“Voice in the Cultural Soundscape: Sonic Literacy in Composition Studies,” by Mary E. Hocks and Michelle Comstock

Hocks, Mary E. and Comstock, Michelle. “Voice in the Cultural Soundscape: Sonic
Literacy in Composition Studies.” Computers and Composition Online (??)

In this webtext, Mary E. Hocks and Michelle Comstock examine the role of voice and sonic literacy in the production of student videos in their advanced composition courses. This is a valuable essay in that it is focused on student- produced videos and the actual voice of student producers.
Hocks and Comstock write about assigning videos in their upper level composition courses focusing on the aural aspects of using multimedia as student text. They examine, literally, their students’ voices and explain how their assignments convey a sense of “sonic literacy” to their students.  It is interesting that they focus on the rhetoric of sound, especially when image tends to dominate the conversation in the rhetoric of new media. Hocks and Comstock have a reflective and introspective tone that resonates with the reader. They write, “Because of its physical vibrations and here-and-now qualities, we tend to attribute authenticity and verisimilitude to sound . . . The problem, then, for a critical sonic literacy is creating enough silence to hear the increasing rumblings of our cultural soundscape.” They argue that there is a need to silent our mental chatter and listen to the “rumblings of our cultural soundscape.”  Further, they convey to their students how sound is a vital part of our existence and demonstrate the rhetorical power of sound to set mood or disrupt the peace. Life is not without its soundtrack and, according to Hocks and Comstock, “Listening is an art, a conscious process of observing and defining sound. And like the art of writing, it is affected by one’s place in and knowledge of a particular sonic environment as much as one’s previous experiences with sonic forms.”