Post 8

Starting in middle school, technical literacies began to be integrated into my curriculum.  I started having classes teaching how to use computers and their basic functions while at school every day.  It seems my age group is one of the first groups to have this sort of computer training while we were young and have it continue as time went on.  These first few classes in middle school helped mold my future in writing by teaching typing lessons and making it possible to create papers on a computer, which is just about the only place that we write now.  In high school we had a computer lab that we would use for class projects and the ability to write individual papers.  Having all of these resources helped form my own technical and visual literacy.  

Even today, I still have different projects helping form my literacy.  This class has even helped me in different ways than I have ever had before.  Editing a Wikipedia page and even having the blog to post assignments and respond to them are other ways to expend our literacy.  Not only can these types of practices help in our academic career, but also possibly help in different aspects of life.  Although my major does not require a lot of writing other than short essays and the occasional paper, there is technology on computers that helps interpret different tests and science based evidence found in experiments conducted.  Our literacy is being formed all the time and learning is always occurring whether it seems that way or not, sometimes we just need some help taking it all in the correct way.

Post 7

Brandt brings about the idea that our literacy is formed by the sponsors in our life.  But, like the sponsors we see on every day television and radio, they have their own intentions in why they would want to sponsor us in the first place.  Brandt says that while our literacy is fueled by the help of these sponsors, they also have their best interest in mind and are striving to benefit from the process as well.  For example, the upper class in society is more often exposed and taught literacy at a higher and more readily level.  A child that comes from a wealthy family, goes to a wealthy private school, and has access to better education.  In contrast, a child who comes from a lower class home is forced to go to a public school where the education is free and does not have access to the same level of education as the higher class.  The sponsor in this case would be the educational system.  Since the wealthier families have to pay for their children's "better" education, they in turn benefit the sponsor.  Brandt shows an example similar to this when she tells the stories of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez.  Raymond's journey into literacy was very different from Dora's in that it was much easier to have access to it educational tools and a higher class living style. 

Post 6

-Exigence is a thought out and planned idea, delivered in a way that an appropriate response will be triggered.  Cause and effect came to mind when reading this section of the article; there is a reason for the events and questions presented in discourse.  An example may be buying your boss a present on their birthday.  Whether you actually like this person enough to buy them a present or not, you care enough about how they perceive you to do it. 

-The rhetor plays the role of the messenger.  This is the way that an idea is presented to the audience.  In a way, the rhetor is responsible for how a situation is created and perhaps how it is accepted as well.  An example could be the announcement of a college sports scandal.  The initial response is going to be outrage at the event that took place, but having the star player of the team address the media may help numb the response.

-The audience is essentially the reason for a discourse.  If a writing is being published, a speech being written, or a movie being filmed; it is meant to be read, heard, or watched.  The audience is the motive behind this and the reason for what ideas are being put into them. 

-Constraints are what holds back the discourse.  These are what gets in the way of the rhetor successfully delivering the message that they want the audience to take with them.  This may be physical, like a print being published for after school programs to under privileged children, but not having the means to get into the right neighborhoods.  Or, this may be emotional, like talking about a touchy situation on television but not wanting to offend a certain audience. 

Post 5

In "Shitty First Drafts", Lamontt says that all good writing initially begins with a bad draft.  The first draft is an attempt to get ideas flowing and a beginning to the direction of where the writing will eventually go.  Lamontt's idea of a first draft comes from not being able to sit down and immediately beginning an amazing piece of writing from the start, in fact she stresses how uncommon this occurs.  Successful writing is a process and the beginning of that process is a shitty first draft.  Lamontt mentions using many different ideas, extending a portion of the introduction, or over emphasizing an idea just as a way to get words on the paper and deciding where you want to go from there.  When writing for Wikipedia, her methods could be useful by simply structuring the way you are writing the article.  By just getting something down on the paper, you can do as she suggests and use it as a starting point.  You obviously would never want to post anything on Wiki until you have a final draft selected, because a "Shitty First Draft" is only meant for the readers eyes only and is meant to be one step in the writing process. 

Post 3

Imagining writing as "individual, isolated, heroic" can give that sense that every time a piece of writing is being made it must have those types of qualities.  That every time a piece of literature is being created, it must have complete originality and be uninfluenced by other writings surrounding it.  The reading "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community" explains that all writings are influenced, in some way, by previous literature.  Whether this is conscious or subconscious, the way that we all write is formed and put together by all the previous writings we have read throughout our lives and literary careers.  So, the idea of writing a piece that is completely "individual" is unattainable all together when critiqued by these standards.  This can be harmful because it gives the sense that every writing is being plagiarized in some way.  As an inexperienced writer, hearing that the ideas you are using for your own writing belong to someone else can give the impression that you are doing something wrong.