abstract

Linda Daly

Dr. Souder

English 501

27 April 2010

Title: The Reticent Writer, Invention and Social Consciousness

Abstract:

This paper seeks to challenge and engage the reticent writer . Many of the theories of Mike Rose are used to develop cognitive inquiry and scaffolding strategies needed to become a confident writer. Collaborative strategies are explored in assisting the reticent writer to engage in what Carter and Rickly term as “recursive, reflective meta-cognition to solve problems (131).

There is a discussion of the cultures of reticent writers and developing critical consciousness, as the ideal philosophical instructional stance to teach composition requires a knowledge of rhetoric and a critical eye aimed toward the concerns of mankind and morality. It is suggested that setting up a research design that is authentic, verifiable and convincing promotes engagement along with a social construct, which is meaningful to the student and promotes critical inquiry. The reticent writer is therefore assigned a writing assignment using a social construct involving ethnographic writing . The reticent writer is asked how they can answer a call for freedom when confronted with disenfranchisement in the common-place narrative, or traumatic narrative of a cultural grouping. The narrative may be defined by symbols, products, oral handed down stories, values, beliefs or patterns of behavior (Boivin 128-180). The reticent writer brings their own world-view and interpretation to the narrative, which they then use as they write about their investigation, with both expressive and social discourse.

Bringing elements of a disenfranchised community into the classroom or the classroom into the community, involving a carefully planned expansion of the collaborative aspects of discourse, may further add to the structure and dynamism needed to engage the reticent writer in the composition classroom. Imagination and originality become possible, as true dialogue, involving discourse with reflection offers surprises and unexpected alliances with others. Critical consciousness may be awakened, along with a possible call to action.

Works Cited

Bishop, Wendy. “I-Witnessing in Composition: Turning Ethnographic Data into
Narratives.” Rhetoric Review. 11.1 (Fall 1992): 147-158. Print.

Bishop, Wendy. Released Into Language: Options for Teaching Creative Writing.
Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1990. Print.

Boivin, Nicole. Material Cultures, Material Minds. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2008. Print

Burns, Hugh. “Four Dimensions of Significance: Tradition, Method, Theory,
Originality.” (Class Handout.)

Carter, Locke and Rebecca Rickly. “Mind the Gap(s): Modeling Space in Online
Education.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers. Amityville,
New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc., 2005. 123-139. Print.

Cooper, Marilyn M. “Postmodern Possibilities in Electronic Conversations.”
Hawisher, Gail E. & Cynthia Selfe, eds. Passions, Pedagogies and 21st Century
Technologies. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press 1999. 140-160. Print.

Eldred, Janet M. “Pedagogy in the Computer-Networked Classroom.”
Sidler, Michelle, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith, eds. Computers
in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2008. 239-250. Print.

George, Ann. “Critical Pedagogy: Dreaming of Democracy.” Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiter
& Kurt Schick. A Guide To Composition Pedagogies. New York: Oxford
University Press 2001. 92-112. Print.

George, Diana and John Trimbur. “Cultural Studies and Composition.” Tate, Gary,
Amy Rupiper and Kurt Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2001. 54-70. Print.

Gorzelsky, Gwen. The Language of Experience: Literate Practices and Social Change.
Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. Print.

Howard, Rebecca Moore “Collaborative Pedagogy.” Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiper and Kurt
Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2001. 54-70. Print.

Hull, Glynda, Mike Rose, Kay Losey Fraser and Marisa Castellano. “Remediation as
Social Construct: Perspectives from an Analysis of Classroom Discourse.” Ede,
Lisa, Ed. On Writing Research: The Braddock Essays, 1975-1998. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s 1999. 284-311. Print.

Mayers, Tim. (Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and The Future of
English Writing. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press 2005. Print.

Mutnick, Deborah. “On the Academic Margins: Basic Writing Pedagogy.” Tate, Gary,
Amy Rupiper and Kurt Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2001. 183-202. Print.

Ohmann, Richard. “Literacy, Technology, and Monopoly Capital.” Slider, Michelle,
Morris, Richard and Smith, Elizabeth Overman, eds. Computers in the Composition
Classroom. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 20-34. Print.

