By Staci Lynn Shultz a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
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EXPLORING LITERACY SPONSORSHIP IN THE DIGITAL EXTRACURRICULUM: HOW STUDENTS‘ PARTICIPATION IN FAN FICTION SITES CAN INFORM COMPOSITION PEDAGOGY by Staci Lynn Shultz A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English and Education) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor Anne Ruggles Gere, Co-Chair Professor Elizabeth Birr Moje, Co-Chair Professor June M. Howard Associate Professor Anne Leslie Curzan © Staci Lynn Shultz ___________________________________________ All rights reserved 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For excellence the presence of others is always required. – Hannah Arendt I owe my development as a scholar and teacher to the many instructors, mentors, and friends within and beyond the academy who have lent me their time as well as their words of wisdom. This project would not exist without you. Thank you to my committee members, who offered support in ways too numerous to count. Anne Ruggles Gere‘s work is what brought me to the University of Michigan and the Joint Program in English and Education (JPEE); I remain awed and inspired by her commitment to the field of composition. It has been an honor to work with Elizabeth Birr Moje, whose groundbreaking work in adolescent literacy practices inspired this project. I am a smarter and more compassionate instructor and researcher for having worked with and learned from Anne Curzan, who served as the director of the English Department Writing Program during my time at Michigan and who constantly inspired me to think more deeply about everything. And last but certainly not least, June Howard‘s work within genre studies as well as her commitment to both teaching and learning has shaped my scholarship and my sense of myself as a student and instructor. I am grateful to these four women for their extraordinary generosity, humor, guidance, and friendship. My colleagues in JPEE supported me in every imaginable way throughout my time in Ann Arbor: Stephanie Moody, Heather and Mike Thomson Bunn, Ebony Thomas, Randy Pinder, Ben Gunsberg, Kelly Sassi, Brett Griffith, Melinda McBee Orzulak, Donna Scheidt, Jim Beitler, Jill Lamberton, and Amy Carpenter Ford. I am honored to count these colleagues as dear friends who have nurtured me emotionally and intellectually in ways that I will carry with me going forward. To those faculty members at Michigan, Boston College, and other institutions who have also supported me along the way, I express my deepest gratitude: Lesley Rex, ii Meg Sweeney, Jay Lemke, Josh Miller, Lad Tobin, Paula Mathieu, Tom Newkirk, Deborah Brandt, Anis Bawarshi, Nedra Reynolds, Henry Jenkins, Rebecca Black, and Juli Parrish. I owe special thanks Rebecca, who through her work introduced me to the world of fan fiction. I was so inspired by what she had to say about adolescents who were learning to write in these extracurricular sites that I decided to design a study of my own that would plunge me into that amazing world and help me think about the potential benefits for the field of composition. Lad and Paula introduced me to the field of composition over a decade ago when I was teaching at Boston College, and I owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude for their ongoing mentorship. Thank you to my friends scattered across the country who keep me grounded and whose faith in me never wavers: Taryn Hakala, Casie Legette, Lauren Wolf, Kristin Fairman Thakor, Bonnie Campbell, Lorelei Scott, Lisa Curtis, Jan and Sydney Wyma, Jean and Larry Chapman, Elaine Healy, Michelle Meade Beckham, Sara Smith Peters, Inna Lyandres Kelly, Katie and Tyler Doupe, Nicole Eppolito Spence, Robert Stanton and Dianne Berg, Tim Lindgren, Bryan Marinelli, Matt Heitzman, Sara Stenson, Wendy Cannella, Alison Van Vort, Alison MacNeil, Amy Hubbard Jones, Camille Arnold Wilder, Jenni Adams Maitlen, Celeste Karzon, Amanda and Scott Ferreira, Megan and Tim Buckley, Megan Gordon, Megan Ryan, Sara Manion Bucchop, Marshall Blodgett, Beth Sanchez, Linda Thomas, the Kalicow family, Jeannie Loughry, Jeanie Laubenthal, Mary Wright, Angie and Scott Berkley, Emily Douglas, Lisa Del Torto, Annie Hesp, Rob Maclean, Nate Houchens, Chris and Louisa Pruitt, Heather Foster, Darin Stockdill, Paul Pearson, and the Engel family. I cannot begin to express my love and appreciation. Let me also thank those enthusiastic and loyal students