Synthesis of "Writing in the Wild: Writer’s Motivation in Fan-based Affinity Spaces"

“Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couch-bound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.”

—Lev Grossman, TIME, July 07, 2011

             This week, Curwood, Magnifico & Lammers discussed how adolescents use online, fan-based affinity spaces to produce multimodal transformative works, such as websites, avatars, blogs, videos, maps and podcasts.  The focal examples were based on the virtual worlds of The Hunger games (dystopian novels), Neopets (web-based game tending for virtual pets), and The Sims (a life simulation and computer video game).  The authors wonder: “How can research on adolescent writing in online affinity spaces shape teachers’ writing pedagogy? (p. 683).”  

CRITIQUE:

Tygue’s fear:
"As much as I think students could learn from interpreting literature [from a fan-based affinity space], I still can't help but fear fan fiction for all reasons apparent HERE:"

 
             Tygue’s push-back was also expressed in the idea of participation being self-directed, multifaceted and dynamic.  Though this sounds wonderful, the self-directed part threw him off when he began thinking practically, “how are educators to develop an EFFICIENT system for evaluated truly self-directed student work?”

Evan’s concerns:
"My chief concern while reading this article was doubt that many (or any) of my students engage in such spaces… they suggest that teachers "attune the practices" affinity spaces, but if students aren't experienced with fan culture in online communities then you would still practically be starting from scratch in establishing such a collaborative, transformative culture in your classroom. I'm just not sure the extent to which this would be building on my students' socio-linguistic reservoirs, whereas in a more socioeconomically advantaged school it most certainly would be." 
             I agreed with both Tygue and Evan, as I struggle to define and envision what “self-directed student work” and “transformative work” looks like in my classroom.  I particularly appreciated Evan’s mention of how the article does not account for diversity in socioeconomic classes, which would inevitably influence student likelihood of engaging in these fan-based spaces.  

PRAISE/POSSIBLE APPLICATION TO TEACHING:

            Tygue was interested in how the audience for these fan-based affinity spaces could complement student writing.  He thought that this article called for educators to create “self-directed and internet-based opportunities” to help students share work with an “authentic audience (p. 678).”  Students’ beliefs about their academic and particularly, writing abilities, are heavily influenced by their topic, genre, and feedback from readers.  Affinity spaces provide a passionate, public audience for content, and this level of thorough and invested feedback could provide student writers greater opportunity and motivation for development and revision. 
             Evan thought the article exemplified many benefits of this fan-based affinity space framework.  One example is Eve (focal student for the Sims affinity space), as Tygue thought she was perhaps able to display her strengths in a space less punitive toward mistakes in writing.  Evan also thought educators should value these kinds of “out-of-school writing in online spaces” so that we can understand how these experiences could contribute to academic writing.
             Tygue focused on how the framework could enhance writing engagement: “the contemporary tools and spaces for writing that are available to youth are essential for their achievement and engagement (p. 677).”  This engagement, however, would not be possible without establishing a classroom community, which is essential to “all the tips” but what I see to be essential to everything implemented in a class.