MIAMI UNIVERSITY the Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation
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MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Michele Polak Candidate for the Degree: Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________ Director Dr. Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson _____________________________________ Reader Dr. Heidi McKee _____________________________________ Reader Dr. Michele Simmons _____________________________________ Graduate School Representative Dr. Sally Lloyd ABSTRACT BEYOND DIGITAL PLAY: INTEGRATING GIRL-CREATED SUBJECTIVITY INTO THE COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM by Michele Polak This dissertation focuses on the intersections between digital literacy studies and Girl Studies. Informed by current theories of the development of girls’ subjectivity, I contend that girl-created subjectivities outside of the classroom should be connected to what girls (or by the time they enter our college classroom, young women) are asked to do inside the digital classroom. I propose that girls’ practices of online identity formation before coming to college are a powerful form of digital literacy that college writing instructors should recognize and foster. In this project, I investigate the following questions: How have online writing spaces affected girls’ subjectivity before entering college? What literacy skills have girls developed from a girl-created subjectivity? Are the criteria of what constitutes girl space adaptable to the composition classroom? What are the routines and familiarities of our female students’ writing processes outside of the classroom? Are such processes and forms recognized within the academic environment? Is the notion of a girl-created subjectivity able to thrive in the academic setting and perhaps more importantly, should it? With this dissertation, I suggest that we need to have an understanding of a girl-created subjectivity and that it needs to be recognized if we as scholars are to move forward into understanding girls’ development for the sake of girls themselves. I contend that teachers of college composition should work toward allowing an integration of girls’ social activities online with their writing processes in the classroom if young women at the college level are to succeed in the identity exploration that begins in early adolescence. BEYOND DIGITAL PLAY: INTEGRATING GIRL-CREATED SUBJECTIVITY INTO THE COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English by Michele Polak Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2011 Director: Dr. Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson © Michele Polak 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii INTRODUCTION 1 Theoretical Foundation 2 Context of Project 3 Chapter Structure 4 CHAPTER ONE: PROJECT OVERVIEW AND METHODOLOGY 6 Introduction 6 Project Design 6 Recruitment and Solicitation of Project Participants 8 Following A Feminist Research Structure 9 Data Collection 12 Online Anonymous Survey 12 Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing, Online Anonymous Survey 13 Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing, Video Interviews 16 Case Studies, Face-to-Face Interviews 16 Student Writing, In-class and Assignments 20 Conclusion 20 CHAPTER TWO: IS THIS ENGLISH CLASS? GOING DIGITAL IN THE COLLEGE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM 22 Introduction 22 Incorporating Digital Pedagogies 23 Establishing a Writing Identity 27 Realizing the Digital Writing Process 28 Making a Rhetorical Connection 29 Writing Comfortably/Writing Critically 33 Conclusion 36 CHAPTER THREE: HOW TWO FIELDS INTERSECT: LITERATURE REVIEW AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT 37 Youth Culture and Digital Literacy 37 The Critical Possibilities of Digital Literacy 37 Pedagogical Progressions in the Composition Classroom 40 A History of Girl Studies in America 42 The First Wave 43 Moving Forward 46 The Rise of Girl Culture 48 Becoming the Third Wave 49 The Riot Grrrls and DIY 51 iii CHAPTER FOUR: WHERE THE gURLs ARE: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF ONLINE SPACE 53 Introduction 53 Commercial Websites 56 The Girl Market 58 Site Design 59 Content 62 Institutional Websites 68 Content 68 Personal Websites 71 Site Design 73 Content 78 Complicating the Issue 82 Conclusion 84 CHAPTER FIVE: A PERSONAL WEBSITE CASE STUDY: INSIDE THE PRO-ANA MOVEMENT 86 Introduction 86 Pro-Ana Girls Online 87 Inside the Pro-Ana Site 88 Creating a Pro-Ana Identity 92 CHAPTER SIX: THE BLOGOSPHERE AND SOCIAL NETWORKING: WEB 2.0 99 Introduction 99 Enter: Web 2.0 99 The Blogosphere 101 Diaries vs. Journals 102 The Blogging Audience 104 Blogging Activism 105 The Curious Case of Tavi Gevinson, Style Rookie 106 Social Networking 111 MySpace 112 facebook 113 Twitter 114 Access 116 The Digital Divide 116 In the Institutional Setting 118 Conclusion 119 CONCLUSION: FROM THE SOCIAL SCENE TO THE ACADEMIC SCREEN: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FIELD 121 Introduction 121 Digital Literacy and the Institutional Setting 124 Students and the Traditional Writing Process 130 Teachers and the Digital Composition Classroom 133 