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= ​ EDU 5386 - Literacy Seminar @ University of Ottawa= =Navigating the Jungle of Composition, by Melanie White and Julie Corrigan=

=** It's a jungle out there! **= === We are employing the metaphor of a jungle to composition pedagogy to denote the ever-changing landscape brought about by the possibilities of multimodal literacies and emergent technologies. On our journey through this jungle, it seems as though we are with a compass, but without a map--our destination undetermined, but our direction clear. ===

What is composition?
​ According to Visuwords.com "composition" is Visuwords =**A theme emerges: unity of text **=
 * 1) === a mixture of ingredients ===
 * 2) === something that is created by arranging several things into a unified whole ===
 * 3) === the spacial property resulting from the arrangement of parts in relation to each other and to the whole ===
 * 4) === redaction; the act of putting something in writing ===
 * 5) === the act of creating something by thinking ===
 * 6) === the act of creating written works ===
 * 7) === creating something by the use of speech and language ===
 * 8) === an essay, term paper ===
 * 9) === art ===
 * 10) === music ===

=A Historical Perspective on Composition= from the NCTE "Writing in the 21st Century" by Kathleen Yancey

Historically five themes emerge: = = = = =Composition requires the manipulation of text, but what is // text // in the 21st century and how does it operate?=
 * 1) === "Society has focused on children as readers because,...it has been much more interested in children as receptors than as producers of the written word." ===
 * 2) === Reading is often associated with family life rather than soley academic life. ===
 * 3) === Writing is difficult and requires work. ===
 * 4) === Writing has been connected with testing. ===
 * 5) === Writing lacked research or planned curruculum. ===
 * 6) === Writing was influenced by science and progressivism. ===

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 * with web 2.0 writers are everywhere
 * the purpose of writing becomes participatory

=Another theme emerges: technology has changed composition =