At the outset of the
project, I reiterate that my sections of ENG 1131 have been structured
around the notion of interconnectivity and that the second project
finds as its foundation interconnectivity. I then present them with
the following problem:
A problem with which the
history of philosophy, anthropology, and genealogy (to name a few)
have been grappling for decades is origin: When did certain movements
and concepts form? When did a certain being evolve? From whence
did one arrive? To what lineage does one belong? The problem we
will encounter for project 2 is also origin, and we will call this
problem the Phenomenal Problem. The origin in which we will be deeply
invested is our own. We are not interested in origins on a genealogical
level, that is, tracing back our histories to a certain peoples.
We, however, seek to identify our modes of thinking: To whom or
what we do attribute these modes? More specifically, why do we think
a certain way?
I
then tell the students that we will experiment using Greg Ulmer's
popcycle
whereby they will choose a representative for each institution and
research the historical and biographical background of each. The first
institution, Family, in which students generally choose a mother or
father, should require very little formal research, but will require
one to recall certain experiences: "What did my Dad used to say
about life? What life lessons did he teach me? Where was he when he
said it? What was the social climate of society when he imparted that
knowledge?" The remaining three institutions--Entertainment,
which involves media icons, artists, musicians; School, or the place
where the student was raised or spent a considerable amount of time.
At times, this institution can be the armed services or any institution
that requires the family to relocate often; and Expertise, a person
who works in the field that the student plans to work in--will require
a considerable amount of research that will allow students to see
a number of connections between all four institutions. More specifically,
students are encouraged to search online for the history of the place
where they were born or raised, answering questions such as, "What
key figures were responsible for the establishment of my place? What
ideals/ethics/morals/values did that person/those persons represent?
What events were crucial to the development of my place?" For
entertainment, students should research a person who they admire or
whose work they respect. They should try to find out the following,
although they are not limited to these questions: "What ideals/ethics/morals/values
did that person represent? Where was s/he born? Do you find that you
have anything in common with that person? If so, what?" Last,
students are expected to research a person well known in their area
of study or expected career. If students are undecided about their
career goals, I tell them to choose a passion or hobby and a person
within that field and answer the same questions they asked of their
media stars.
The experience of successful
research should provide a moment of Eureka. Often, what the students
are looking for is the repetition of a word or theme. For example,
one student discovered the words "will" and "bill"
in his research, and he expanded on the terms to include determination,
freedom of speech, the law, focus. So, in his project he realized
to what extent his father, who is a lawyer, plays a major role in
his life. The student chose Howard Stern as the entertainment figure,
one who has vehemently tested the jurisprudence of the First Amendment.
As the student completed more research, the theme developed more fully.
Next,
after the students have found the word or theme, they must convert
it into a story, metaphor, and/or anecdote, which is generally one
of the more difficult parts of the project. I provide them with examples
of fictional stories that work well with metaphor, such as M. Scott
Momaday's A Way to Rainy Mountain.
After they have determined
what metaphors they will use, students must map them on the web as
a dendritic, stream of consciousness using multiple links on a page
or frames. I screen a number of films, such as Memento, Buffalo
66, and Fight Club, that help students think through this
part of the project. What I would like the students to gather most
from these films is that it is possible to present the reader or viewer
with suspenseful material in a creative manner. What these films show
us, and what the project attempts to argue, is that memory plays a
large part in how we conceptualize. So, if our minds fail us, we must
rely on small details to help us make sense of something larger. These
projects follow precisely that methodology, where students incorporate
small details of their identities so that the reader or viewer can
get a sense (for him- or herself) who the student is. The point is,
we are testing a new practice of online writing that uses the image
and text to address a (phenomenal) problem of origin or identity.