who agreed to participate in this study: Cam, KouTai, FlightOFFenix, Rae, Kit, and Kayla. This project would have not been possible without you, and I have been humbled by your talent and willingness to talk to me, an outsider, about your literacy practices. Your participation will help literacy and composition scholars continue to advocate for more progressive pedagogies that invite into the classroom and honor extracurricular literacy practices. My deepest gratitude to the academic and extracurricular organizations that have contributed to my professional and personal development over the past five years: Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan English Department Writing iii Program, Center for Research on Learning & Teaching, Digital Media Studies Group, HASTAC, Language & Rhetorical Studies Group, Sopranos, Office of New Student Programs, A2 Yoga, Ann Arbor YMCA, Sweetland Writing Center, ETS, Lovely TV Ladies, Hampton Press, and Longman, as well as the many coffee shops around town that provided space and sustenance. To my students at Boston College and the University of Michigan: I have been truly blessed to teach college composition and to work with such amazing students who challenged me every day to be a better instructor and scholar. You have been tremendous teachers. My family may not always understand my path, but they have never wavered in their love, patience, and support. I could not have done any of this work without you. I love you more than I can ever express. Thank you a million times over to Beth Davila, Hannah Dickinson, Diane Hotten- Somers, Steve Engel, and Rebecca Ingalls—tremendous friends who read drafts of this dissertation and provided invaluable advice and vision on everything from my ideas to my methodology to my formatting. Special thanks to Beth, who read every word (several times) and who supported me every step of the way. I could not have accomplished this feat without your careful reading and constant encouragement. And special thanks as well to Rebecca, whose doctoral work on spoken word introduced to me key concepts that I would later take up in my own dissertation. I remain inspired by her, both personally and professionally. Finally, thank you to Brett Karopczyc, the love of my life, who has offered new insight not only about this dissertation project but also about life in general. I have been transformed by your love. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER ONE COLLEGE STUDENTS AND FAN FICTION: EXPLORING LITERACY PRACTICES IN THE DIGITAL EXTRACURRICULUM .................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO FANS, FAN FICTION, AND LITERACY SPONSORSHIP: A LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS .................................................................... 45 CHAPTER FOUR NEGOTIATING WRITING IDEOLOGIES; REGISTERING AND CREATING PROFILE PAGES ................................................................................................................ 77 CHAPTER FIVE NEGOTIATING WRITING IDEOLOGIES THROUGH ROLES AND FEEDBACK ......... 117 CHAPTER SIX TRANSFORMING THEORY INTO PEDAGOGY: SPONSORSHIP, POSITIONING, AND WRITING IDEOLOGIES IN THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM ........................ 163 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 188 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................... 201 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE 3.1 PARTICIPANT ROLES....................................................................................... 65 5.1 FFN FEEDBACK ............................................................................................ 147 5.2 LJ FEEDBACK ............................................................................................... 147 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 4.1 KOUTAI‘S FFN PROFILE PAGE ...................................................................... 94 4.2 FFN PROFILE PAGE FEATURES—TOP LEFT CORNER ..................................... 95 4.3 KOUTAI‘S FFN ROLES—LEFT SIDE OF PROFILE PAGE .................................. 95 4.4 KOUTAI‘S FFN PROFILE—BOTTOM OF PAGE ................................................ 98 4.5 PARTIAL SCREENSHOT OF CAM‘S LJ HOMEPAGE ......................................... 109 4.6 CAM‘S LJ PAGE—GENERIC CONVENTIONS .................................................. 110 5.1 KOUTAI‘S FFN BETA PROFILE PAGE ..........................................................