What I’m first going to discuss is technology and its influence in the creative writing field from a generational standpoint. After reading Hawisher and Selfe’s “Becoming Literate in the Information Age: Cultural Ecologies and the Literacies of Technology” (talk about a mouthful for a title am I right?), I witnessed two women who had major differences of how they both utilize and adapt their writing skills through technology. It was miraculous to me how Brittney Moraski became one of the many people who not only grew up but also developed computer skills at a very young age when computers started to be a new part of society. Although, I’m more impressed with Mrs. Pearson since she wasn’t tech savvy at first but because she taught herself to learning computer skills and putting the skills into her multiple jobs (Hawisher and Selfe 11), she became more fascinated with technology to the point where it was a part of her. If you want more info about the research, click on the link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4140666?seq=1.
There is one common conception (rather misconception) between Mrs. Pearson and Brittney and that is computers were meant for those who had the skills. This part made me feel odd because technology is meant for everyone to use to make our lives somewhat easier. However, I gave it some deep thought afterwards and I got what they meant. In the beginning, they were literate but not fluent with computers (and computer language). Eventually they did but it took quite a while to become accustomed to the environment, which leads me to my next topic:
Multiple Types of Discourses
I already learned the meanings of Discourse, both with a capital ‘D’ and a lowercase ‘d’. But James Paul Gee’s “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction” (not too wordy title thank goodness) goes more in depth with the meaning of Discourse with a capital ‘D’ along with many types of it. My brain melted when I found out about Primary Discourse, Secondary Discourse, and Dominant/Non-Dominant Discourses I kid you not. Overall, I agree with Gee’s thoughts because these types of Discourses are what is society today. People use these, they just don’t know it. You could be having a serious debate and trying to get people on your side (non-dominant discourse) or have a discussion about your new job with people who work in the same field as you (secondary discourse). No matter what, everyone around the world is forming or adapting a discourse. Before I finish, I want to share an interesting quote from Gee’s article:
“It is less often remarked that a person could be able to use a language perfectly and not make sense.”
Gee 1989
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