Hold that Broomstick: Quidditch Isn't Just for Nerds

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Cerullo examines the relatively new sport of quidditch through a CHAT lens. She describes what the sport is and how the communication surrounding the sport relates to the CHAT process of production, distribution, socialization, reception, and ecology.

Remediating the Runway: How Transfer and Remediation Allowed Project Runway Help Me Write a Book

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Haley considers the processes in which learning the genre conventions of the reality TV show Project Runway helped him learn how to edit a literary manuscript. He considers how his antecedent knowledge of literary genres helped him learn about conventions of fashion as presented within the show's weekly challenges. Then, he considers how the various genres merged within the process of genre remediation to result in a publishable book.

Social Media Grieving: How to Find Support in a Digital Era

 

Keefe explores the role that social media plays while mourning the loss of a friend or loved one. She uses her own experience of losing her friend, Gabby Ives, to explore the benefits of social media during the grieving process. Keefe explores these ideas by applying cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to them, and she argues that mourning online allows for a strong community to form.

CHATting Doors: Examining University Office Doors as a Genre

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Jang presents her findings from walking down the hallways of offices in the Stevenson building at ISU, and she analyzes university office doors as a writing genre. Incorporating cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), Jang comes to the realization that certain elements in CHAT play more prominent roles than others in this writing genre, and she traces the development of her own office door.

Welcome to Happy Valley: Exploring Translingual Spaces in a College Town

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As a big food enthusiast, language nerd, and voyager, your tour guide Su Yin Khor takes you on a journey to Happy Valley in Pennsylvania, the home of Penn State, to explore writing. The sightseeing tour will take you to different places that connect translingual practices and literate activities to ramen menus, Chinese dinner specials, campus buildings, and the new Amazon store in downtown State College. Bon voyage!

Writing Identity: Putting a Stop to Cookie-Cutter Essays

 

Zientek will explore the inner machinations of his mind to find the jack-in-the-box that is his specific writing identity. Comparing his process for writing tweets with writing essays, Zientek examines the amount of work it takes to do something that seems informal, fun, and like it took no work. He analyzes this through CHAT, specifically through production, representation, reception, and socialization.

Do Read the Comments: Developing a Writer-Researcher Identity through Instructor Feedback

 

Woods explores how students take up instructor feedback by identifying and analyzing the different genres within which instructor feedback is offered. He asserts that taking up feedback in a positive and efficient manner—whether it is online or in person, electronic or handwritten—plays an integral role in the development of a student's Writer-Researcher Identity. Woods offers valuable insight to both teachers and students when it comes to navigating this sometimes-confusing genre.

Filling the Blank Page: Writer's Block and What to Do with It

 

When the Internet failed to answer her questions about how to fix her writer's block, Tiffany Bishop turned to CHAT for a solution. The following article is her description of what happened.

Emotionally Authentic Narrative

 

What place does emotional authenticity have in shaping digital narratives in the face of finstas and paid social media influencers? Calero analyzes her Instagram feed through a CHAT lens in order to understand what role her emotions play in creating her own authentic digital narrative.

Sticky Icky CHAT

 

Smith uses CHAT to analyze The Gum Wall from her hometown. She demonstrates how the wall actually acts like a text in the ways that it uses gum to communicate different messages to different people.

Peer Editing: Nobody's Peerfect!

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Sanborn reflects on his daunting experience involving peer editing. With his knowledge from English 101 and the applications of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), he is able to take readers through the genre of peer editing. Sanborn provides insight into the practice of peer review and how writers and editors can expand their understanding of peer editing and how it is best accomplished.

Real Heroes Don't Always Wear Skates: Alter Egos in Roller Derby

 

Laquet explores the history of the women’s roller derby and how the components of the genre of the alter ego continues to shift while applying the theory of cultural-historical activity theory, or CHAT, to see how the production, representation, distribution, reception, socialization, activity, and ecology have shifted over the last 80 years to become what we now know as the alter ego in modern women's roller derby.

Adults These Days: How Technology Subjugates All Generations

 

This vignette offers some reflections on a Grassroots Writing Research video, originally produced in May 2017. The original video, “Adults These Days: How Technology Subjugates All Generations,” dealt with the question of whether different generations use technology differently. Koziol reflects on the process of doing the original research and discusses how some of her research questions (and possible conclusions) have changed over time.

Rocking Writing Practices at Waiting Room Records

 

Through the Illinois State University Writing Program's Professional Literacies Project, Cristina Sanchez-Martin talks with Jared Alcorn, owner of Waiting Room Records in Uptown Normal, about his writing practices as a record store owner. They discuss various tools and modalities used in his writing, as well as research methods used to ensure he's reaching his community effectively.