Wonderland

6 thoughts on “Wonderland”

1. Thank you for your reply. I’m glad you liked it.
   I encourage you to try video or podcast. Stepping out of the comfort zones helped me approach the topic in a different way. Writing is still my comfort as well, but trying to think visually and with different media has helped me to consider different audiences and ways of expressing core ideas (the summarizing to the key points).
   I appreciate the feminist view and approaches to material. To often I think we forget to challenge the concepts of power and privilege. Looking at the conventions of our social interactions and how those influence us, often time implicitly, is fascinating.

   Thanks again.
   ~Brian

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2. Brian,

   Thank you. I considered a video or podcast posting, but went with what was in my comfort zone, and wrote. This was a very creative experiment and I enjoyed it a lot! Your ability to summarize the salient points was appreciated. I have never read much feminist critique or rhetoric, and I thought “Susan D’s” consideration of it really resonated throughout the reading. Beginning with the discussion of power and control, and how that relates to who uses media first, and thus who defines the appropriateness of its use, transitioned nicely to a discussion of digital media through the lens of feminist rhetoric. Finally, she brings the discussion from there forward through how new affordances might give voice to the marginalized and oppressed while revealing barriers of rhetorical tradition. Viewing your post helps me recall what I read and synthesize its vastness into memorable, meaningful, and interrelated issues. I appreciate your treatment of this reading!

   Kelly Johnson

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3. HI Brian,
   Great response here. I like so many points you highlight here (in addition to your use of the animation), especially your depiction of how feminist frames break down the traditional binaries: those tired old splits (that are still very much present) between mind-body, male-female, academic-domestic, and so on. Nice depiction there. For example, in my “woke” English department, I still must defend multimodal composition as a “legitimate” academic genre, even for first-year writing, not to mention scholarly pursuits.
   I also appreciate your call for bringing back the work of women rhetors at the end of your film. As you may know, there’s a whole movement in the rhetorical field (particularly among feminist rhetoricians) to recover/re-create work of women rhetors over the centuries, many of whom have been silenced or (almost) forgotten, including, for example, Aspasia, whose memory/work lives on only through the words of others, including Socrates. These scholars don’t use the term “resurrect” as you do, but they call it “Recovery.” One of the more famous texts is Cheryl Glenn’s *Rhetoric Retold*.
   So much to appreciate in your creative response here. Thanks for the extra work. Well done! MC

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   1. Thank you for the reply.
      I found that discussion about legitimacy interesting in the reading. I think there are so many aspects of society that come down to power over others, such as identifying someone’s work as not being legitimate. It fascinates me how these structures are maintained, sometimes by intention, but often it seems by lack of awareness. My experiences in mental health I think aided me to see some of the power imbalances at play in the world. They also, and maybe more importantly, let me know that they can be easy to miss if we don’t remain vigilant.
      It’s interesting that you mentioned the act of recover regarding women rhetors. In one of my responses in class last term I talked about the word [re]cover and how in one sense it means to cover over again. I went on to talk about how this word is often used in the mental health world, and while dressed up to look nice, often isn’t. If we ask what it is we are want the person to [re]cover, it is often behaviors or choices that go against what society has deemed as normal. [Re]cover then essentially means “act” right.
      When we look at the history of mental health/illness, it is often a weapon leveled at those who are marginalized and oppressed. Think here about the classic idea of hysteria to further [re]press women, or move forward to homosexuality being a disorder until relatively recently.
      And while I know their use of recover is more in the sense of returning to a previous condition, I see that word an can’t help to think about its use in other contexts.

      ~ Brian

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4. Hi Brian,

   Your experiment went really well! I appreciate that you presented the material in a fun way using new, digital media. I’m genuinely impressed. What software did you use to make this? I think it would be a fun way to communicate with the students at IWCC.

   Thank you for the inspiration!

   Sam

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   1. Hi Sam. Thanks for the comment.
      I used Doodly for the video. There are definitely other ones but this one seemed appropriate for my skill level and intention. They don’t have a free trial unfortunately, but from reviews they are good about refunds in the first 30 days. If you do go for the purchase, look for them and a special link on Facebook for a discount.

      ~Brian

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