Crank Deconstruction

At first when I started reading Crank I was just flying through the book. I was reading at a very surface level in the sense I was just reading the words on the page. I did notice of course that the words were disjointed, that they sometimes formed shapes that seemed to correspond to what was being talked about on that particular page. But I didn't really do much deconstructing of the text and the language beyond that.

I unfortunately missed the Deconstructive Theory presentation, but I'm sure it was wonderful. So I had to do some digging through the chapter to get caught up, and I helped myself out, as it is a pretty hefty complicated theory, with some useful Wikipedia advice. I found the following on Wikipedia: "Deconstruction generally attempts to demonstrate that any text is not a discrete whole but contains several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; that any text therefore has more than one interpretation; that the text itself links these interpretations inextricably; that the incompatibility of these interpretations is irreducible; and thus that an interpretative reading cannot go beyond a certain point" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction). That made it a bit easier for me. So after doing that I changed the way I read Crank about halfway through. I started reading for these different interpretations that were parts of a whole. This made the reading so much more interesting in ways. For example, on page 195, the chapter called "I slithered down the hall," could be broken down using deconstructive theory. I read the whole thing first as a complete text. I then read just the words on the left hand side of the page. There were gaps that my mind filled in, but really were missing words that made it seem incomplete. The emphasis on the left, the message I got was the story of a girl washing in a shower, her leg infected, and she is angry and sad. If I opened the book just to this page and read, it would be unclear as to whether the angry purple welt she describes is a bruise from being beaten by Adam, an old wound of sorts, or something else (like the tattoo that we know it to be). But the interesting part for me was when I read just the words on the right hand side of the page: "shed...skin...found...Kristina...beneath" (195). Taken in context with the title of the page, it was like a mini poem of a metaphor of a girl to a snake. In context with the story this made the fragmentation of her mind even more profound. She was Bree in Albuquerque, but she takes a shower in Reno, and literally washes that self away with the dust and dirt and everything else.

I continued to read the story in this way, picking apart the different meanings and constructions behind the language. I didn't go so far as to decipher individual words, and what their meaning could be, what we assume their meaning is, and then the other meanings that may linger behind that which add layers to the understanding of the story and the message, but I found this as a really interesting, if not overwhelming at times, way to read a text. I would be intimidated to teach this particular theory to secondary students myself without some further instruction and help getting a handle of the theory, and I would worry that they would find it time-consuming and tedious and horror of all horrors...boring. But I really liked the text, and liked experimenting with the theory.

Deconstructive Theory Presentation

Hello everyone! Our slides from our PowerPoint Presentation should be on Angel as soon as I figure out how to upload them.

I think our presentation on deconstructive theory went really well, especially considering the theory is one that is difficult to conceptualize. We wanted to make sure the class understood the idea behind ambiguous language and I really think we accomplished that. We also tried to make that part of the lecture entertaining by demonstrating how deconstructing a sentence could be fun. The headlines at the end of the lecture especially drove that point home.

If we could go back and do some things differently, I think we should have handed out a hard copy of our reading so the class could visually follow along and use it as a tool to try deconstructive theory. I didn't realize how helpful having the text physically in front of you was until we did the reading and discovered the class had issues remembering enough to deconstruct.

By the end of the period, though, I think the class had a basic idea of the theory and how to apply it. It was really fun working with the group and then teaching the class about our theory. I'm also glad I was in the deconstructive group because this theory is so interesting and you never know where your interpretations will take you. Please comment with your thoughts ...

Deconstructing Crank

Thanks to the Deconstructive Theory group for introducing the class to the theory today. I can't emphasize enough the impact this new way of thinking had on how people in all disciplines think about the (im)possibility of objectivity, the relationship between language and thought, and the potential benefits of playing with uncertainty. I was glad that the group made the point that this theory doesn't just "rip things apart", but is a tool to create new ideas, meanings, insights, etc. Here are two examples that have sprung to mind since class:

• Consider Locke's use of "for your own good" and the ways that one person imposing his/her will on another is in tension with the possibility of the recipient "owning" that good.
• Sometimes the "/" (vergule) is used to indicate the instability of categories. For example, talking about "dis/ability" suggests that: 1) disability and ability are always in relation to each other, 2) disability and ability might coexist, 3) we might consider disability "or" ability, etc. (Anderson & Merrill, 2001).

