https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie en-us 2016-10-17 18:09:15 UTC 2025-10-24 02:27:28 UTC hello@padlet.com japascu https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/131257820 One of the questions that really struck me in this class was "What is a text?" To everyday people, this might seem like a no-brainer, but to me, this was borderline philosophical. The question is similar to a word that you keep reading over and over again and at the end of it, doesn't seem like a real word anymore. It is one of those burning questions that remain in the back of your head once you attempt to answer it.

Traditional answers to this question would include: Books, Letters, or Magazines. But what about Recipes? Sheet music? Or even traffic lights? Once these examples are given as answers, it forces people to change their pre-existing definitions of what they consider as a text.

Currently, the way I choose to define a text is "anything that can be 'read' or 'interpreted.'" This definition, which seems straightforward but not, brings a whole new world of what is considered a text. The reason why this question has resonated so much to me is because it makes you realize that you have been and are currently surrounded by text. This realization makes the job of the teacher more important in my opinion. Teachers have to teach students to read and/or interpret text because it is everywhere. Different forms of text will be there wherever you are and wherever you'll be.

So instead of asking "What is a text?" should we begin by first asking "What isn't a text?"]]> 2016-10-17 18:09:41 UTC https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/131257820 laziegl https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/133379953 I had a similiar post about the difference between literacies and texts. Your post shared a different school of thought than mine, which was that texts are written words an symbols while literacy is the broader category. Your rationale makes me question my idea about the difference between the two. It makes me wonder if there is a definitive answer out there about what a text truly does entail.]]> 2016-10-26 16:05:48 UTC https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/133379953 chelseagross91 https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/135478334 Your response is very similar to my exact thoughts toward the beginning of the class. We have been surrounded by "texts" our whole lives. When I thought of what a "text" consisted of I also thought of words from books or magazines, but it consists of so much more. Your definition of texts being "anything that can be read or interpreted," seems easy to do, however it is more complex. As teachers we are responsible for teaching our students how to interpret or comprehend what to do with these "texts" because we are constantly surrounded by them. I really liked how you incorporated instead of thinking what a text is, we should think more what isn't a text, because we construct knowledge daily on a variety of texts we come into contact with. Your response gave me a really good insight on the interpretation of "what a text" consists of and the role texts play on our lives daily. 
-Chelsea Gross ]]> 2016-11-04 18:21:35 UTC https://padlet.com/japascu/g6gww128e6ie/wish/135478334