26 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2017
    1. o read and write in page-bound, official, standard forms of the national lan-guage. Literacy. pedagogy, in other words, has been a carefully restricted project -restricted to formalized, monolingual, monocultural, and rule-governed forms of language.

      People are taught primarily, and in some cases only, the language and culture of the nation or country they reside in, as this is where they are expected and hoped to spend most of their time and productivity. Thus, they are generally unprepared to communicate or socialize with people from other societies and cultures, hindering socialization and the spreading of ideas between groups.

  2. Oct 2017
    1. olor • layout • style • size • perspective

      An example of how these might be used in a text might be how fonts are used in accordance with standard guidelines for various assignments, such as MLA formatted articles written with size 12 font, Times new Roman, in order to be accepted, or how in websites users can bold or italicize words to give particular emphasis to words. By purpose or accident, chaotic usage of fonts, capitalization and emphasis gives a sloppy or careless feel to written works, while the insertation of emojis or images may help break the monotony of words and retain reader interest.

    2. ambient noise/sounds

      Ambient noise helps act as a form of aural mode as it can help provide context for perhaps how or why a person is presenting information and background for the setting. For example, a person with lots of ambient noise to distract from their speech may not have the resources or time to find a quieter place to present their arguement, and it may irritate them and cause them to alter or forget parts of their message in response to the stimuli. Sounds within ambient noise can also provide clues to the reception to the presentation, such as applause after a concert or boos after a speech, or the time and location of the presentation, as the sounds of an AC would indicate somewhere warm during summer, while the heater would be someplace cold or during the winter.

    3. a gaming raid with friends,

      When playing games with friends, oftentimes one may not be able to see the faces of others due to each being fixated on their own screen, and thus limiting the gestural mode of each person. However, in game behavior can still display traits of the gestural mode, such as rushing, careless behavior and striking in an uncoordinated fashion, while standing still or slow movement may indicate a lack of engagement or otherwise preoccupation.

    4. mangement • organization • proximity between people or obiects

      Spacial organization can has a variety of different subsections, but there are a few primary methods with stand out. For example, two objects on opposite sides of another may indicate duality, opposition, conflict or differences. Objects placed together may have some common theme or trait and thus be placed organizationally, and people placed together may have a close relationship in order to bear the other's presence.

    5. These different strengths and weaknesses of media (video, writing, pictures, etc.) and modes arc called affi1rda11ces. The visual mode affords us the opportunity to communicate emotion in an immedi-ate way, while the linguistic mode a(fimfs us the time we need to communicate a set of detailed steps. Writer/designers think through the affordanccs of the modes and media available before choos-ing the right text for the right situation. Keep in mind that modal affordances largely depend on how the mode is used and in what context. In other words, the strengths and weaknesses of each mode arc dependent on, and influenced by, the ways in which the modes arc combined, in what media, and to what ends.

      Different forms of modes have their own benefits, which must be balanced by the authors and creators for the right amount and type of impact on the audience. Aural modes primarily are transmitted via sound and the ear, while gestural, spacial and visual typically rely on sight and the eyes. Linguistic straddles the line between the two sides, as language can both be spoken and read.

    6. silence

      In audio/aural modes, silences serves as a spaces do in written or spoken modes, to serve as a separation and break between concepts and as a foil and contrast to solid sounds and words so that actual information can be emphasized more in the absence.

      For example, John Cage's 4 minutes and 33 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4 is a piece of music which does not in fact have any music, and primarily consists of visual cues by the musician to the audience, intending for the audience to draw meaning from within themselves rather than from the music.

    7. It's easy to conceive how a spoken message communicates, but what about the increas-ingly tense background music in a lV drama, or the sounds that let us know when a computer is starling up? Whether big or small, each of these aural components conveys meaning.

      In many horror movies, many times tense music is used to ready the audience and prepare them for an upcoming scare, as the escalating music echoes the rising stress and tension the audience and characters feel. Some modern movies also subvert peoples expectations of this by cutting off the music and showing a mundane or unintimidating scene, lulling the audience or characters into relaxing, before suddenly pulling out the real jump scare.

