Different people read documents differently. Individuals each possess a different set of background knowledge and have different expectations when coming into an interaction with a text. Interestingly, these differences in personal interactions can be noted as different readers see different texts.
To test this, I recruited two other freshman RCAH students, Elleda and Brittany. I wanted to record how their reactions to the menu posted in front of the Gallery differed. They obviously had no idea of what they were getting themselves into when they agreed to eat lunch with me and help me with a 111 assignment this weekend.
As we walked downstairs towards the Gallery, I asked both of my test subjects if they typically stop to read the menu posted by the door. Both replied in the affirmative. I asked them to please read the menu normally, but to make note of their reactions as they were interacting with the text as I would ask them questions after they read the menu.
In taking retrospective accounts of their reactions to the texts, I asked the readers for their reactions to the document using methods outlined by Elbow. First, I asked them to summarize or sayback the main idea or ideas of the document. They both identified what they saw as the "gist" of the text. As a summary, Elleda saidback "It was the menu, I looked at the headings and read to find what items I had interest in." Brittany said that the gist of the document that she noted was "Eat food." She said that the gist could be summarized as the food options available and what looks good. Both gave an extremely broad summary of the text with very few specific details.
Next, I asked each reader what resonated with her as the center of gravity. After reading the document, could they choose the center of gravity or what stuck in their minds? I informed both subjects that there is no right or wrong center of gravity, but just what they are drawn to within the text and take away from it. Elleda said the center of gravity for her was the words "Lunch" and the Berg's selections of soups and salad. This was the center of gravity for her because it was what she went into the experience wanting to eat. Brittany's center of gravity were the words "Lunch", "Dinner", and "Pepperoni Pizza". She liked the idea of pizza; therefore, that piece of information resonated with her. The text itself did not present a definitive center of gravity; it was left open so individuals could choose what information would become the center of gravity. Individuals chose a center of gravity based on their desires, background knowledge, and personal likes and dislikes.
Also, different readers peruse a texts differently. It is not uncommon for a reader to skim, scan, or skip sections of text entirely when it is not laid out in a linear format. Elleda said that she began at the heading saying "Lunch", then she started in the upper left hand corner of the menu and read straight down and through. Once she reached the bottom of the left column, she read the entirety of the right hand column in a similar fashion. Brittany, on the other hand, read the heading of "Lunch", then decided she was more interested in what would be served for dinner later on in the day. She sought out the dinner posting and read the entire dinner document straight down the columns. She then went back and skimmed the lunch menu. When I read the menu, as a reader, I skip from section to section depending on whether or not I like the main dish being served at a particular station. Elleda reads straight through, she says that she reads the sides as well because they are not always directly related to the main dish, just coordinating. Brittany shared this opinion. She said she would be willing to go out of her way to go to stations serving sides that she liked. She says, furthermore, that she always looks especially for stations serving mashed potatoes and scans for those specifically.
Points where the readers got stuck or places where they could "almost hear" what the author was trying to convey were spots where the information in the text was not explicitly stated. First, Elleda said that while reading some of the names for dishes (i.e. "Vermont Cheddar") confused her because they were rather ambiguous. This was a point where the text caused readers to ask questions, but the questions were not answered. Brittany said that because she is a picky eater, stuck points for her included not knowing what was in some of the dishes based solely on their names. She says that while there are times when one would not want to know the ingredients of a dish, for her, it would be helpful to the text if these things were made clear. Both readers felt that elaboration on descriptions of dishes would eliminate their stuck points.
Elleda first read "Lunch", she knew it was lunchtime and totally skipped over the entire breakfast section of the board. Going down to lunch, Elleda decided she wanted soup or salad; she read the section of the menu delegated for the meal options served at the Berg with special interest and care. She decided that she wanted the salad being served. When she went into the cafeteria, she found out that the salad was no longer being served. Brittany, on the other hand, thought she wanted a sandwich. Going into an interaction with the text, Brittany realized that sandwich options were not listed. She saw the word pirogi listed by Brimstone, and she decided that was what she was going to get to eat. Both readers' stories show how their prior knowledge and choices that they made going into their interactions with the text affected the results the text had on them.
In response to the text, Elleda's reply was that she wanted a salad. Brittany decided that she wanted a pirogi. Both went to the stations that were listed as where to find these food options.
Elleda stated that the one point that worked with the text was it showed her many different options and made her feel like she was empowered in choosing what she wanted. However, she said that one thing that does not work within the text is that the menu does not tell you times when options are no longer going to be available. Brittany said that one point of the text that worked was she was able to make a choice of what she wanted, but she could also note secondary options as well. She said that one reason the text does not work is that based on her prior knowledge, she knows that she does not typically favor things served at New Traditions and Latitudes. She typically skims and barely notes the things printed in these sections of the menus. She shortchanges them, although these are the the meals that change on a daily basis and are specially made. She says that although she does not particularly like these meals, they should be emphasized or highlighted for others.
Therefore, based on retrospective accounts, it can be seen that readers react with texts differently; also, that personal preferences, experiences, and prior knowledge affects interactions with a document.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
My Response to Documents for Major Assignment II
"Humhmmmhmghphhhflugggnermgggrhuhhhph...."
