I don't know when the first person posted the first "missing" flyer. People lose myriad objects/people/animals. If "Literacy can be thought of as a particular set of social practices that a particular set of people value" (Harste 2003), then one of these social practices is the posting of a flyer for something that has vanished, the whereabouts of which are unknown. We have all stopped to read one of these flyers, either out of curiosity or perhaps with the idea that we may help in some way. From jewelry to cats to people to rabbits, somehow we understand in this country that it's perfectly acceptable to compose some text, include a photograph, and hope that a complete stranger may be able to produce the missing object. We know the "code" for the missing poster, we understand how it works because of the schema we have created around having lost something ourselves, or knowing others who have lost something dear to them. I found this flyer in a coffee shop in Taylors Falls and I photographed it because I liked the hand-drawn picture of a rabbit. I thought it would be good material for a short story, and that a good creative writing exercise in my future classroom could revolve around a missing poster. As part of literacy, I think there is significance in both the text and the event. This format requires text to list the details of what has disappeared, a visual representation of the object, and the inferred meaning of the event. The person is, we presume, emotionally affected by the object's disappearance, and we can all relate to this on some level. This is how the world comes to have meaning for us, in part through our connections to and relationships with others. The missing poster is one way we translate the world around us. While I could not help Treana find Chuck Norris, I like to imagine that another stranger, perhaps right behind me in line for a cappucino, had seen him and called Treana. It can be a crazy world for a rabbit on his own.
You don't find Chuck Norris.
ReplyDeleteChuch Norris finds you.
lol Aleks.
ReplyDeleteTracy-
This is super interesting! The concept of a "lost" flier is actually really strange once you stop to think about it.
I also love something that I have begun to notice about most of us, including you in this post. We're all looking at the world in a different way now, through a different lens. I mean, how many "normal" people would stop and be like "Oh, this lost bunny poster would be good for the context of a creative writing lesson"? Are we freaks? Possibly. But I also see this as a sign that we're all getting so close to being teachers- ready to invest in the literacy of our students.
I love the connection you make between Harste's quote about social practices and the flyer you photographed. You're exactly right. In our culture, we learn that posting flyers to disseminate information is an effective way to communicate. Seeing the potential for this "genre" of writing in your future classrooom is brilliant. Can't you see students taking the idea to new places, like a poster for a lost sense of self, lost confidence, lost love? If you haven't discoved the multigenre paper yet, you need to explore it. Just google "Tom Romano and multigenre papers" to get started. Then once you're hooked, which you will be, see me to borrow my book by Romano. It's right up your creative alley.
ReplyDeleteFinally, have you read Teacher Man by Frank McCourt? He was a career English teacher in NYC (and the author of Angela's Ashes), and one idea he used that reminds me of your eureka moment with "lost" posters was to have his students write apology letters from characters in the literature they read. Judas writes an apology to Jesus; Adam to Eve; etc. It's not all biblical, but those are the examples I remember. If you're looking for a good read this summer, check out Teacher Man.