the chapter would have been a lot more interesting if more genres were mentioned and explained. In a section that focused so heavily on choosing the right style for your own writing, it did not really give very many examples which would have helped explain a lot more. Sure it would have probably made us read a few more pages, but it would be a more complete chapter. I am hoping that the rest of the book delves more into smaller topics instead of over-viewing everything.
ReplyDeleteStefanie, the comment on the intended audience was where I got that from specifically:
ReplyDelete"Her audience would have been literat former slaves and white readers, *mostly likely in the North because her book was published in Boston.*"
The intent of that statement is unknown to the reader, but the "because her book was published in Boston" part seems to say that the location of the publisher geographically limited the spread of the book. These days, that can seem like a reasonable assumption, but I felt that pointing out how even in the ages before the internet, especially in the years immediately after the Civil War, information did spread across the country was worthwhile. Information didn't spread as fast as with the Internet, the latency was much higher, but things published in Boston weren't limited to the North/New England any more than a book published in San Francisco was limited to that immediate area.
I agree that this chapter did not have very much to talk about because it was more of a refresher course and contained facts. So, all that was left to do with this reading was to analyze and share what you learned from this reading. I also thought it was cool that before digital composing, writers would have to write down their thoughts with a pen and paper. I find it fascinating that this simple way of life eventually turned into blogging online. I also agree that this chapter barely touched on genres, but rather focuses heavily on technology and media types.
DeleteIn reference to the Annie Burton memoir comment, I think the author was just trying to show that for that particular story it makes sense to write a memoir because of her purpose and because of the audience it was geared towards, I think they were just trying to point out why a memoir was the best choice of genre, if she had another purpose maybe the best fit for her could have been a series of poems or maybe songs which were also popular forms of expression. I do agree though that the first chapter might have been a little more entertaining if it added more pathos but then again I don't think thats what the author was aiming for when writing this, i believe its more of a guide for students.
ReplyDeleteHi John
ReplyDeleteI find the way you think very interesting. I like it that you're questioning why people migrated to blogs. What'd your opinion? I'm looking forward to reading more of your responses.