For those of you who want to try a hand at this type of analysis, let's do that here. Some techniques might include:

• Find a very short piece of text and read it multiple ways. You might try out the dictionary activity Peter described in class or generate your own meanings. To use a common deconstructive metaphor, how does the language/meaning "slip"?
• Make a statement about the surface ideology of the text--the meaning that, for the moment, seems "obvious" to you. Then find ambiguities in the text or counter-evidence. What contradictions can we find? What do you now consider to be the sub-text?
• 
  Play with different ways of reading the verse. What happens when you treat the shape of the words on the page in different ways?

These are only a few suggestions. Have fun!

Crank discussion

Here are several interlated questions to get us started discussing Crank:

• In what ways is Crank YAL? How does it work as a "problem novel"?
• What did you find powerful, surprising, or troubling? What made it so?
• What was the ideological message of the text? To draw on our discussion of deconstructive criticism, any mixed messages? If so, what do we (re)make of them?

As always, try to refer and/or quote specific passages in the text as support or to generate discussion.

Week 13: On-line class (Tuesday) and Crank discussion/activity (Thursday)

I'm sorry for the late notice but, as I said in class, I will need to miss class this upcoming Tuesday. Instead, we'll do an on-line discussion.  So...no face-to-face class Tuesday, 4/13. 

On-line discussion:
Your on-line participation will take the place of the 1-page critical reflection listed on the syllabus.

• Read Crank by Ellen Hopkins and the articles in the coursepack on censorship/selection. 
• I will post several "discussion starter posts"  to focus discussion.
• Before Tuesday, choose a discussion strand that interests you and write an initial comment that responds to a facet of the prompt. If you want to discuss a topic that doesn't seem to be captured by any of these posts, feel free to write your own post to start a new strand of discussion.
• Return to the blog sometime between Tuesday and Thursday, skim the discussion strands, and respond to at least 2 other people's comments.

Remember that comments don't have to be lengthy, as long as they are responsive and substantive.

For Thursday:

Please bring your copy of Crank. We can spend a little time extending the discussion we will have started on the blog, but we'll spend the bulk of our session exploring how the text is shaped by the fact that it is written in verse. We'll use a modified form of Reader's Theater to explore the questions: What changes when we attend to the shape and sound of the poetry, rather than reading it silently to ourselves? What does this say about language? Meaning? (Deconstructive theory) Although I have already selected some of the poems from the book that we might use for this activity, if you have particular favorites, please mark them as options for your group to present. 

I know some of the content in the book may be more or less comfortable to members of the class and that everyone has different comfort levels "performing" in front of groups. I've structured the activity in a way that I hope everyone will be able to make participation choices with which they feel comfortable. Despite the fact that I've just used the word "comfort" three times, I also hope people come willing to take some risks!   

I actually liked American Born Chinese

Fist, I would like to respond briefly to the comments some people made about American Born Chinese. I actually found this graphic novel to be engrossing, in that I set out to read just a few pages and ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting. I actually enjoyed the way the three portions of the text intertwined at the finish, especially with the common theme of the identity crisis/denial between the characters. I thought all of that was quite clever. I'm curious to see how we approach this text tomorrow. I am not very experienced with graphic novels, so this was a new experience for me. I thought it made some risky choices of displaying stereotypes while juxtaposing them with a character who is consciously setting themselves in stark contrast with those presumed traits. So did anyone really like it?

On another note, I would like to encourage anyone who has a little extra time or an overachieving streak to read about Deconstructive Theory. If you enjoy playing with the certainties/uncertainties of language, tearing things apart, or if you have problems with absolutist interpretations of texts as mandated by the teacher, you can really have a lot of fun with this theory. I actually utilized it as part of a project for another class assignment! Check it out if you have the time; otherwise I'll be telling you all about it with my group members sometime in April!

Deconstructive theory group

Deconstructive criticism, presenting 4/08/10.
(In preparation for reading Crank)

1. Steve Blake
2. Kerri Molitor
3. Alyssa Salisbury
4. Charlotte Stephens