Peck, Wayne Campbell, Linda Flower and Lorraine Higgins “Community Literacy.”
Miller, Susan, Ed. The Norton Book of Compositions Studies. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, Inc. 2009. 1097-1116. Print.

Rose, Mike. An Open Language: Selected Writing on Literacy, Learning, and
Opportunity. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. Print.

Shankman, Steven. “Creating a Culture of Dialogue and Peace.”
The University of Oregon Conference. UO Channels. The Promise of Reason,
2008. Web. 04/01/10 http://www.uoregon.edu/channel/?p=154

Slider, Michelle, Richard Morris and Elizabeth Overman Smith, eds. Computers in the
Composition Classroom. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print.

abstract

Linda Daly

Dr. Souder

English 501

27 April 2010

Title: The Reticent Writer, Invention and Social Consciousness

Abstract:

This paper seeks to challenge and engage the reticent writer . Many of the theories of Mike Rose are used to develop cognitive inquiry and scaffolding strategies needed to become a confident writer. Collaborative strategies are explored in assisting the reticent writer to engage in what Carter and Rickly term as “recursive, reflective meta-cognition to solve .problems (131).

There is a discussion of the cultures of reticent writers and developing critical consciousness, as the ideal philosophical instructional stance to teach composition requires a knowledge of rhetoric and a critical eye aimed toward the concerns of mankind and morality. It is suggested that setting up a research design that is authentic, verifiable and convincing promotes engagement along with a social construct, which is meaningful to the student and promotes critical inquiry. The reticent writer is therefore assigned a writing assignment using a social construct using ethnographic writing . The reticent writer is asked how they can answer a call for freedom when confronted with disenfranchisement in the common-place narratjve, or traumatic narrative of a cultural grouping. The narrative may be defined by symbols, products, oral handed down stories, values, beliefs or patterns of behavior (Boivin 128-180). The reticent writer brings their own world-view and interpretation to the narrative, which they then write about their investigation, using both expressive and social discourse.
Bringing elements of a disenfranchised community into the classroom or the classroom into the community, involving a carefully planned expansion of the collaborative aspects of discourse, may further add to the structure and dynamism needed to engage the reticent writer in the composition classroom. Imagination and originality become possible, as true dialogue, involving discourse with reflection offers surprises and unexpected alliances with others. Critical consciousness may be awakened, along with a possible call to action.
Works Cited
Bishop, Wendy. “I-Witnessing in Composition: Turning Ethnographic Data into

Narratives.” Rhetoric Review. 11.1 (Fall 1992): 147-158. Print.

Bishop, Wendy. Released Into Language: Options for Teaching Creative Writing.

Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1990. Print.

Boivin, Nicole. Material Cultures, Material Minds. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2008. Print

Burns, Hugh. “Four Dimensions of Significance: Tradition, Method, Theory,

Originality.” (Class Handout.)

Carter, Locke and Rebecca Rickly. “Mind the Gap(s): Modeling Space in Online

Education.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers. Amityville,

New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc., 2005. 123-139. Print.

Cooper, Marilyn M. “Postmodern Possibilities in Electronic Conversations.”
Hawisher, Gail E. & Cynthia Selfe, eds. Passions, Pedagogies and 21st Century
Technologies. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press 1999. 140-160. Print.
Eldred, Janet M. “Pedagogy in the Computer-Networked Classroom.”

Sidler, Michelle, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith, eds. Computers

in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford/St.

Martin’s, 2008. 239-250. Print.

George, Ann. “Critical Pedagogy: Dreaming of Democracy.” Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiter

& Kurt Schick. A Guide To Composition Pedagogies. New York: Oxford

University Press 2001. 92-112. Print.

George, Diana and John Trimbur. “Cultural Studies and Composition.” Tate, Gary,

Amy Rupiper and Kurt Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2001. 54-70. Print.

Gorzelsky, Gwen. The Language of Experience: Literate Practices and Social Change.

Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. Print.

Howard, Rebecca Moore “Collaborative Pedagogy.” Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiper and Kurt

Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford: Oxford University Press,

2001. 54-70. Print.

