Reading 1: “Pop Culture is Killing Writing” by Bronwyn T. Williams
Reading 2: “Texting Ruins Literacy Skills” by Christopher Justice
Choice: I decided to read “Texting Ruins Literacy Skills” because I’m much more interested in literacy overall than I am in grammar.
Summaries: Both “Pop Culture is Killing Writing” and “Texting Ruins Literacy Skills” talk about how new media isn’t a threat to literacy skills. In “Pop Culture is Killing Writing,” Williams argues against the notion that, as the title implies, pop culture is destroying literacy. He crafts this argument by exploring how literacy rates are currently rising in the United States and how popular culture exposes students to new genres of writing. In “Texting Ruins Literacy Skills” Justice argues that despite common misconceptions, texting doesn’t interfere with literacy skills, and is actually a demonstration of literacy success. He explains that texting is very complex because it enables a writer more time to formulate their thoughts and encourages multi-media usage to portray things such as tone through a single message.
Prompt 2: I enjoyed these essays because I’m so sick of people who don’t appreciate pop culture thinking they are better than people who do enjoy new media and new technology. I’m so glad that people are starting to recognize the educational value of things like movies and social media. I definitely agree with Williams that “Students learn a tremendous amount about rhetoric and communication from their engagement with popular culture, most notably about rhetorical concepts such as genre, audience, and style” (197). I truly believe that alternative forms of discourse creates engagement in the classroom and introduces students to new ways of writing and expressing their thoughts. I know that I’ve had a lot of valuable learning experiences arranged around popular culture and new forms of media, and I found these experiences extremely beneficial. Some of these experiences included creating Facebook pages for historical people and twitter updates and dating profiles for story characters. So, by increasing my engagement, I think these projects actually expanded my literacy skills. Additionally, I agree with Justice’s notion that, “Ultimately, the abbreviated language that characterizes texting discourse is a continuation of a historical trend that reveals how people have creatively used language for conciseness and efficiency” (310). Maybe it seems crazy to think of texting as a skill or as a demonstration of literacy, but writing is all about making meaning, and I know that I’m much better at creating meaning in a text than, say, my dad is. Overall, I definitely believe that new forms of media have a place in the classroom.
Prompt 7: Like I mentioned above, I believe that effective teachers know how to use pop culture in the classroom to keep students engaged. I loved making dating profiles for different characters, so I think this is something I would want to do with my future classes, and I think I would also like to do a project where students craft text messages between characters. I think these text messages would be a great way to get students involved because, like Justice says, “In a world rife with alternative discourse and media, embracing the diverse opportunities for communication marks the best path to literacy” (313). I know that class can’t always be fun, but I think that using new forms of media that students appreciate is a good way to keep them engaged while they are also developing content knowledge. I want my future students to feel like they have the opportunity to explore and express themselves in class, and I think oftentimes students don’t get this opportunity in high school because their schools are so focused on standardized tests that they don’t take the time to develop engaging curriculum. I agree with Williams that, “Perhaps rather than fretting about popular culture we should be worrying more about the damage that relentless standardized assessment is having on student motivation” (199). If teachers want their students to succeed they have to figure out ways to involve students in their learning and encourage them to see the connection between the skills they learn in school and the skills they’ll need in “the real world.”
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