My stomach is rumbling. I am extremely hungry. I skipped breakfast this morning because it is ill-advised to eat before a yoga class. Yoga began at noon, though. Now it is one-thirty and I have not had anything since my early dinner the night before. I decide to go down to Snyder-Phillips' cafeteria, the Gallery.
I go downstairs. I walk towards the shining entry to the Gallery. I stop. I read the menu. The information posted on the daily cafeteria menu influences many of my daily decisions; yet, I have never paid specific notice to my interactions with these documents before.
The way I interact with the menus affects what I decide to eat on a day-to-day basis. The menus are extremely important, because they allow someone going into the dining hall to decide what they want before they have to get in line to wait for their meals and move things along. With hundreds of people passing through the Gallery to eat each day, it is important for things to run smoothly; people must be able to efficiently get their food, eat it, and leave for the next people to come in. Without the menus, it would make this process much more difficult.
It is said that the Gallery is the best dining hall on the Michigan State University campus. Many students and staff members walk, ride the bus, or bicycle across campus in order to eat a meal there. The MSU website posts an online menu for what the Gallery is serving each day; this is an advantageous tool for the students who travel farther to get here. They are, therefore, able to see if something they want is being served on a particular day. This resource is also used by many students who live more locally; before they even go downstairs, they can know their meal options for the day make up their minds without having to read the posted menu.
The menus are not only posted directly outside of the Gallery's entrance and online, but as soon as one enters the cafeteria, plates with each of the menu items are presented for people to see. There are labels that go along with each platter, making it easy to recognize which station each different meal is served at and again describing the food. Furthermore, at each station itself, there is a posted list of the items being served there. Many students neglect the master menus posted both at the entrance and on the internet, and refuse to look at the plates of food visually representing each meal; they instead wander aimlessly around the cafeteria looking at each of the individual stations' menus.
I am the type of person who always stops outside of the Gallery and looks at the menu sheets posted on the bulletin-style board. The board is divided into four sections, one section is devoted to the menu for each meal of the day, and the fourth section talks about the meal plan option of a combo exchange. The board reads from right to left and top to bottom, like a book. The first meal posted is breakfast, the lunch menu is posted to its right, and the dinner menu is in the next row. This makes it easy for someone to visually find what they need.
When I approach the board, I notice that the menus are printed in black ink, on white sheets of matte 8.5 by 11 inch paper. The paper is matted to black paper and affixed to the board. When I go down to eat at 1:30pm, I realize that it is lunchtime. Therefore, I ignore the rest of the postings, after ascertaining which menu is indeed posting the foods available for me to eat for lunch. I use prior knowledge to determine which sections of the menu I will and will not read, making decisions based on my likes and dislikes and knowing what each station typically serves.
I cannot truly analyze my moment-by-moment response to this text because I did not even think of my interactions with this document as notable until after I was already eating my meal, but it is possible to take my retrospective account to analyze the effectiveness of the text.
To summarize this text, I can tell you that October 4, the Gallery was serving foods at six different stations. That was the center of focus for this document. More specific points that especially resonated with me were that Latitudes was serving a Sunday brunch with french toast and bacon. I remember this specific point of the text, because that is the meal I ended up choosing to eat. Other particular items I am able to sayback are that New Traditions was serving ham, Ciao! had on its menu Denver Omelet, Pepperoni, and Cheese Pizzas, Brimstone was serving Veggie Burgers, Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, and Chicken Sandwiches, and that the Berg had some sort of salad, a vegetable soup, and a soup du jour. No true arguments were made; however options were presented to the reader of the menu.
The center of gravity for this text was the top of the document having "Sunday, October 4 Lunch". Other than that, the reader chooses their own center of gravity for this text, depending on their personal preferences and what they feel like eating for that meal. The center of gravity becomes what they choose it to be.
As someone who is hungry and wants to eat, I am already aware of my own meal preferences, my likes, and my dislikes. I begin at the top of this document and the first thing I read is "Sunday, October 4 Lunch". I read all of the meal headings, to see which sheet of paper on the board has the right information for me. Since I am not eating a combo exchange, I skip the fourth sheet of paper entirely.
Going back to the lunch menu, I begin reading:
After reading the entire text, I know what my options are to eat, what I want, and where to get this. I enter the cafeteria, get a tray, a drink, and walk over to Latitudes. I get my meal and sit down. My questions are answered and my expectations that the menu would tell me what to get and where to get it are fulfilled.
My response, overall, to the document is to go to the station where it tells me that I can find what I want, and I eat my meal.
My body's response to the menus posted over the past month is the typical "freshman fifteen" (no, it is not a myth) and the inability of me to zip my jeans. Obviously, the document is effective.
My stomach is rumbling. I am extremely hungry. I skipped breakfast this morning because it is ill-advised to eat before a yoga class. Yoga began at noon, though. Now it is one-thirty and I have not had anything since my early dinner the night before. I decide to go down to Snyder-Phillips' cafeteria, the Gallery.