    8. The supplemental reading I chose, Talking to the future "hey there's nuclear waste here", discusses the use of multi-modal media in order to convey messages to future generations. Inspired by the current move towards nuclear energy as a fuel source for modern America and the present construction of new Nuclear waste storage facilities, the article primarily focuses on the risk that future society faces in the possibility that nuclear waste may be dug up by unsuspecting miners, causing sickness and disease, and possible methods that present day scientists could use to deter such infringements. These include a strong societal and cultural integration of warnings of the danger of nuclear waste, monolithic statues to intimidate future explorers, electromagnetic wavelength markers, and translations of modern day languages to convey warnings. Primary subissues of these methods include the fact that explorers may not be able to understand or interpret these warnings, view them as impotent, or, even knowing their meaning and truth, ignore them anyways. The article ends noting that nuclear waste for the most part is not as toxic as primarily depicted, will most likely not last long enough to adversely affect future societies, and that any future society advanced enough to be able to both detect and access the interior of nuclear waste facilities will most likely be well aware of the risk involved.

      The article involves multi modal composition due to its discussion of possible methods for warning future civilizations, through the combination of various modes discussed in this article as well as the limitations of each mode by themselves as well as the risk of change due to change in how culture perceives various symbols over time. The article also discusses the difficulties that modern day linguists and historians have with analyzing fairly recent changes in culture and language, and how this may translate to future societies.

    9. Visit the home page for your favorite retail, entertainment, or news Web site. Notice how the spatial mode is used: Where is your eye drawn? How are the elements on the page laid out? Whal effect does this spatial arrangement have on how you read, use, and understand the information on the page? How would your interaction with the page be different if, say, the information found at the top of the page were suddenly swapped with the information at the bottom?

      https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

      This is the home page for the online web serial Worm, by Wildbow. The first thing a user is drawn to is the sparkling nightscape of a coastal city, with the title of the web serial, Worm, bolded above it. Below the image, there is a bar with important links, such as brief and in depth character overviews, a table of contents, and a link back to the homepage if need be. Underneath that, there is an immediate link to the start of the story, if someone doesn't' want any information about the story going in, with further details afterward if someone does desire disclaimers and a general idea of the basis of the story, finally ending with a comments section. Thus, the page slowly introduces a reader to the ideas of the story, starting with a general impression before feeding more options and information. If the layout was flipped, then readers would start with the comment section, which would provide them with both spoilers and not the right details about the story, and deprive them of links to read the story.

    10. ·1 he gestural mode refers to the way movement, such as body lan-guage, can make meaning. When we interact with people in real life or watch them on-screen, we can tell a lot about how they arc feel-ing and what they arc trying to communicate. The gestural mode includes:

      When using Gestural Mode, one needs to be sure not to use overly dramatic gestures, otherwise they may distract from any linguistics being used. However, a lack of proper gestural mode, such as facial expressions, may seem to indicate a lack of caring about the subject matter involved, and detract from any message the person may be trying to convey, as can be seen by criticisms of actors who are unable to properly utilize Gestural mode.

    11. This mode helps us to understand why physical spaces such as grocery stores or classrooms arc arranged in particular ways to encourage certain kinds of behavior (such as all chairs in a classroom facing toward the center of the room to encourage discussion and collaboration).

      Grocery stores are displayed so that items which are more expensive and prone to spoiling, such as fresh bread and fresh vegetables, are near the front where they will catch the customer's attention, while items which can last longer, such as tools, appliances and general supplies, or items which are cheaper, such as on sale items or clearance items, are stored nearer to the back so customers are less likely to see them. In addition, frozen items are stuck closer to the back so that there is less transit time in delivering them from cold storage, so that they are less likely to fall. The seats in the classroom are typically all facing forwards so that the teacher can interact with them more, so that the students can focus on the teachers instead of facing each other, and so that the teacher can see which way their eyes are looking and thus what is their focus.

    12. This ability for quick comparison is an affordance of the visual mode, particularly within the particular medium of the printed map.

      The combination of both visual and linguistic elements serves to make articles multilayered, allowing people to dive deeper into any information in the visual area they are interested in via the linguistic section. Thus, they complement each other in transmitting information, one to attract the reader and the other to serve information.

  3. Sep 2017
  4. spring2018.robinwharton.net spring2018.robinwharton.net
    1. All objects signify; some signify more expressively than others.

      All objects have meaning, given through their purpose in being created, or what their active use gives to them. The more interaction it has with people the more human qualities we can attach to it through its change and development, as well as our own changing view on it.

    2. . Speculation leads from the object as a closed system of signs into the world of intertextual relationships concerned not just with what but with how the object signifies. Speculation, moreover, reaches beyond unitary readings to lay stress instead on recognizing the object as a site of contested meanings.

