Theory of Cyber-Rhetoric
Week 2: Introduction to Electronic Literature
Aug 28 - intro chapter to Murray and Hayles Chapter 1
Aug 30 - Lanham's Implications of Electronic Information and Introduction to the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives
Week 3: From Page to Screen
Sept 4 - Landow's Cyberspace, Hypertext, & Critical Theory (surf around this site) and Hayles Chapter 2
Sept 6 - Murray Chapter 2
Part 1 of "Analysis of Literary Practices" is due. NOTE: We will start class at 1 PM today!
Week 4: Changing Definitions of Literacy
Sept 11 - Wesch "Published: The Old Revolution," "Connecting the Digital Dots," and Murray Chapter 3
The NCTE now defines literacy in this way; likewise, here is a resource for additional information -"Toward a Theory of New Literacies."
Sept 13 - Murray Chapter 7
Part 2 of "Analysis of Literary Practices" is due.
Week 5: New Media and Literacy Criticism
Sept 18 - Hayles Chapter 3 and Manovich's “New Media from Borges to HTML” (read his eight propositions about new media, starting on p. 10)
Sept 20 - "This is Scholarship"; become familiar with "Violence of Text" and "New Media's Long History and Global Future" (and we will spend time with the Electronic Collection that accompanies the Hayles book)
Here is a resource: Jeremy Tirrell's Geographical History of Online Rhetoric and Composition Journals
Week 6: Plagiarism and Copyright Issues
Sept 25 - Explore the Creative Commons website, and read Johnson-Eilola and Selber's "After Plagiarism" and the real-life example of "Plagiarism or 'Remix'?"
For additional information, see the article "Who Sends Google the Most Takedown Notices?"
Sept 27 - Working with the DALN
Types/Genres of Cyber-Rhetoric
Week 7: Databases
Oct 2 - Folsom's "Database as Genre" and explore the Walt Whitman archive
Oct 4 - Responses to Folsom (and Folsom’s reply to them): Read 1 response to Folsom, then read Folsom's response.
- Stallybrass, Peter, “Against Thinking.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1580-87.
- McGann, Jerome, “Database, Interface, and Archival Fever.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1588-92.
- McGill, Meredith L., “Remediating Whitman.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1592-96.
- Freedman, Jonathan, “Whitman, Database, Information Culture.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1596-1602.
- Hayles, N. Katherine, “Narrative and Database: Natural Symbionts.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1603-08.
- Folsom, Ed, “Reply.” PMLA 122.5 (Oct. 2007): 1608-12.
Analysis of the DALN is due!
Week 8: Electronic Texts
Oct 9 - Slatin's "La Zambinella Meets the Cyborg" (skim this, clicking through the links), and "Did You Know? 6.0" video
Oct 11 - Shift Happens wiki and Website Design, css Zen Garden
Look at the resources for web design! Here's another from Dr. Koster (courtesy of Dr. Johnson-Eilola) "Some Starting Points in Web Design"
Week 9: Creating Electronic Editions
Oct 16 - Price's "Electronic Scholarly Editions" and Harpold's "Contingencies of the Hypertext Link"
Oct 18 - "Designing a Reader-Friendly Digital Edition"
Additional Resources: "Turning the Page: Rethinking Design for Digital Editions" and "Guidelines for Editors of Scholarly Editions"
Week 10: Digital Storytelling
Oct 23 - Murray Chapters 4-6
Oct 25 - Work day (Part 1 is due at the end of class)
Week 11: Graphic Novels and Interactive Texts
Oct 30 - Ben Bova "Knowledge Really Is Power" and "A Graphic Text"
Nov 1 - New Forms of Text: cellphone novels, Google Books Library Project, hypertext fiction (also of interest is The Electronic Labyrinth, especially for my creative writers)
For those interested in cyberpunk: Schneider's "Cyberpunk Literary Style," "What is Cyberpunk?", and The Cyberpunk Project
Or, for those interested in video games: the Smithsonian currently has an exhibit called The Art of Video Games
Remaining Questions
Week 12: End of Books?
Nov 6 - NO CLASS (Election Day)
Nov 8 - Hayles Chapter 4 and Murray Chapter 9; Coover's "The End of Books" and responses
Additional resource: Douglas "The End of Books - or Books Without End?"
Week 13: The Future?
Nov 13 - Hayles Chapter 5 and Murray Chapter 10
Part 2 of Electronic Edition is due!
Nov 15 - In class, we will look at the following pieces:
- Christine Rosen's "The Myth of Multitasking"
- Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons' "Digital Alarmists Are Wrong"
- Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
- James Bowman's "Is Stupid Making Us Google?" in the Summer 2008 issue of New Atlantis, http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-stupid-making-us-google.)
Week 14: We will NOT meet the week of Thanksgiving!
Nov 20 - Post to your blog with your ideas about the final project
Week 15: Wrap Up
Nov 27 - Course Review (post a draft of your project to your blogs by midnight)
Nov 29 - Peer Review
Each student is responsible for looking at the other FOUR projects before class and responding with comments/constructive criticism.
Final Projects are due on Friday, December 7 @ 11:30 AM
