A few posts ago I talked about my love for the book Ella Enchanted. It's not exactly Tolstoy or Melville, but it is a well known book and could play well as a filter for different issues regarding digital literacy.
So now it's time to....duh, duh, duh, DUH! BRAINSTORM!
I have been playing around with a few different ideas. Tell me what you think of these:
- Social norms on Goodreads. I would research and discuss what is socially acceptable and what isn't. I would tie this into Ella Enchanted by talking about how we are obedient to these rules, just as Ella is obedient through most of the book.
- The effect of renting ebooks from a library. I would look into how available this has become, what the advantages and disadvantages of it are, how it effects readers, authors, and publishers, and how it could increase literacy generally. I could use the magic book that Ella has that has a different story in it every time she opens it as a posslbe connection to the topic.
- I have been thinking about the idea of instant gratification.. I don't know where I could quite take it, but it is very mucha prevelant part of the digital age. The idea reminds me of the two evil stepsisters in the novel, Olive and Hattie. Does anyone have any ideas about what direction I could take it?
These ideas are definitely just a starting point. But I would love to hear your feedback! Share away!
I like your thought on the instant gratification aspect. I think you'd need to do some research on the negative affects found in this day. It's easy to see how the spoiled nature of Olive and Hattie have made them into the evil stepsisters, but how does instant gratification affect reading, reviewing, rating, and buying literature in this digital age? If you read my post, you'll see that I mentioned an earlier version of Cinderella about a young Chinese girl named Yeh-Shen. When I went to find an ebook version, I couldn't find one! It was so frustrating. Have I become so accustomed to getting what I want when I want it online that I can't handle not getting an ebook that I want RIGHT NOW? (Does that make sense? haha.)
ReplyDeleteIf you go into talking about renting ebooks there's the platform of Overdrive, or there's a new one I discovered (but haven't tried yet) but their claim is they're "the netflix of books" and that's called Oysterbooks. Just a couple of platforms you could incorporate! And I like the idea of the renting ebooks, I feel like you might actually be able to tie that into your idea of instant gratification as well since it makes it so readily available. Just some thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThanks you guys! This is super helpful!
ReplyDeleteI feel like the social norms idea is interesting and different. Everyone online has this unspoken code that they seem to follow...or pay the price they don't. Do we only progress when we break off, are disobedient, and try something new? Ohhh I think you could do a lot with that!
ReplyDeleteI feel like the social norms idea is interesting and different. Everyone online has this unspoken code that they seem to follow...or pay the price they don't. Do we only progress when we break off, are disobedient, and try something new? Ohhh I think you could do a lot with that!
ReplyDelete