Prior to reading chapter 7 in A New Literacies Sampler, I had never actually considered the complexities of fan fiction writing. I also assumed that all fan fiction sites were dedicated to one fiction source. However, after examining the case study on Tiana and Jandalf, two teenage girls who co-write fan fiction stories together, I realized that fan fiction really provides opportunities for the blending of popular fiction. The two girls describe how they collaborate in creating elaborate stories that blend together different pop culture sources, such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. (I imagine that Jandalf's name is some kind of play on "Gandalf" and possibly "Jedi"). I chose the image above because I thought it was a humorous way to demonstrate this blending of fiction.
One of the most interesting aspects of this case study was the mentor/mentee relationship between Tiana and Jandalf. Tiana described Jandalf as being her "mentor" and explained how her grammar had improved just by working alongside Jandalf. I also found the transformation between the pre-writing conversations and the final product amazing! The pre-writing conversations seemed like random thoughts jumbled together and was difficult to follow. However, the finish product adhered to literary norms and became a creative, cohesive story.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI was also very interested in mentor/mentee relationship. It is true sometimes students learn way more from each other than they do from the teacher. I am sure that Tiana had been taught the same grammatical technics as what Jandalf taught her, but because it was coming from her peer it stuck! Nice Blog
Laura, I also enjoyed reading about the relationship between Tiana and Jandalf. Seeing how the girls started out from being complete strangers, and worked together to produce such a wonderful piece of literature is amazing. Great post!
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