Hey all! It has been a while hasn’t it? Well here is an essay I wrote for guess what… Graduate School! Enjoy.
Writing is anything from thinking about ideas, taking notes, drafts, editing, annotating, info-dumping, recording yourself speak, discussing ideas and theories, and much more. Writing can also help formulate action and plans; it can be the bringer of change into the world. Or more simply, it can formulate thoughts and theories into something cohesive and understandable instead of nonsensical notes, though nonsensical notes is also a form of writing, it is just a less formal version of it. Writing is directly connected to the writer’s identity.[1] The writer cannot write something without inputting some of their own bias into the work, no matter how much they might try. In a lot of situations, it would be more honest for the author to embrace their identity in their writing and acknowledge their potential bias in their piece instead of the author trying to separate themselves from their identity in their writing to be as unbiased as possible for the writer. “Like hooks, I claim all my voices as my own very much authentic voices, even when it’s difficult for others to imagine a person like me having the capacity to do that.”[2] This is Royester writing about how their authentic voice can be a multitude of voices, and how that is important we recognize that people can be capable of that multiplicity.
Another thing aside from having a multitude of authentic voices is also how comfortable people are with claiming to be authorities over other people’s identities and cultures, even over those who are currently living within that identity or culture. “I have been compelled to listen as they have comfortably claimed the authority to engage in the construction of knowledge and meaning about me and mine, without paying even a passing nod to the fact that sometimes a substantive version of that knowledge might already exist, or to how it might have already been constructed, or to the meanings that might have already been assigned that might make me quite impatient with gaps in their understanding of my community, or to the fact that I, or somebody within my ethnic group, might have an opinion about what they are doing. I have been compelled to listen to speakers, well-meaning though they may think they are, who signal to me rather clearly that subject position is everything. I have come to recognize, however, that when the subject matter is me and the voice is not mine, my sense of order and rightness is disrupted. In metaphoric fashion, these “authorities” let me know, once again, that Columbus has discovered America and claims it now, claims it still for a European crown.”[3] Here Royster is writing about what it is like to be the subject of a topic while not being allowed to be, or even being seen as an expert of it, while someone who is not of that group is talking about said subject or group as if they are an expert. A great example of this in something that I have experienced is how often people will claim to be experts of disabilities but have never experienced a disability in their entire life. If writing was done more by people of those specific groups and they were the ones recognized as the experts, not just because of research but because of lived experience then this would allow for a more direct look at that person or that communities perspective on the matter and hopefully end the current problem that happens in nonfiction where cis, straight, able bodied, white, men are seen as the true neutral in writing and everyone else is seen as other and as imparting their bias. If it were common for everyone to acknowledge their implicit bias in their writing, then that problem might end.[4] Overall, if more people wrote directly from their perspective and recognized their implicit bias in writing then writing would inevitably become a more honest practice. It would also likely become more enjoyable of a thing to do and more enjoyable to consume when reading nonfiction.
One way writing is good when it is thoughtful and makes a good clear argument. This is only when it is an argumentative paper though I don’t think it should be graded on how well it actually does on persuading anyone to an argument. This is to say that the writer needs to make sure they are not contradicting themselves unless it is intentionally part of their argument. Depending on what a student is writing changes what I hope it will accomplish. If they are writing nonfiction, I hope they will write something persuasive or informative. If they are writing fiction, I hope they write something entertaining and/or emotional. Overall, I hope what they write is powerful, and I hope it impacts someone, and changes something for someone.
Grammar is pointless. I would simply never grade for grammar. As long as they make a good thoughtful clear argument, correct information, or a cohesive story, they could text me their entire essay, and I would consider that writing. That being said. I would teach grammar because understanding how to write a formal email, a MLA/Chicago style essay, etc, is important because of the society we live in. So I would teach grammar alongside teaching them that grammar has a racist, classist, ableist and sexist history. I would also try to teach them some basic history and information of AAVE grammar, internet grammar, ASL grammar, and probably some more, just to give them a well-rounded education that grammar does not have to be standard.[5] Students should learn how to do research, how to think for themselves, and how to form a clear good argument when writing essays in writing classes. I also think they should learn some basic ideas of rhetoric and how to form counter arguments.
