1.
In the excerpt from Fulkerson’s “Composition Theory in the
Eighties” while I agree with the sentiment that writing and reading are “inherently
social,” I am a bit hesitant to fully accept the “Rhetorical Axiology’s” emphasis
on writing heavily for an audience (414). Fulkerson acknowledges this briefly in
the “Theoretical Incompatibility” section with an anecdote about student
readers and their response to a paper (422). While the paper in question rhetorically succeeded with said students,
Fulkerson does not share the same enthusiasm for it, due to its shortcomings
from a mimetic/research point of view. Therefore:
As instructors, how can we help our students to create writing
which engages audience without them falling into the potential trap of writing
solely to please or even pander to that audience?
2.
What struck me most from Bartholomae’s text were his lamentations
concerning our “inability to talk with each other [professionals from differing
fields] about writing” (16). This made me consider how we as instructors should
approach handling students from different fields of study
who will be entering our tutoring sessions or classrooms as students expected
to be learning ‘English/Composition.'
Should we guide them in ways which will reinforce the style they
are expected to be writing in for their major thus making them better writers
in that field, though not necessarily better off in the world of ‘English,' or should
we be attempting to better round their abilities in our field itself, in turn pushing
them in a direction away from a mode of writing their instructors prefer? It is a reality that many instructors from other
major fields complain their students are unable to effectively ‘write,' so how
do we best respond to this concern?
I actually came up with a similar concern with yours. Because many parts of the writing process are understanding and analyzing the knowledge obtained from classes, I wonder what tutors' role can be without any background knowledge of students' major. This situation can restrict tutors' role to advise on their writing 'styles.' Sometimes even the stylistic advice is not helpful because the writing styles vary from department to department. After some thoughts, I've concluded with reserve that tutors' role is to be a good audience. I can't give them any knowledge regarding the field they are writing on, and I think I don't have to push them into the writing style I'm familiar with. But I can listen to their argument as a general audience and can help their writing make sense as its own entity.
ReplyDeleteI think working with students from other fields is one of the aspects of tutoring that I am most nervous or curious about. I think it can be handled in a variety of ways. First, as a tutor I would need to ask myself what the goal of the student is. If their long term goals do not include being a better writer, then I cannot force this goal upon them. If I even tried it would be unsuccessful because this development process requires motivation and cooperation from the student and if that process does not align with their individual goal then they won't achieve it.
ReplyDeleteI think one possible goal for a writing center as a whole would be to incorporate tutors that are from other fields to assist in different styles of writing. Scientific writing, for example, is a really different beast and having writers and researchers from within that department to assist in developing the writing process of their students could be a way to collaborate across disciplines. I agree with Chiyon, though that generally speaking our primary role is to be a general audience to assist in the writing process rather than parsing out factual or discipline specific aspects of the work.