Hull, Glynda, Mike Rose, Kay Losey Fraser and Marisa Castellano. “Remediation as

Social Construct: Perspectives from an Analysis of Classroom Discourse.” Ede,

Lisa, Ed. On Writing Research: The Braddock Essays, 1975-1998. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martin’s 1999. 284-311. Print.

Mayers, Tim. (Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and The Future of

English Writing. Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press 2005. Print.

Mutnick, Deborah. “On the Academic Margins: Basic Writing Pedagogy.” Tate, Gary,

Amy Rupiper and Kurt Schick. A Guide to Composition Pedagogies. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2001. 183-202. Print.

Ohmann, Richard. “Literacy, Technology, and Monopoly Capital.” Slider, Michelle,
Morris, Richard and Smith, Elizabeth Overman, eds. Computers in the Composition Classroom. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 20-34. Print.
Peck, Wayne Campbell, Linda Flower and Lorraine Higgins “Community Literacy.”

Miller, Susan, Ed. The Norton Book of Compositions Studies. New York: W. W.

Norton & Company, Inc. 2009. 1097-1116. Print.

Rose, Mike. An Open Language: Selected Writing on Literacy, Learning, and

Opportunity. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. Print.

Shankman, Steven. “Creating a Culture of Dialogue and Peace.”

The University of Oregon Conference. UO Channels. The Promise of Reason,

2008. Web. 04/01/10 http://www.uoregon.edu/channel/?p=154

Slider, Michelle, Richard Morris and Elizabeth Overman Smith, eds. Computers in the

Composition Classroom. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print.





































writer

Our professors and how they relate

I was assigned to Dr. Souder and was looking at Hugh Burns and the Dadalus Group in particular, while Autumn researched Dr. Greer and Dawn researched Dr. Keating. I learned lots of fascinating facts about Dr. Burns and his work and gained a better sense of the Dadalus group and the relationships with Dr. Kinneavy. It seemed that Dr. Keating and Dr. Greer have had more direct influence on Dr. Souder, as each has chaired her separate dissertation work in English and Women's Studies (which I believe is still in progress). Bakhtin seems to be the philosopher who has impacted Dr. Souder the most,as she referred to him as her philosopher king once in class and he was the subject of her dissertation, along with a English female poet named Felicia Hemans. The influences of Boothe, Plato and Aristotle seem to impact Kinneavy, Burns and Greer. I am not sure about Keating.

Burns' recognition by UNESCO and his statements about the people he met in Saudia Arabia, when doing work for his Fulbright, reminded me of the philosophical stance of Perelman and the Dali Lama,regarding "responsibility not rights" and "our enemies being our friends". Dr. Burns said "Even in a strange land there are no strangers." He also talked about how to truly belong and making that land your land--somewhat like a recoginition of the otherness Perelman was concerned with in his work at UNESCO. Dr. Souder's interests, as reflected in her publications,reveals a wide range of interests. I do get the sense that Aristotle's work has influenced her beliefs about argumentation. But Dr. Burn's openness to new ideas and other people is what knocks me out and I believe is Dr. Souder's outlook as well, especially considering her role in the study abroad program.

In considering the other professor's influences, we really are a Marxist looking department and it seemed that Norm Chomsky was more of a presence for several of the professors. The creative writing teacher's ties to Elbow and others bore a striking separateness from the other professors, which disturbed me, as I would like to see more connectedness between creative writing and the rest of the department.

I really liked the ties I saw between Trujillo and Souder. I was not quite sure how our chairman's influences fit so much in with the rest to the staff. There are a lot of philosophers and educators whose work I have not really explored yet, so I know that I have a lot to do work yet in this regard.

And I thought that our board was very successful, as it was attractive, and had a definite story to tell!

What Difference Does It Make?

