BOOK PART
How the Kindle is affecting literary study in a very good way!CHAPTER TITLE
No Need to Cut Off Toes and Heels When You Have a Kindle Touch at Your Fingertips
TWEETHIS
The X-Ray feature on the Kindle allows a reader to increase their comprehension of and ability to analyze a literary work rather than using sites like SparkNotes that provide a “cheat sheet” causing students to not read the literary work at all.
KEYWORDS
XRay, Kindle, Reading Comprehension
TOPICAL IMAGE
Maybe a picture of an xray on a kindle or a skeleton reading or this brain?
CONTENT PARAMETERS: DIGILITERARY VIA AMAZON-KINDLE-GOODREADS CONNECTION
CONTENT PARAMETERS: DIGILITERARY VIA AMAZON-KINDLE-GOODREADS CONNECTION
Students are able to read a book on the Kindle and use the device to understand the novel rather than turning to sites that tell them everything – which causes a decrease in their ability to analyze a work of literature on their own.
LITERARY WORK
Grimm’s Fairy Tale, Cinderella
TRADITIONAL REFERENCES - (General Literary, Scholarly)
1. CEA Critic - “The Right Understanding”: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes
CEA Critic, Volume 76, Number 3, November 2014, pp. 273-277
by: Alison Bach
2. Computers in the Schools: Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research
Volume 29, Issue 1-2, 2012
Special Issue: Signature Pedagogies Incorporating Technology
SOCIAL REFERENCES (current conversations, social media, interviews)
1. Discussion on Amazon about X-Ray feature:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1SUCCCPG6ZVPG
2. Amazon User Guide
3. Ereader.com - http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2013/03/18/kindle-x-ray-feature-review-video/
CONTENT LAYOUT - Rough Outline of My Chapter
1. Cutting toes and heels is like cutting corners to “read” a book.
2. SparkNotes vs X Ray.
3. The things you can learn using the X Ray feature
4. Conclude: The Kindle device promotes reading comprehension which in turn promotes a motivation to read more.
Sample of my very rough draft:
In the Grimm’s Fairy Tale Version of Cinderella, a young woman, Cinderella, is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters until she is finally given the opportunity to better her circumstances by attending the King’s festival. Each night of the 3-night festival Cinderella flees, but the last night the Prince pours pitch on the stairs hoping to keep Cinderella from escaping. Because of the pitch, Cinderella is forced to leave her golden shoe behind. When the Prince goes searching for his mystery woman, he goes to Cinderella’s home where her stepsisters are able to try on the shoe – each hoping to win the Prince. Because the shoe doesn’t fit, one sister cuts off her toe and the other cuts off her heel with the attitude that when they are rich, they will no longer need to walk. This “cutting” of corners proved to be fruitless for the stepsisters as the blood pouring from the shoe causes them to be caught “red-footed” in their deceit.
Just as the evil stepsisters try to cheat their way into the Prince’s heart, students are often shortcutting their literary experience by seeking out sites like SparkNotes that provide analyses of characters, motifs, etc. rather than reading the literary work itself. Many people assume that the reason for using SparkNotes is driven by a laziness of the student, but most teachers have found that the driving force is a lack of understanding of the literature by the student. In an article titled “The Right Understanding: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes”, Alison Bach writes, “ I polled students in my composition and humanities classes at Hudson County Community College, an urban public access institution, to determine how and why they were using SparkNotes and similar websites. Over 90% of my students stated that they have used SparkNotes at least once in the past, and more than two-thirds said they use SparkNotes at least once per semester. However, fewer than 10% admitted to using it instead of reading the actual text. . . significantly, many of their responses contain the words ‘understand’ or ‘clarify’.” As an avid reader myself, I find that if I want to enjoy a book I must understand what I am reading. Lack of comprehension leads to boredom which leads to a decrease in a desire to read.
LITERARY WORK
Grimm’s Fairy Tale, Cinderella
TRADITIONAL REFERENCES - (General Literary, Scholarly)
1. CEA Critic - “The Right Understanding”: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes
CEA Critic, Volume 76, Number 3, November 2014, pp. 273-277
by: Alison Bach
2. Computers in the Schools: Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research
Volume 29, Issue 1-2, 2012
Special Issue: Signature Pedagogies Incorporating Technology
SOCIAL REFERENCES (current conversations, social media, interviews)
1. Discussion on Amazon about X-Ray feature:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1SUCCCPG6ZVPG
2. Amazon User Guide
3. Ereader.com - http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2013/03/18/kindle-x-ray-feature-review-video/
CONTENT LAYOUT - Rough Outline of My Chapter
1. Cutting toes and heels is like cutting corners to “read” a book.
2. SparkNotes vs X Ray.
3. The things you can learn using the X Ray feature
4. Conclude: The Kindle device promotes reading comprehension which in turn promotes a motivation to read more.
Sample of my very rough draft:
Cutting Off Toes and Heels?
In the Grimm’s Fairy Tale Version of Cinderella, a young woman, Cinderella, is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters until she is finally given the opportunity to better her circumstances by attending the King’s festival. Each night of the 3-night festival Cinderella flees, but the last night the Prince pours pitch on the stairs hoping to keep Cinderella from escaping. Because of the pitch, Cinderella is forced to leave her golden shoe behind. When the Prince goes searching for his mystery woman, he goes to Cinderella’s home where her stepsisters are able to try on the shoe – each hoping to win the Prince. Because the shoe doesn’t fit, one sister cuts off her toe and the other cuts off her heel with the attitude that when they are rich, they will no longer need to walk. This “cutting” of corners proved to be fruitless for the stepsisters as the blood pouring from the shoe causes them to be caught “red-footed” in their deceit.
Just as the evil stepsisters try to cheat their way into the Prince’s heart, students are often shortcutting their literary experience by seeking out sites like SparkNotes that provide analyses of characters, motifs, etc. rather than reading the literary work itself. Many people assume that the reason for using SparkNotes is driven by a laziness of the student, but most teachers have found that the driving force is a lack of understanding of the literature by the student. In an article titled “The Right Understanding: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes”, Alison Bach writes, “ I polled students in my composition and humanities classes at Hudson County Community College, an urban public access institution, to determine how and why they were using SparkNotes and similar websites. Over 90% of my students stated that they have used SparkNotes at least once in the past, and more than two-thirds said they use SparkNotes at least once per semester. However, fewer than 10% admitted to using it instead of reading the actual text. . . significantly, many of their responses contain the words ‘understand’ or ‘clarify’.” As an avid reader myself, I find that if I want to enjoy a book I must understand what I am reading. Lack of comprehension leads to boredom which leads to a decrease in a desire to read.
To be continued. . .
Ok so if I understand correctly, the angle on this is that Sparknotes, etc., have been used to both cheat and enhance reading, but through the Xray feature of the Kindle, there's no need for cheating because it provides definitions and explanations right there? Is the focus going to be Sparknotes or the Xray feature? With the Cinderella tie-in, the sisters were short-changing themselves in a way to get the Prince's affections (compared to a good grade here). In a really painful way. So are you painting this as good or bad?
ReplyDeleteI like this idea a lot. I had never thought of the Kindle making students more likely to read a text, but I think that you're right.
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