Close Reading

The Ethics of Reading: Close Encounters
Jane Gallop
Journal of Curriculum Theorizing
Fall 2000

I agree with Gallop that close reading is an ethical activity. The tension I have experienced in my coursework to date in the PhD program, is that there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between the number of pages of required reading, and the amount of time needed, per page, to do a close reading of the assigned texts. What it means is that I, as a student, have to make a decision: what of the assigned texts am I going to skim, and what am I going to read closely. My problem with making this discernment is that my impression, from my instructors, is that I am expected to have done a close reading of all the texts. Each week I would arrive knowing that I did not have a thorough grasp of the texts, and that I would have to act as if I did, for fear of appearing under prepared. I did not feel this did justice to the texts, and I constantly felt that I was missing something. In one course, the instructor acknowledged that we would not be able to give each reading the same attention and that we would have to pick and choose the texts we would focus on. This was a huge relief, because I knew that I was not expected to have equal knowledge of all the texts. I would choose one text to read closely, and bring that understanding to the class discussion. Because, we, as a class, had diverse research interests, the discussion never lacked for contributions in relation to the texts. In some cases, I was inspired to mark some texts that I had skimmed, as a result of the discussions brought forward by my colleagues. I agree that close readings are an ethical endeavour. I believe it is important for the instructor to ensure the conditions of the course enable the students to read, with reasonable time estimates, without the stress of internal conflicts over which texts to select.

Starting a new course

A new course starts up next week with Dennis Sumara. I’ve started the readings preparatory to the first class. It’s looking very interesting. I’m going to blog my progress with the readings, in an effort to maximize my learning as I work through the material. I keep trying to develop methods for reading and writing that will cut down on time spent leafing through pages looking for that particular cite or reference that stood out for me. So far, marking pages has been the most effective, but I can’t carry all the books and papers back and forth from school to home. In a sense, it is a dual process that goes on with the reading, or actually, three processes occurring concurrently. First, there is the process of understanding what the author is saying. Reading each sentence, synthesizing the points of the paragraphs, figuring out what is being communicated. Second, there is a data mining process, where I am marking, capturing and collecting text fragments because I want to bring them forward for my own purposes. Third, there is an integrative process, wherein the language of the author becomes my language. When I am asked to describe what something means, and I am able to do so, I have successfully integrated the concepts and vocabulary enough to draw examples from my own experience.

I don’t know if I can figure this out

by writing on the computer. I think it is time to make a drawing, and see if something comes clear that way. I feel completely overwhelmed right now, as flat as a pancake and devoid of inspiration. But I have to get this done. Something has to come clear. And fast.

Free writing

I have another paper due on Monday and I feel completely lost with what I am doing. At the same time, I think I am very close to doing something worthwhile. What I have started is way too big. There is no way it is going to be a reasonable effort for this course paper. What I want to do is set up an online blog space to enact an interactive discourse process of reading and writing. I wanted to set up a blog that was a collection of pages for a paper. Each page was a separate topic or sub-topic for the paper. The reader could either read through the paper, being able to access it online, or, contribute to the writing of the paper by commenting on the page. The idea is to subvert notions of authority, expertise, and knowledge. The idea is that our collective contributions to know

Freewriting some more

This has to be enough. I will take this paper and parse it out as a blog site. I will then write an abstract, introductory comments, methodology, theoretical framework and conclusions for the interactive activity. What I want to write about is the activity of engagement. I realize I will not have enough research literature to back up my thesis. I just have not had time to gather all that information. But I do have some. I will have to get it done with what I have. I will have to draw on the research I have. What I am going to need, then, is an outline for this paper, which will provide a context for the blog. Is this the best idea? What I have laid out is impossible. No matter how hard I work on it, I won’t get it finished in time. There is still too much research for that one. I have a start on it, but that is all. I want to take the theory from the articulation course, as methodology and theory, and apply it to this paper activity, of co-writing in a blog to construct knowledge. That should work, shouldn’t it?

Free writing cont.

I have a paper that I am happy with, that I have submitted for another course. What I was thinking, might be a good way to enact the theory and methodology of this current course paper, is to construct that previous paper as a blog site, where participants can contribute to the paper content in the blog. I just don’t know if this concept, this construction of a blog, is enough, is sufficient to submit. This is what blogs are for, to enable back and forth communication on different subjects and topics. Isn’t this project just too obvious? To unoriginal? But when I look at the project that I started for this concept:

educationICTsustainability

It feels fresh, it would be an experience that I have not had, in terms of learning, pedagogy, and curriculum. What this amounts to is a curriculum design that enacts experiences of non-hierarchical, ICT-infused learning relationships. Yes, I start the action, as the teacher/facilitator, by putting my content out there for discussion, or argument.

Writing a report

I use a whiteboard to scribble out the thoughts that are getting in the way of the thoughts that I need to represent on paper. This is a fragment of my thinking.

My friend, Jeanie Sundland, introduced me to the book, “Divine Proportion: PHI In Art, Nature, and Science” by Priya Hemenway (2005). I have long been fascinated by the Nautilus spiral, and the construction of the proportion of the radiating line in relation to the size of the spiral. It’s all the more interesting to me, because I have a quirky, innate sense of proportion: I cannot draw photographically correct representations of life; I have such a strong sense of proportion in terms of composition that it feels hardwired in my brain. I am using geometry, the Fibonacci number sequence, and drawing processes to help me construct my papers, to inform the writing process. I honestly can’t think of any other way to do it.

Talkshoe Response 00

The following posts are ideas and questions gleaned from listening to the recording of the Talkshoe program we participated in last week:

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=1210&cmd=tc

I noticed that having the opportunity to listen to the recording after the event gave me a chance to reflect on the specific content of the discussions. Immediately after participating in the online event, I was more focussed on my experience of the discussion, rather than the content of the discussion.

This drawing, a free form construction based on Celtic knot, provides a graphic representation as metaphor for the fluid, overlapping, continuous phenomena of my experience.

Talkshoe Response 01

When I step back to take a broader view of my environment, the objects that surround me and relationships, I realize that there is no simple conception of object, environment or relationship. They are all complex, interleaved, and there are layers of awareness that I only become conscious of, as I dig below the surface of events. The dishes on the table, the layers of food on the pizza, the beverages we drank after class, all have environmental and ecological implications.

Talkshoe Response 02

We have talked, in this class, about arbitrary closure, the boundaries that we impose on our research and scholarship that make it possible to investigate a fragment of people, place, and participation. Even as I experience the research process and collect data that will be useful in constructing a cohesive representation, I am editing my own perceptions, deleting or filing memories, that I believe will be useful in the future.