In the article on authorship,it is asked "What difference does it make who is the speaker"(12)? Supposedly the author has died and yet there remains differences of opinions about that thought. The text can be examined "through its structure, its architecture, its intrinsic fom and the play of internal relationships" (203). This suggests that the role of author is not vital, as the author "appropriates" other's material and resides in absense to the text itself. I know that one can look at text in this manner but I would content that we choose a text often by our experience with the author, what the author is known for,the awards an author has received, the place the author hails from, the expertise known of the author, etc. There remains an interplay between the author and reader, however much one might want to deny it. The fact that the author "limits, excludes, and chooses, by which one impedes the free circulation, the free manipulation, the free composition, decomposition and recomposition of fiction" certainly suggests that the author is alive and well (119). What difference does it make? Their voice represents a voice of a certain community, a time in space of a whole civilization, experiences unique to a particular life. A text can be understood both through the text itself and through the author's life, influences and beliefs. It is like the right and left side of the brain--one can attempt to understand a person through cognitive and rational thought but the emotional side, of dreams and mystery is just as real and necessary in the understanding of the whole person. Just as blogging is a social action,"...allowing people to experience the plasticity and multiplicity of self"and to ..." construct an identity that is real," the author has desires and multiple uses of expression in text that could include a desire to express an identity within the text for themselves, becoming integral with the story, literally and figuratively (Miller and Sheppard 1469).

Miller, Carolyn R and Dawn Shepherd. "Blogging as Social Action: A Genre Analysis of the Weblog." Miller, Susan. The Norton Book of Composition Studies." New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print. 1450-1473.

"What is an Author?" Print.101-120.

Synthesis

The history of composition revealed how much composition has been taken for granted as a skill unworthy of college coursework until recent years. When it was begun to be taught, it was often taught in conjunction with literature, as it was at my college for many, any years. Writing centers have been established at many colleges to further assist students in the composition process on a cross disciplinary basis. The infusion of students with open admissions from all walks of life brought students with uneven preparedness for college life bringing many studies on how to best intervene on behalf of these students and led to special classes for students who did not perform well on a admissions tests. Rhetoric in composition has not always been taught and when it has been, various philosophers have held sway. Classic rhetoric is as much alive today it seems as in ancient Greece and Roe but the ideas of philosophers since the renaissance such as Hume, Locke, Kant and others have had much more import than is widely acknowledged. The turbulent 20th century has seen the rise of modernism, post modernism, feminism, queer theory, post colonial theory, after theory, etc. The call for action by social theorist has led to a revival of personal research in composition and a look at wider issues of morality and questions of audience. Technology has interjected new arguments into the study of composition as well. Whether one looks at of specific strategies for invention, arrangement, revision, etc., or the use of technology in the classroom, the field is continually evolving. From teacher centered to peer centered classrooms an argument continues today on the place of authority in the classroom, assessment and importance of the final product. Creativity, original thought and unique research methodologies are all elements of how today's composition class is ultimately judged. The argument can be wide or narrow,but depth is generally favored over breathe and an argument is imbedded into the compositional process where previously it did not exist,

Burke and Dewey

It is interesting that Burke was inspired by Dewey in his educational philosophy in his attention to progressive education as they were both considered progressive but in such different ways(Enoch 277). His jump to theoritizing on ways that "...education could promote peace and mitigate war," mark him as a man of his times in a post World War II time, encouraging criticl reflection, rather than argumentation(Enoch 279). Burke would encourage "...distrustful admiration of all symbolism, and ... questioning "...the many symbolically-stimulated goads that are now accepted to often without question" (286). He seems to asking students to observe, distance themselves and respond to text and real life situations with great care. While this would seem to imply an inability to act Enoch says instead that "Reflection is a way to act on and approach the world" (291)). The attitude of "patience and withdrawal"that he advocates seems contradictory, yet wise.

I prefer Fulwiler's approach to education because Burke's wisdom only goes so far. It just seems like a first step. Fulwiler says "Expressive writing and speaking continue[s] to make passive classrooms active" (handout on Toby Fulwiler with excerpts From Writing Across the Michigan Tech Curriculum, 1). In a related sense, Palmquist, Kiefer, Hartvigsen and Goodlew found that students in a computer classroom had more action going on than a traditional classroom, with "a higher level of interaction with students"... and these interactions were "initiated by students and focused directly on their writing" (258). This shows that a value is placed in pedagogy on active participation of students physically and socially. I like John Dewey's focus on education having "psychological insight into the child's capacities, interest, and habits, as a "process of living" but find that like Burke's reflection, it is a limited philosophy in terms of action to prevent wars, as was his ideal (handout on John Dewey with excerpts from My Pedagogic Creed [1896},1). Dialogue such as United Nations events, Presidential Summits and media debates on policy seem to shape opinions moreso. Berlin points out that "The business of cognitive psychology is to enable us to learn to think in a way that will realize goals, not deliberate about their value" (672). This certainly suggests that the psychology of learning when cognitive might be able to be goal oriented, perhaps a goal of action to prevent wars, rather than deliberate on the rightness or wrongness of war. I believe that argumentation at some point, accompanied by and interspersed with reflection, will produce better results, as it more interactive and goal oriented than simply reflection on a position.

