Response to Bartholomae

Bartholomae's article was though to grapple with. I agree with him that there is definitely a style that academics share, but cannot agree with him in terms of methodology or opinion. One of the few things I agree with him on is this: "There is a context beyond the reader that is not the world but a way of talking about the world, a way of talking that determines the use of examples, the possible conclusions, the acceptable commonplaces" (406). I appreciate this sentence in its connection to Bakhtin's theory of multiple discourse, but that's about it. I don't connect with Bartholomae's "us and them" vernacular when talking about students. He claims to want to integrate students into academia right away but insists that there is some level of being able to speak in a certain voice for a certain audience they need to achieve to be able to do so.  I believe in the role of teachers as guides more than changers. I lean more toward Lindemann's view of the writing process whereby students learn through writing often and in several stages. I believe in the individual voice and its ability to convey meaning within an academic structure. Bartholomae makes no mention of voice other than the academic voice, and portrays an elitist point of view of the academy. It seems that there is either a pass or fail in his mind when looking at student writing. I'd rather teach more in the style of Lindemann and Elbow regarding the writing process, but appreciate Bartholomae's concern with multiple discourse.