Academic Cypher

In hip hop culture, the cypher is a circle of MCs, B-boys/B-girls, beatboxers, etc who freestyle and/or battle one after the other without interruption, exchanging rhymes and flows back and forth or around. The cypher is where training takes place and skills are tested, where people collaborate, and where people create "off the top" or written/choreographed, tapping into the place where thought and action come together to share energy and advance the craft...the Academy should aim to do the same.

Category: MindMap (page 2 of 2)

MindMap #3: Foucauldian

February 9, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 12.06.16 AM

For this week’s MindMap up date, I decided to focus in on what seems to be the theme of my MindMap so far: exploring the connection or disconnections between author, audience, and meaning. I began focusing on this because of the Biesecker article. The complexity of the rhetorical situation and Biesecker’s presentation of the situation as interactive, shifting, and dynamic made me think of the interactive and dynamic nature of discourse that Foucault emphasizes in Archaeology of Knowledge.  For me, Biesecker and Foucault both emphasize: nonlinearity, interactivity, discontinuity, and finding meaning in difference.

The focus on looking in the “difference zone” and discourse being created where relationships connect and touch lead me to reflect on how Snap Chat resides in this nonlinear, ephemeral, place of difference. The application seeks to disrupt the traditional way that people communicate and interact with one another. The creators pride themselves on the idea that they are disrupting the current ways that people engage. Snap Chat presents the idea that they are changing the way that “we,” author’s of the “snaps,” interact with the audience (receivers of the snaps).

I am not quite sure how this connects to the idea of difference, but I sense that something is there that needs to be explored. I know that the emphasis being placed on ephemerality, friendship, and authenticity is intriguing. The idea that “snaps” disappear is intriguing. Are they making a promise that they cannot keep? How does snap chat’s perception of social networks/connections disrupt or change the idea of a network?

 

Mindmap #2: Rhetorically Situated Foucault?

January 26, 2014 / / 1 Comment

For MindMap #2, I added a few nodes about Foucualt. The nodes and connections were less developed this time because I realized that I was very wordy on the first mindmap.  I decided to start the mindmap by focusing on the key terms from Foucault. I specifically focused on trying to expand or understand “discursive formations.” I noticed through this that I had a better understanding of “discursive formations” than I thought. I like the idea of examining systems of dispersion, so I used this to guide the other nodes in the map. I have not made the connections between rhetorical situation and Foucault. I am not sure if this lack of connection is mental or emotional. What I mean by that is that I dislike mindmaps. I realize each time I look at the mindmap that I hate it. No matter how many connections I make, it still seems disorganized and chaotic. I like nice neat lines. A mind outline would work wonders for me at this point. I can’t tell if its a lack of understanding or lack of visualization ability.

Mind Map: http://popplet.com/app/#/1575978

MindMap #1: Rhetorical Situaion

January 20, 2014 / / 1 Comment

Mindmap: http://popplet.com/app/#/1575978

My first mindmap built upon what was started in class on Tuesday. Since the course used the Rhetorical Situation as a jumping off point, I decided to use it as a jumping off point for my exploration into Snapchat. I began with trying to make a connection, for myself, between Bitzer and Vatz. I decided to focus solely on Bitzer. I wanted to break his definition down into audience, exigence, and constraints. I was drawn to the idea that rhetoric alters reality. I was also drawn to the idea of a rhetorical audience being one that is capable of acting or choosing not to act. I thought this was interesting because an inactive audience or one that chooses not to act seems to come across as a constraint. I realized that I was unsure of what a constraint was exactly. From here the mindmap ventures into random questions and thoughts that I had in regards to audience, exigences, and constraints.

The majority of my pondering was centered around the idea that rhetoric alters reality. This made me think of Snapchat, specifically the emphasis they place on changing/altering the way people communicate and the focus improving friendships/connections through fleeting messages. Snapchat places a lot of emphasis on the author of the snaps and their connection to the receiver. The tagline on their Google Play webpage reads: “the allure of fleeting messages reminds us about the beauty of friendship — we don’t need a reason to stay in touch.” For me this provides a mental bridge between Bitzer and Vatz. Bitzer places agency with the rhetor. In Snapchat, the rhetor does have agency when choosing what images to snap and what text/drawing to layer on the image. However, the image is not important/significant until it is sent/viewed by the receivers. On the other hand, I wonder if the meaning in snaps are intrinsic [meaning is the “result of a creative act” (Vatz 161)].

This exercise helped me to see Snapchat in a different way. It also helped me to realize that I agree with Vatz, but as a composition instructor, I utilize Bitzer. I wonder if I am doing my students a disservice. Hopefully, continued mindmapping will help me to craft a new approach to teaching the rhetorical situation and a new approach to Snapchat.

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