Berlin, James. "Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class." Miller, Susan Ed. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009. 667-684. Print.

Enoch, Jessica. "Becoming Symbol-Wise: Kenneth Burk's Pedagogy of Critical Reflection. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 56,No. 2 (Dec., 2004). 272-296. Reprinted by NCTE with JSTOR.

Palmquist, Mike, Kate Keifer, James Hartvigsen and Barbara Goodlew. "Contrasts: Teaching and Learning about Writing in Traditional and Computer Classrooms." Sidler, Michele, Richard Morris and Elizabeth Overland Smith, eds. Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,2008. 251-270. Print.

coleridge and the philosophical perspective

Today the center of audience in discourse is difficult to dispute, as the field of rhetoric embraces "what Lynn Worsham terms our field's modernist commitment 'to the Enlightenment dreams of communication and consensus, emancipation and empowerment"in Lunsford and Ede'a article in the Miller text (820). This suggests the importance of expressing our goals, as well as how they are affected by the place of others, culture and institutions in creating communication to address and persuade an audience. As the writer moves to shape themselves within a rhetorical tradition, there is a call on our memories, identifications,experience and knowledge base, which Lunsford and Ede suggest, creates "a way of being in language and a way of both inhabiting and shaping knowledge structures, ways that strive to be critically self-reflective, multi-perspectival, and complex"(821). The authors in this second description of how writer's shape themselves, seem to be calling on Coleridge's philosophy derived from Plato, which Veeder describes as follows: "the purpose of the dialectic (and its social counterpart, dialogue) was to reconcile opposing views and to inform the composer rather than convince others of a preconceived truth" (24). The role of audience was not the issue-- it was convincing oneself as a writer of the rightness of their position that was important for Coleridge. [Coleridege apparently] "agreed with Plato's claim that the purpose of argumentation was to help the composer to be 'throughly convinced that things were so"and "was the required 'philosophical attitude' necessary for sound composition"(24).

However,the exploration of opposing viewpoints and multiple perspectives,in the development of our own compositional philosophy can contribute to a modern day writer who is more open to contradictions in shaping a philosophy embracing community and future unknowns. The audience might not only be in our thoughts to communicate with and persuade but to reflect in conjunction with that audience. When we engage in collaboration, "human conversation takes place within us as well as among us, and that conversation as it takes place within us is what we call reflective thought" according to Bruffee (548-549). He seems to be saying that our internal thought process and social learned information play equal roles in the development of learning and certainty of knowledge. In fact, he suggested that "The most sophisticated scientific knowledge is established and maintained" through a collaborative learning process, joining "'the conversation of mankind'"(555).

Today we have more access to global ideas through technology, as we reach out to our classmates worldwide. Through file sharing and other methods of sharing information, such as You Tube, the audience can participate not only in pre-writing idea sharing, but in revision and turning "writer based prose into reader based prose" in a 'public forum' (Eldred,246-247). So while Coleridge's ideas are intriguing, they seem to describing only a partial view of how the writer can go about developing their philosophy, more accurate in an pre-technology age.

Bruffee, Kenneth A. "Collaborative Learning and the 'Conversations of Mankind'". Miller, Susan, Ed. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009. Print. 545-562.

Eldred, Janet M. "Pedagogy in the Computer-networked Classroom. Sidler, Michelle, Richard Morris and Elizabeth Overman Smith. Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. Print. 239-250.

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Lisa Ede. "Representing Audience: 'Successful' Discourse and Disciplinary Critique". Miller, Susan Ed. The Norton Book of Compositional Studies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009. Print. 813-823.

Veeder, Rex. "Coleridge's Philosophy of Composition: An Overview of a Romantic Rhetorician. [Class Handout] Print. 20-28.