Tim's great presentation was my first experience with Peter Elbow. I can't help it, I like the guy. He seems caring and sincere (you too, Tim).
At first I thought Elbow's ideas would be applicable only to creative writing, but the more I have consdiered them, the more I think they apply to expository writing as well. In the article from College English, "Comment and Rebuttal", Elbow addresses a critic of his emphasis on sincerity. He admits that sincerity and pragmatism are contradictory and yet both absolutely necessary, and therefore must both be addressed to attain success.
In Elbow's later discussion of the writer's voice, I got a glimmer of how his processes could work for expository writing. Every week I review student essays and research papers with students. Our school requires that students do a first draft, go over it with a teacher, revise, then submit the paper to another teacher and 2 other students for comments, then do further revisions, and finally go over it again with the first teacher. I am usually the first teacher, so I usually get the first draft. I had not been able to put it in words until reading Elbow, but what is usually missing is the student's voice. Although they have considerable latitude in choosing their subject, the students tend to choose topics that they think teachers will like. When a students does choose a topic that he or she feels personally passionate about, the paper is much better, even when it is filled with errors.
I now see several things we need to do at our school to improve the writing process. First of all, we need a conference to talk about the topic and direction of the paper. This will ensure that the student cares about more than getting the grade. Next, we all (students and teachers) need to come to consensus on how to read student writing and offer constructive comments. Most of us are so concerned about hurting anyone's feelings that we just mark mechanical errors and don't address the issue of whether or not the student has actually said anything. We need to stop letting students get by with correctly-written but meaningless work. Maybe we need some sort of standard rubric for this.
Elbow also addresses the issue of grades, when he says, " . . . the goodness or badness in a piece of writing is an 'unknown' and that the only trustworthy measuring instrument we have is the reaction of as many real readers as possible." (594) What if grades were based more on students' participation in the composition process (conferences, revisions, more conferences, collecting and considering comments from teachers and fellow students) than on the perfection of the final version? It seems to me that education is about improving one's skills, not about producing a perfect final product.
As I prepare for school tomorrow, I will be thinking about Peter Elbow's suggestion on page 595 of the article: "Try asking yourself if you are really sure you know the sources of goodness and badness in papers."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with you. Having worked as a tutor in the Writing Room, I have read many of those same rough first drafts as you and, accordingly, I have noticed that several lack an original voice. Quite a few of the students I helped composed works in this highly stilted and hollow language of academia because they assumed that this was what the teacher wanted and, therefore, would earn them a passing grade. However, that absence of sincerity that Elbow discusses in his work leered off the page and informed the reader that the student either didn’t care about the subject or was trying too hard to sound scholarly. Indeed, the most enjoyable sessions that I had were with students working on essays about subjects they were passionate about. Granted, as you pointed out, the paper may have been riddled with errors at times, yet the authenticity of their voice masked a majority of those issues.
Furthermore, I love your plans for concepts to improve the writing processes in schools and can accord with them in their entirety (as I’m sure Elbow would as well). Conferences to discuss the direction and topics of essays and the employment of constructive criticism rather than mechanical corrections would all aid students in developing the confidence and understanding to use their own voice within writing.
Thomas
Cathy, I agree with most of what you have said. However, I have heard all too often the plaint, “I can only write about topics I’m interested in.” We all know that as our schooling progresses, this is not a luxury we can always indulge.
ReplyDeleteWe’re expected to write reams on topics that sometimes barely butt up against our interests. Furthermore, researching a subject in order to write a paper can be a great way of discovering a new interest one might never have pursued. Of course, I encourage my students to choose topics they care about, but when that isn’t an option, I challenge them to find out what they really know, feel, and believe about the subject and to write from that stance.
I believe we can encourage our students to write well even if it is not on a subject about which they care passionately. It is a tool they need to have at hand.
I think I know exactly what you mean when you write about reading error free work that is still meaningless, and I agree that we as the teachers are mostly to blame. The students are all too aware that the paper they turn in will be graded by a mind very foreign to their own. To alleviate their fears, they choose what they think we want to read. I have tried multiple strategies to get around this problem, but the most effective solution I have found is to provide a list of topics that I “like.” My liking has nothing to do with the topics; I am reversing their logical fear and providing a list of topics that I think they will find interesting. This does not always work; while I am fairly young, I am not completely in touch will all of my students’ interests.
ReplyDeleteThe other comment that struck me in you response was about judging a piece of writing. I find it fascinating how one teacher can read a paper and judge it a B, and other teacher will read the same paper and find it to be exceptional work. There are multiple rubrics floating around; God knows I’ve had several shoved down my throat lately, but I am yet to find one example that applies to “good writing.” What I can say is effective is the skill based rubric. For each mode or genre of writing, one can develop a rubric to measure the proficiency of the individual skills, and this does work; however, “good writing” is just too subjective to measure by any yard stick I have been given. If you find one, let me know.
"Try asking yourself if you are really sure you know the sources of goodness and badness in papers." - a good slice of humble pie for any writing instructor.
ReplyDeleteI think what makes it so very difficult is that good writing is completely situational. What is good for one purpose, audience, etc. may be totally inappropriate for another. This is why the rubrics mentioned here fail so miserably. They try to nail down good writing as an absolute. There's NO SUCH THING as an absolute definition of good writing applicable at all times and in all places.
To me a good writer accomplishes the goals set for the particular piece of writing and communicates successfully to the intended audience. This makes the question of good writing problematic because it changes with each piece we sit down to work at.
What makes one piece effective may be totally inappropriate in another piece; likewise, what makes a given piece effective for one audience may make it a total waste for another.