Conclusion 135 iv WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED 137 APPENDIX A: Solicitation Email for Request for Participation in Recruiting Research Participants 152 APPENDIX B: Consent Form to Participate in an Interview Study 153 APPENDIX C: Notational Interview Questions for Face-to-Face Interviews 155 APPENDIX D: Survey: Gauging Digital Literacy In and Out of the Composition Classroom 157 APPENDIX E: General Student Consent Form 161 APPENDIX F: Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing Survey, Early Fall 2006 162 APPENDIX G: Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing Survey, Late Fall 2006 166 APPENDIX H: Consent Form for Participation in a Research Study, Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing, Fall 2006 170 APPENDIX I: Notational Interview Questions, Miami University First-Year Composition & Computing, Fall 2006 173 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Gender Breakdown of Research Respondents 11 vi DEDICATION for Steph because during this / uphill / winding out of the way path you gave me 4am laughter ___________________ I pondered how this bliss would look— And would it feel as big— When I could take it in my hand— As hovering—seen—through fog— And then—the size of this “small” life— The Sages—call it small— Swelled—like Horizons—in my vest— And I sneered—softly—“small”! (271) vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee for standing by me throughout the long process of this project. Michele Simmons, who has always been and continues to be excited about my research, making me excited in return; Sally Lloyd who showed me feminist and womanist spaces; Heidi McKee who never once gave up on me, and especially my Chair, Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson who not only taught me about feminist pedagogies but supported me and all my ideas from day one, long before this project was even a trickle of a possibility. I can only hope I am able to pass this strength of support onto my own students. I would like to thank my colleagues, Danielle Gray and Kristen Moore—the two best teachers I have ever met—who spent countless hours at Kofenya with me deliberating the best way to begin and end this project. I would also like to thank Trav Webster for every Thursday night at Bob’s and every Friday night in the blue chair and every moment in between. You have made me so much of who I am as a teacher and as a scholar; I could have never survived without you (and Britney). I would like to thank my closest friends who always, always thought I would succeed, even when I wasn’t so sure. Especially Russ Revock who read every word of my early writing and made me believe I was capable; Celeste Satie for all those dinners in the early years of this project, not to mention the support in too many ways to note here; and Alberta Watson who made me believe—and continues to make me believe—that I am her she-ro. Finally, I would like to thank my family for the unbelievable support emotionally, financially and spiritually. For my nieces, Amanda, Nicole, Claire, Samantha and Kate who have provided me, and will continue to provide me with research material—and purpose—for years to come. For my siblings who continue to support me no matter what idea and hair-brained scheme I toss their way. And while my mother did not live to see the completion of this project, she never once doubted I would finish it. It is because of her that I pay it forward. vi ii Introduction This dissertation focuses on the intersections between digital literacy studies and Girl Studies. Informed by current theories of the development of girls’ subjectivity, I contend that girl-created subjectivities outside of the classroom should be connected to what girls (or by the time they enter our college classroom, young women) are asked to do inside the digital classroom. I propose that girls’ practices of online identity formation before coming to college are a powerful form of digital literacy that college writing instructors should recognize and foster. Working through the foundational texts of Girl Studies (e.g., Gilligan, Orenstein and Pipher), I argue, following Driscoll, that a girl-created subjectivity should be recognized as its own concept other than one constructed by the adult concerns of Woman. Reviewing digital literacy theorists in Composition and Rhetoric (e.g., Alexander; Comstock; Hawisher; Kress; Selfe; Turkle) and building on their arguments, I show that girls use online positions to explore multiple subjectivities and that these pre-college experiences should be used in digital composition classes at the college level. I have addressed two fields in this dissertation: that of Composition and Rhetoric and that of Girl Studies. I have had a foot in each discipline since the beginning of my graduate career and thus designed this project around my scholarly experience; I feel well qualified to propose ideas on how to recognize a girl-created subjectivity and to encourage its growth in the college composition classroom. My struggle throughout this project had been the question of how to connect the activity I see taking place in online environments with that of my own female students in the composition classroom.