11 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2018
  2. spring2018.robinwharton.net spring2018.robinwharton.net
    1. writing constitutes analysis: we do not really see with clarity what we have not said that we have seen

      I feel like this is somewhat misguided. Just because I have not written down my thoughts does not mean they have not already been constructed and organized. When I write down something, for example, in response to an article using Hypothesis, I unusually know what I want to type before I start typing it. In that sense, I have already analyzed without writing. Although, I could be missing the point entirely.

    2. m close looking-i11 translating material object into narrative descrip-tion. Matenal culture begins with a world of objects bur takes place in a world of words. While we work 14With" material objects, i.e. refer "to" rhem, the medium in which we work as cultural historians is language. When we study an object, formalizing our observations in language, we generate a set of carefully selected nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and verbs which effectively determine the bounds of possible interpreta-tion.

      This passage takes on increased importance when considering the Maker movement and the creation of entirely new objects that do not fit our current vocabulary, and require additional thought and effort to properly describe. Our "world of worlds" is designed around things that are intimately familiar to us. Skyscrapers shine in the afternoon sun while my carpet is firm and dirty. But what do I use to describe something I have no intimate knowledge of, like non-Newtonian fluid? How do I describe that to someone else? The same issue occurs with the maker movement, where a group of people is consistently creating things that have no previously existed, and require brand new descriptions for.

    3. American Artifacts

      The supplemental text I read for this piece was "3-D print your way to freedom and prosperity" by Jathan Sadowski for Aljazeera America. The article outlines the Maker movement, a growing number of people who use a variety of advanced tools such as 3d-Printers and Laser Cutters to create new things on a small scale and for personal use. Sadowski dissects the seemingly apolitical nature of the movement before going into detail how the movement is both impractical on a large scale and could have harmful side effects. Sadowski says that the movement seeks to appeal to everyone, but is only practical for people with access to expensive equipment, introduces dangerous oversights in being able to freely create dangerous objects, and is impractical in that a complete maker society would not be able to function due to a constant need for materials and equipment that can not be fabricated easily.

      http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/5/3d-printing-politics.html

    1. Together, the many modes that make up texts arc useful in different situations. Multimodality gives writers additional tools for design-ing effective texts. This is particularly true when writers arc trying to create a single text that will appeal to the interests of a large and diverse group of readers. By understanding who their readers arc, what they need to know, and how they will use the information, authors can create texts that satisfy a specific rhetorical situation, a concept we will cover in Chapter 2.

      In retrospect, I feel there are several places here where I didn't fully bring in the article when making observations. Even when annotating a certain section, a lot of my thoughts failed to include the context of that section in relation to the rest of the article. If I had done so, some of my comments would have reflected differently, although I still think they all made relevant and good points or connections, even without that context.

    2. The linguistic mode often affords readers specificity, exactness, and logical connections, but this can slow readers down as they work to make sense of the information. The visual mode, on the other hand, often can't be as detailed.

      It seems like this doesn't have much bearing on American Sign Language as it was used in the supplementary text. As a language which falls under the linguistic mode that is entirely composed of gestures which fall under the gestural mode, ASL is required to "pull the weight' of both modes.

      In relation to this passage, a map could be laid out to incorporate elements of the table within the map itself to provide both modes in conjunction to provide a much wider scope. This is somewhat shown in the map provided:

    3. ·1 he gestural mode refers to the way movement, such as body lan-guage, can make meaning. When we interact with people in real life or watch them on-screen, we can tell a lot about how they arc feel-ing and what they arc trying to communicate. The gestural mode includes:

      It's interesting that this piece only talks about how Modes work together within mediums, since the Florida Sign language article mostly concerns the conversion of one mode to another, and the follies that might arise between the two. Something that has meaning to people who speak English might lack meaning, or have an entirely different meaning, for people who don't speak English, or don't use spoken languages at all. The entire supplementary article concerns what happens when information is incorrectly translated between modes. It's entirely possible this is just outside the scope of the reading.

    4. The linguistic mode refers to the use of language, which usually ~ means written or spoken word~.

      Linguistic Mode can also refer, more broadly, to symbols and gestures. Language isn't limited just to writing and speaking. While gestures fall more firmly into the Gestural Mode, American Sign Language blurs the line between the two by utilizing gestures in the place of true spoken language.

      Every mode serves to supplement and complement other modes, but it seems like their roles are usually fairly well defined, and not much overlap occurs. A language comprised entirely of gestures blurs that usually clear line.

    5. All kinds of texts arc multi modal: ncw~-papcr-., science reports, advertisements, billboards, scrapbooks, music videos-the list is endless.

      I find it very interesting that they specifically mention newspapers. While the supplementary article is presented online, it is presented in an extremely similar manner to a traditional newspaper with a primary picture followed by both an outline of events and a set of reactions to that event. The format is shown to be applicable in a number of ways. It could even be adapted to a video medium, such as the nightly news on television, by showing a picture or video of the event, followed by the news anchor talking about the event, and wrapping up with relevant individuals giving their opinions of the event via a recording.

      This all goes to illustrate that multimodal formats can be used across various mediums, which is unsurprising considering how versatile modes themselves are.

    6. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ " ~ ~ ~ ~; ;J ~ el~ ~~ el~ ~ ~ cl j e ~ 9, cl -, c13 sl, ill:" .. Academic essays, biology posters, statistical PowerPolnt presenta-tions, lolcats ... what do all of these texts have in common? They are all multimodal.

      The supplemental text I read for this article was "Deaf community outraged after interpreter signed gibberish before Irma", which was written by Alex Mendoza and presented in the New York Post. Mendoza's article lays out the inciting incident relating directly to the article's title, and the responses of various people surrounding the incident. In Manatee County, Florida, before Hurricane Irma was expected to pass through the state, local officials schedules a press conference to communicate "crucial" information with people in the area. However, they did not have a proper ASL (American Sign Language) translator present to translate the conference to people with hearing impairments. Due to this, a lifeguard for the county with minor ASL knowledge named Marshall Greene was asked to translate during the press conference, where he incorrectly translated large parts of the event.

      Quotes from several individuals were provided in the article. These were roughly divided between condemning Greene and protecting Greene. These voices included Charlene McCarthy, who owns a company that provides qualified translators to the county, Greene's father, Chris Wagner, who is the former president of the National Association of the Deaf, and various people speaking out across social media.

      Mendoza, Alex. “Deaf Community Outraged after Interpreter Signed Gibberish before Irma.” New York Post, New York Post, 16 Sept. 2017, nypost.com/2017/09/16/deaf-community-outraged-after-interpreter-signed-gibberish-before-irma/.

  3. Jan 2018
  4. spring2018.robinwharton.net spring2018.robinwharton.net
    1. When we study an object, formalizing our observations in language, we generate a set of carefully selected nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and verbs which effectively determine the bounds of possible interpreta-tion.

      In this way, the description of an object is much like the creation of an object. All items underwent a specific set of circumstances to orchestrate their creation. Without those very specific circumstances, the exact object in question wouldn't exist.

    2. All objects signify; some signify more expressively than others.

      In relation to the Jathan Sadowski article about 3D printing and the MAKER movement, each object created by a maker has their own unique expression represented within that object. This can not only express the creator, but the culture behind the creator and the society in which the item finds a use.