      Speculation acknowledges that an object may have multiple meanings, and must analyze how these meanings came to be, and how they fit together with and arise from the same object, as well as how the meanings overlap.

    3. we do not analyze objects; we analyze our descriptions of objects

      During our first perception of an object the resulting description is what we base the rest of our analysis off of, mixing in our personal descriptions and becoming accustomed to certain words or emotions which we ingrain..

    4. Summary of Supplementary article?

      Article Chose: "What is a Machete, Anyways?" by John Cline

      A machete is often considered a weapon, due to its modern day usage as a weapon in horror and action films, as well as its historical use as a weapon of the poor and those in servitude. However, this was primarily due to its many uses, ease of maintenance and durability leading to its widespread distribution among the poor as a harvesting and agricultural implement, and thus commonality and ease of access when in need of a weapon. However, due to the development of modern agricultural practices, technology, and methodology, the Machete is seeing reduced use, leaving an absence of an applicable substitute for use as an emergency weapon or symbol of the proletariat.

      This ties in to the main article in how the view and nature of an item has shifted over time due to its usage to deviate from its original intended purpose, and how it now carries more meaning than its expected usage.

    5. It works because this process reliably yields awareness of complexity and polyvalent meaning.

      Polyvalent: "Having many different functions, forms, or facets." - Oxford Living Dictionaries

      So what this sentence means is that enterpretive analysis allows users to understand complex, multiparted meanings.

    6. Less concerned than some historians of material culture with the making or makers of such objects, our focus rends to be more on user interface, on the ways emhcdded meanings are actualized through use-matters subject ..ii ways (and invitations always) to controlled speculation.

      In the article "What is a Machete, anyways?" by John Cline, a point is made about how the machete, originally primarily used as an agricultural tool, has over time had its use evolved into a symbol of violence and war, demonstrating this principle of how an object is used and the context in which it appears may provide more insights than the creation or creators of the object itself.

    7. Through care-ful looking, one comes to see an object as significant-as signifying; one comes to possess, to a greater or a lesser degree, a privileged historical knowledge and understanding.

      When analyzing an object, the object already has any data which may be extracted from it already inherent in its state of being, and thus provides more accuracy and validity in its state of being than from external analysis, without any of the biases that may come from alternate sources or viewpoints.

    8. But while you should feel free to choose the extent to which description and deduction are present as such in your final essay at all, that these stages of analysis have been thoroughly performed ought to be discernible in both the kind and quality of internal evidence you marshal in substantiating claims regarding what and how your object signifies.

      Although not every step needs to be listed, the fact that you did complete said steps should be inherently apparent in the result.

    9. polarities,

      The following polarities he lists seem to be rooted in common desires and fears, or things which may be considered as part of an us vs. them mentality defining and separating groups of people into the haves and have nots of each listed duality. The biggest differences are not in what a person may believe about, but which they prioritize and how they react, and how each person uses these dualities to construct their own worldview and analyze their surroundings.

    10. etymological

      Etymomlogical means "relating to the origin and historical development of words and their meanings." from dictionary.com. So apparently this seeks to provide a historical or scientific approach to understanding the flow of language and analysis over time?

  5. Aug 2017
  6. spring2018.robinwharton.net spring2018.robinwharton.net
    1. writing constitutes analysis: we do not really see with clarity what we have not said that we have seen

      By being constrained by words and having to figure out which words suit the situation, tone, and meaning, we are forced to further analyze how we feel about something, and how it works in the context that is provided. As different languages have different words and connotations, there may be more appropriate phrases or more difficulty, giving a further avenue for observation and analysis of subject matters.

    2. Joseph Koerner, in arguing, here again in the case of visual images, that such description offers "the best access'' to experiencing an object with immediacy, notes that evocative description can "'register" the way an object "functions for one particular observer.

      When normally percieving a picture or an object, we form our own view base on our own collected memories and resultant perceptions. However, through a shared link, such as language, we are able to peek at other's perceptions and be influenced by their through processes, diluting our own thoughts with theirs and changing our thinking.

    3. Description and deduction

      Description and deduction are two sides of the same coin, one providing information in mass, while the other provides by lacking, the empty space and the filled areas contrasting each other and providing a deeper, more nuanced meaning. Although it may be possible to have discussions or interchange of ideas with only one, it is far more beneficial and intresting to have both.