Response to "Made Not Only in Words..."

This article, though well-written and all, seems rather outdated and obvious, though it may not have felt quite so outdated/obvious in December, 2004, when it was published. The author, Kathleen Yancey, states that "Literacy today is in the midst of a tectonic change...What do our references to writing mean? Do they mean print only?" She goes on to talk about how assessments view writing as"...'words on paper,' composed on the page with a pen or pencil..." (298). This just feels like a really outdated statement; even in 2004, I had been taking standardized tests, such as the GRE, on the computer for years, and I think everyone would agree that literacy has already undergone the "tectonic change" to which she refers. Pencils seem to be going the way of the dinosaur and nearly everyone has a laptop.

I just don't think people now see literacy in such a narrow way--not educated people, anyway.

There were some things I found interesting: for example, that writers in the 19th century were reading their work in public, and readers were gathering together in 'reading circles' (300). I also appreciated the stats on the decreasing number of English majors, as well as English departments. It's a bit scary to think about job prospects, even though I'm trying to do everything I can to make myself an attractive job candidate (which mostly seems to mean publishing).

Yancey goes on to give a "list of what students aren't asked to do in the current model," though, again, I don't think it's all that relevant (311). I think using technology is something that both students and teachers are constantly thinking about. I'm writing a blog response, for example--no pencil and ink here! I'm publishing my stories online at places that combine literature and politics and art in ways I couldn't have imagined a few years ago. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he was telling me how he communicates with his students on Facebook. They have a class page and, since the students are already constantly on Facebook, they go there and check in more often than they would at, say, Blackboard/Web CT.

I don't know...some good stuff here, but overall I just find it a bit obvious...