Review by Taryn Myers
Project Authored by Kandice Rainn Fowlkes
Dr. Taryn K. Myers earned her Ph.D. from Howard University’s Communication, Culture and Media Studies program. Dr. Myers is a critical, cultural scholar who takes an intersectional approach to both inquiry and instruction. Her research explores how race converges with gender, socioeconomic class status, and other identities to reveal the complexities of marginalized people’s lived experiences. Dr. Myers is an Assistant Professor at West Chester University in the Department of Communication and Media. She specializes in teaching Media Literacy, Media Writing, Intercultural Communication, Influencer Culture, and African American Culture and Communication.
Decoding Cultural Literacy: Rhetorically Analyzing Everyday Media for Professional Writers by Kandice Rainn Fowlkes offers a straight-forward and well-structured guide for interpreting cultural artifacts and building a thoughtful and well-articulated rhetorical analysis. With the goal of improving cultural literacy among writers, this new digital publication positions writing as an active process in the development of cultural competency, thus effectively establishing the connection between rhetorical analysis and improved cultural literacy. Fowlkes’ method for writing rhetorical analysis is especially important considering the public’s increasing access to cultural performances across various media platforms and the growing necessity to competently engage with diverse perspectives and experiences.
The digital format of Decoding Cultural Literacy is especially compelling for its interactivity and accessibility. The book includes a variety of hyperlinked references and examples, various media case studies, and interactive exercises that can be adapted for the classroom or the online learning environment. The publication effectively upgrades the traditional writing handbook into an interesting, multimodal learning experience.
Decoding Cultural Literacy serves as a practical resource by offering writers the tools to interpret, analyze, and create culturally informed texts. The introduction sets the primary intention of the book by describing cultural literacy as “both an awareness of and a fluency in the essentials particular to a culture.” A significant component of the book is its focus on how audiences are influenced by their own cultural backgrounds in the encoding/decoding process of meaning making—and it is this insight that makes improving cultural literacy an essential factor of culturally-competent communication.
This publication has an easy-to-follow format designed to help writers cultivate their cultural literacy through rhetorical analysis. After the introduction, Fowlkes takes her readers step-by-step through the process of decoding cultural meaning embedded in various media messages. The publication’s concise, yet effective pedagogical foundation makes this a very useful resource for students and educators, especially in writing emphasis, intercultural communication, and media literacy courses.
One of the publications greatest strengths is its use of examples. From tweets by NBA player Kevin Durant to speeches delivered by former First Lady Michelle Obama, the book engages its readers with various discourse communities in a variety of contexts. By including real-world examples from across media, Fowlkes effectively demonstrates how the book’s central assertion about cultural literacy is constantly evolving and, therefore, must be engaged dynamically.
Another key feature of this digital text is the introduction of “Cup Theory” in teaching rhetorical analytical writing. Cup Theory, a metaphorical concept used to construct effective rhetorical arguments, simplifies complex writing strategies. This makes it accessible and handy for writers at varying levels. This practical approach supports the publication’s purpose in linking complex theoretical concepts to tangible writing strategies.
Decoding Cultural Literacy provides a much-needed contribution to the intersection of writing, rhetoric, and media studies. Its inclusion of theory and useful writing strategies through a digital format makes this a valuable resource for both students and educators who are actively seeking to improve their cultural literacy in an increasingly interconnected world.