Accessibility is also a key feature of the theory of writing. Teachers should make their classrooms as accessible and welcoming as possible for all students, Universal Design of Learning is massively important to all aspects of life for both disabled and abled people as it can make the world a more accessible place for people of a variety of needs.[6] Simple ways of using UDL would be to record the lessons that they can be watched or listened to later, pass out handouts, or have digital ones that can be zoomed in on, allow for multiple ways for assignments to be turned in, multiple way for students to engage in classroom discussions, and no attendance policy. Along with this have multiple different types of representation in the authors you choose to have your students read, basically, be intersectional. To respect diverse students voices the easiest thing to do is to listen to them and listen to their needs. But sometimes students do not feel comfortable sharing their needs with an authority figure, so it is also good to do your own research on the types of students you will be having in your class and what a majority of people in those groups say they want.[7] A good example of this is the disability community saying they do not like person first language and prefer identity first language, a lot of educators were taught by nondisabled people to use person first language, but when they reached out to actual disabled people they were told that identity first language was preferred.[8] So do research, if you know you are going to have students of color in your class do research, same with students with disabilities, or an LGBT+ student; and don’t do just broad stroke research either, you can get specific with what you research, look up specific preferences depending on the community that person belongs to. Discussion is immensely important in a writing classroom. You can discuss each other’s writing to share ideas and criticism, you can discuss the material you are writing about, you can offer suggestions for sources. Honestly the possibilities are endless.
I feel like the role of the teacher in a writing classroom is the make sure the class is accessible and to facilitate the discussions and help students understand the material. Give them as many avenues as needed to write and preform to the best of their ability. I think teachers should grade students writing based partially on whether it is plagiarism or not, and though that seems basic I do think that is important. Citations are one of the few things I think are a bit more important to be strict on being there in writing, even if they are done incorrectly, they need to at least be there. I think the other part is if the student had information and used proper sources. If it was a paper the student was writing and the teacher really insisted on doing a word or page count then I suppose they can grade on that, though realistically if the student can get the information across or the argument done in less pages then I think that should be fine as well. For fiction writing then I think the teacher should just be grading on the student turning in a piece of writing. Unless they are wanting to turn it in at a publishing level, in which case the teacher should have done specific grammar edits with the students, then grammar should not be graded at all for any of these situations. Overall, writing and teaching writing is all about accessibility, intersectionality, and utilizing one’s own voice when writing.
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[1] Royster, Jacqueline Jones. “When the First Voice You Hear Is Not Your Own.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 47, no. 1, 1996, pp. 29–40., https://doi.org/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ym2PYOHu9MVFEvvCoHuHFGhxWu6nMKJk/view.
[2] Royster, Jacqueline Jones. “When the First Voice You Hear Is Not Your Own.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 47, no. 1, 1996, pp. 29–40., https://doi.org/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ym2PYOHu9MVFEvvCoHuHFGhxWu6nMKJk/view.
[3] Royster, Jacqueline Jones. “When the First Voice You Hear Is Not Your Own.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 47, no. 1, 1996, pp. 29–40., https://doi.org/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ym2PYOHu9MVFEvvCoHuHFGhxWu6nMKJk/view.
[4] Related we should also end the problem where mostly cis, straight, able bodied, white, men get to be published the most and allow for more diverse publishing.
[5] In this there is a unique difference between white ASL and black ASL, and I would think it would be important to teach the differences and similarities between that as well. — Wolfram, Walt, et al. Signing Black in America. Signing Black in America — More about This Project at Www.talkingblackinamerica.org, Licensed to Youtube by: WMG (on Behalf of Seal); UMPG Publishing, AMRA, UMPI, Kobalt Music Publishing, and 9 Music Rights Societies, 21 Jan. 2021, https://youtu.be/oiLltM1tJ9M. Accessed 2021.
[6] Dolmage, Jay Timothy. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press, 2017.
[7] HITT, ALLISON HARPER. Rhetorics of Overcoming: Rewriting Narratives of Disability and Accessibility Writing Studies. NAT’L COUN OF TEACHERS, 2021.
[8] HITT, ALLISON HARPER. Rhetorics of Overcoming: Rewriting Narratives of Disability and Accessibility Writing Studies. NAT’L COUN OF TEACHERS, 2021.