I go downstairs. I walk towards the shining entry to the Gallery. I stop. I read the menu. The information posted on the daily cafeteria menu influences many of my daily decisions; yet, I have never paid specific notice to my interactions with these documents before.
The way I interact with the menus affects what I decide to eat on a day-to-day basis. The menus are extremely important, because they allow someone going into the dining hall to decide what they want before they have to get in line to wait for their meals and move things along. With hundreds of people passing through the Gallery to eat each day, it is important for things to run smoothly; people must be able to efficiently get their food, eat it, and leave for the next people to come in. Without the menus, it would make this process much more difficult.
It is said that the Gallery is the best dining hall on the Michigan State University campus. Many students and staff members walk, ride the bus, or bicycle across campus in order to eat a meal there. The MSU website posts an online menu for what the Gallery is serving each day; this is an advantageous tool for the students who travel farther to get here. They are, therefore, able to see if something they want is being served on a particular day. This resource is also used by many students who live more locally; before they even go downstairs, they can know their meal options for the day make up their minds without having to read the posted menu.
The menus are not only posted directly outside of the Gallery's entrance and online, but as soon as one enters the cafeteria, plates with each of the menu items are presented for people to see. There are labels that go along with each platter, making it easy to recognize which station each different meal is served at and again describing the food. Furthermore, at each station itself, there is a posted list of the items being served there. Many students neglect the master menus posted both at the entrance and on the internet, and refuse to look at the plates of food visually representing each meal; they instead wander aimlessly around the cafeteria looking at each of the individual stations' menus.
I am the type of person who always stops outside of the Gallery and looks at the menu sheets posted on the bulletin-style board. The board is divided into four sections, one section is devoted to the menu for each meal of the day, and the fourth section talks about the meal plan option of a combo exchange. The board reads from right to left and top to bottom, like a book. The first meal posted is breakfast, the lunch menu is posted to its right, and the dinner menu is in the next row. This makes it easy for someone to visually find what they need.
When I approach the board, I notice that the menus are printed in black ink, on white sheets of matte 8.5 by 11 inch paper. The paper is matted to black paper and affixed to the board. When I go down to eat at 1:30pm, I realize that it is lunchtime. Therefore, I ignore the rest of the postings, after ascertaining which menu is indeed posting the foods available for me to eat for lunch. I use prior knowledge to determine which sections of the menu I will and will not read, making decisions based on my likes and dislikes and knowing what each station typically serves.
I cannot truly analyze my moment-by-moment response to this text because I did not even think of my interactions with this document as notable until after I was already eating my meal, but it is possible to take my retrospective account to analyze the effectiveness of the text.
To summarize this text, I can tell you that October 4, the Gallery was serving foods at six different stations. That was the center of focus for this document. More specific points that especially resonated with me were that Latitudes was serving a Sunday brunch with french toast and bacon. I remember this specific point of the text, because that is the meal I ended up choosing to eat. Other particular items I am able to sayback are that New Traditions was serving ham, Ciao! had on its menu Denver Omelet, Pepperoni, and Cheese Pizzas, Brimstone was serving Veggie Burgers, Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, and Chicken Sandwiches, and that the Berg had some sort of salad, a vegetable soup, and a soup du jour. No true arguments were made; however options were presented to the reader of the menu.
The center of gravity for this text was the top of the document having "Sunday, October 4 Lunch". Other than that, the reader chooses their own center of gravity for this text, depending on their personal preferences and what they feel like eating for that meal. The center of gravity becomes what they choose it to be.
As someone who is hungry and wants to eat, I am already aware of my own meal preferences, my likes, and my dislikes. I begin at the top of this document and the first thing I read is "Sunday, October 4 Lunch". I read all of the meal headings, to see which sheet of paper on the board has the right information for me. Since I am not eating a combo exchange, I skip the fourth sheet of paper entirely.
Going back to the lunch menu, I begin reading:
- "New Traditions". I see that they are serving ham and move on to the next subheading, skipping all further information.
- "Brimstone" is serving all of its typical items, and I am not really in the mood for grilled food. I skim this section, though, just to see if anything really does strike me. It does not.
- I next go down to "The Berg", I might be in the mood for soup or salad. I see that there is vegetable soup and a soup of the day. I have never heard of the kind of salad being served; I move on: I have had the vegetable soup before and I did not like it very much. I am not really that much in the mood to find out and have to explore what the "Soup du jour" is that is being served either.
- I go to the next column. "Sunday Brunch" sounds really delicious actually, I keep in mind that that is being served.
- I know that "Ciao!" serves pizza and I do not want pizza, I skim this section of the lunch menu.
- I then see the desserts on the menu and decide that I should skip dessert for the day.
After reading the entire text, I know what my options are to eat, what I want, and where to get this. I enter the cafeteria, get a tray, a drink, and walk over to Latitudes. I get my meal and sit down. My questions are answered and my expectations that the menu would tell me what to get and where to get it are fulfilled.
My response, overall, to the document is to go to the station where it tells me that I can find what I want, and I eat my meal.
My body's response to the menus posted over the past month is the typical "freshman fifteen" (no, it is not a myth) and the inability of me to zip my jeans. Obviously, the document is effective.
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