Recap 6: The Lit Review

Writing a lit review is sort of like writing an entry for this recap blogging challenge. First I have to recap sociocultural theories of literacy and then tie that, somehow, into a recap of studies on critical media literacy with urban youth and then tie that, somehow, into a recap of how marginalized people use humor and laughter to mediate experiences of oppression. No problem.

So far I've written this paragraph to frame the chapter:

This chapter discusses the sociocultural views of literacy and identity that ground this study. Interested in the moment-to-moment interactions that produce identities in classrooms, particularly around race, I focus on the work of scholars who have theorized identity as a socially and linguistically mediated construct (Bakhtin, 1981; Gee, 2005; Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998; Norris, 2011; Scollon, 2001; Wertsch, 1991), ever constrained and shaped within structures of power. I draw as well from the theory of mediated discourse (although I save much of that discussion for the next chapter) and highlight, scholars who focus on the actions and practices of individuals in the formation and solidification of identities. Next, I turn to studies of critical literacy practices in and out of school that reconceive critical literacy and critical media literacy to include embodied forms of response not often recognized in classrooms. The chapter ends with a review of scholarship on laughter and humor where I make the argument that laughter, too, is a form of critical response related to the identities of youth who have been traditionally marginalized.

It's a start.

Also, I've written 20 pages on sociocultural theories of literacy already. Only they aren't that good. I wrote them three years ago when I did my prelims. THREE YEARS AGO! Maybe this means I'm a better writer now? #Silverlining. 

I wonder, is this a recap?