Parrott.+Multigendered+Multicultural+Multimedia

=Parrott, Jill M. "Multigendered Multicultural Multimedia: Materiality and Literacy in the Composition Classroom."=

//Computers and Composition// Media Convergence (2008). Web. 19 Mar. 2011. [].

Abstract
"In the 2004 publication //Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition//, authors Wysocki, Johnson-Eilola, Selfe, and Sirc challenge teachers of composition to not only recognize the changing shape of literacy as a result of technological advances, but to be “active, reflective, responsible composers” and to facilitate similar responsibility in students. Wysocki suggests that “writing teachers can thus fill a large gap in current scholarship on new media; they can bring to new media texts a humane and thoughtful attention to materiality, production, and consumption, which is currently missing” (p. 7). In light of this challenge, this text will explore how the juxtaposition of literacy from various cultural backgrounds alongside a study of the material aspects of literacy can aid students as they create their own new media texts." "Various cultural studies genres commonly explore autobiographic, fictional, and academic accounts of the development of literacy—defined by me as simply the ability to communicate and “know” in some communally understood format. An appropriate example I will explore are the quilters of Gee's Bend, who have used their quilts—a material necessity—to express themselves and develop community. I will further the discussion with Richard Rodriguez's literacy autobiography //The Hunger of Memory// (1982). In this text, Rodriguez explores his use of language during his childhood involving both Spanish and English and his decision to pursue an academic career, which he contends may have been a betrayal of his Mexican heritage for the sake of his personal success. To further illuminate this, I will discuss Wendell Berry's “Why I Do Not Own a Computer” (1990), which is an overtly aware and contentious discussion of the materiality of literacy in a technological age. These are my chosen exhibits, but other examples exist that could provide historical expressions of how humanity, as individuals and communities, develops literacy in various ways as a result of the material conditions around us and how they provide examples of “active, reflective, responsible composers.” "Further, I will suggest that by reading and discussing the literacies of people from differing cultures, such as these examples, and instigating their own understandings of daily multimedia interactions, students can develop a deeper understanding of their own literacies and create reflective new media texts. As William A. Covino (2001) explains, the idea that “reality is constructed by language has raised the question whether the material reality is indeed subject to and changed by the ways in which we describe it” (p. 47). Students can and should be able to express this new understanding by creating literacy narratives using any and all media available to them—whatever they feel shows most accurately and fully their own literacy as a way to understand and communicate with the world(s) around them: from various cultural backgrounds, presented in various formats, and using multiple media sources" (Parrott).

Argument
Author Jill M. Parrott highlights three examples to mirror Walter Ong's familiar discussion of "secondary orality". Her explanation of the quilts in Gee's Bend, Alabama serves as an example of the "materiality of literacy". The making of these quilts rose out of necessity, and therefore created a material response to surroundings through individual expression. The second passage that Parrott addresses is by Richard Rodriguez. This portion of the article focuses on "maintaining literacies in multiple communities" Although the last piece Parrott showcases in titled "Why I am not Going to Buy a Computer", the piece still highlights the manner in which technology in ingrained into our everyday lives ( along with the fact that the article is being restored in an online format). In conclusion, Parrott suggests discussing the students' literacies and how their material environments shape them instead of aggressively forcing an age-old form (primary orality) of "literacy".

=Annotation= Jill Parrott’s purpose in writing “Multigendered Multicultural Multimedia: Materiality and Literacy in the Composition Classroom” was to urge teachers to deviate from the traditional forms of literacy and incorporate new forms, materiality, into the pedagogy. Parrott explores the ideas behind quilts from Gee’s Bend, Richard Rodriguez’s book about language, and Wendell Berry’s book about computers and literacy. Basically, Parrott is advocating the idea of new media. She wants teachers to be aware of and use different materials to teach their students. Because this is the age of technology, it is important and necessary to keep up with the times and use the tools that are out there.

Parrott explains that students should be able to express them by means of something more than orality. A physical representation or something created by more than just traditional media opens the doors for creative expression. She says that what is around people influences how they learn and share. There is debate about how teachers should teach and if the traditional writing in an academic way is the best way. Parrott explores the social relationship between writing and the materials that can be used. Teachers being aware of what students are exposed to and the forms of media they use can help the students learn and express themselves.

Key Passages
"Because our “ways of knowing,” i.e. literacy, are influenced by our surroundings, as the aforementioned authors have shown, in order to construct those bridges, we should develop pedagogical strategies that emphasize these ways of knowing."

"She used her material surroundings to create a statement—a statement that intends, in turn, to help facilitate the change of her material surroundings. Students may see in this example the potential for the use of material literacy to change one's circumstances. This quilt is truly a reflective, new media text."

In regards to Rodriguez's piece: "...juxtaposing his narrative within the context of others should engage readers into a critical dialogue with themselves, enabling them to understand their own literacy in light of his, not as the same, but as an example of conscious reflection."

"Their [students] everyday material condition is ubiquitous with technology and constant visual and aural stimulation."

"I further send out Wysocki's challenge for the creation of new media, particularly in context of the material literacies that I have laid out because “to be alert to such materiality also matters because it helps us use our various composing technologies as justly and thoughtfully as possible” (2004, p. 7)...Yet, “ **new media texts do not have to be digital** ”; and, “people in our classrooms ought to be **producing** texts using a wide and alertly chosen range of materials."

“We have no justification aside from disciplinary baggage to restrict our conception of rhetoric to words alone” -Lester Faigley

Selected Works Cited
Faigley, L. (2003). The challenge of the multimedia essay. In L. Z. Bloom, D.A. Daiker, and E. M. White (Eds.), //Composition studies in the new millennium: Rereading the past, rewriting the future// (pp. 174-187). Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press

Ong, W. J. (1982). //Orality and literacy//. New York : Routledge.

Parrot, J. //Computers and Composition// Media Convergence (2008). Web. [].

Wysocki, A. F., Johnson-Eilola, J., Selfe, C. L., & Sirc, G. (2004). //Writing new media: Theory and applications for expanding the teaching of composition//. Logan, Utah : Utah University Press.

[|Materiality and Literacy in the Composition Classroom]