Literary Letters

 Perhaps one of the best things that I liked about Linda Broadkey's  essay was her attempt to restore the lost art of letter writing, while at same time, forcing her students to write By writing letters, she hoped that her students would feel anxiety, and would feel more free to find their voices, and would give them "...an authentic reason to write" (128).

I thought Broadkey's approach to having her students write letters,  instead of a  traditional essay,  was a clever approach because it allowed them to consider other ways that they could be creative. I am not sure that the students realized that this is one of the reasons why this approach was being used, but it is clear that Broadkey certainly did. I think that perhaps one of the most difficult things in the classroom, is to get students to write, and not  to feel anxiety about it. The idea of writing letters to friends or family, on the surface, seems less threatening because after all, you are writing to people you already know. The expectation is that they will be receptive to you, and you can open up to them in ways that you might not have considered if you had been asked to write a five paragraph essay. The letters that the students wrote for the most part, seemed to convey a sense of freedom, and a voice that they may not have been able to portray in a traditional essay. I believe that the letter writing approach that they took in Broadkey's assignment can only help them on later assignments in their classroom.

I really liked Broadkey's reasoning about giving her students this assignment because as a teacher, it allowed her to consider other options for writing assignments that could help them in other areas of writing as well. The experience of having a writing assignment that was geared to make you feel less threatened by the process,  is an experience that hopefully can carry them to other areas of their  writing in the future.

Should there be a Standard English?

June Jordan seems to be arguing,  "Should there be a Standard English?"  How do we recognize the different types of English that students use?  I am not only referring to Black English, but other types of English as well, i.e., Spanglish, Konglish, etc. Is it proper to suggest that everyone must speak Standard English without the  consideration of someone's background or ethnicity, i.e., the Queen's English? This English is of course considered to be one that provides more opportunities to those that use it. Standard English is if course, privileged, while Black English is not. How does a teacher balance both languages in the classroom if he/she has students who use these languages? Should he/she privileged one form over the other, particularly if many of the students use Black English? How does the teacher even begin to address this issue?



I think that one of the things that the teacher could do to address this issue would be to explain that Standard English is in fact privileged in this country, and that using it can afford them better  opportunities in their lives.  It is the language that most people in this country accept as being the proper way to speak. Of course there are many who may disagree with this sentiment as well, and therein is the controversy.



One of the things that June Jordan brought up in her article was the notion of someone who speaks in Black English losing their power if they spoke or wrote in Standard English for the purpose of being understood by the majority, even if by so doing, you were allowing yourself to be understood by a greater number of people. I believe that to write in a language that the majority of the country use, does not give away your power. It deepens it. It makes it more powerful because it shows that even though you may speak, read, and write in Black English, that you can also do the same in Standard English. The person that June Jordan writes about in her essay,  Willie Jordan, would disagree. He would regard this as speaking in the language of the oppressor, even at the expense of being understood.



As I was reading Willie Jordan's thoughts on this issue, my mind went back to Frederick Douglass'  book. In his book, he did not resort to speaking in Black English, but instead used the language of his oppressors to get his point across on the indignities of slavery, so that he could reach a greater number of people who might be sympathetic to his plight. If he had in fact spoken in a language that was not considered to be in the majority, his arguments, as well as his observations with respect to slavery and its evils would not have been understood by the very people who he was trying to reach. By speaking in the language of the oppressor, he is able to make his argument even more powerful. Similarly, when Willie Jordan finally decided to use Standard English, his argument about what the police had done to his brother become more powerful.  And more to the point, his thoughts about this terrible injustice reached a greater number of people, than if he only written in Black English, who, one can hope, were able to feel sympathy for what he had gone thorough, and could lend their voices to his, to make make a difference. I believe that the ability to speak in the language of the dominant culture,  does not take give away power that you might have by not speaking in a language, that is not  considered acceptable by the majority of people. The ability to use language to reach a greater number of people shows a tremendous power, and should be applauded.

Effective Writing Assignments

Lindemann's chapter on effective writing assignments didn't exactly connect directly to my thesis prospectus, but the fact that she discussed making assignments geared towards the students falls somewhere along the lines of what I'm writing about. She gave an example of having students who just got into the university write about the effectiveness of the brochures they were given. Since I'm writing about whether it's the attitudes towards composition that make writers either single or multi-drafters, I did want to express in the prospectus that I think there is a correlation between a positive attitude about composition and being a multi-drafter. Maybe if educators presented writing topics that were more student-centered, then they would get the effort they so desire with multiple drafts.

           Lindemann,   Designing Writing Courses



"Students learn to write by writing. Guidance in the writing process and discussion of the students own work should be the central means of instruction... Students should also be encouraged to develop the critical ability to evaluate their own work, so that they can become effective, independent writers  beyond school."

As I was thinking about this quote more fully, the purpose of writing became more relevant. On the surface this seems like such an easy thing to say. Of course, students learn by writing, but these words are so much more powerful than that. Students must not only write so that they can become better writers, but they should write every day so that they can become more experienced writers and thinkers. They should not write only material of an academic nature, but other should engage in other types of writing as well that include letters and journal writing, to name just a few.

I like the idea that Lindemann believes that the purpose of writing is to both guide the students and discuss their work with them. Discuss, as opposed to criticize their work. Her analysis about the writing process appears to be more collaborative so that the student is more involved in the process, and has a vested interest in the outcome. I believe that collaboration is very important as it pertains to students in the writing class. It is also a good way to help them learn about the writing process in general, and about how to evaluate their work in particular. Too often this practice has done by the instructor exclusively. This collaboration process demonstrates that the instructor and the student are each sharing their knowledge with each other, and learning from each other in the process, which I believe is an ideal situation.

Jennifer Seibel Trainor,  "The Emotioned Power of Racism: An Ethnographic Portrait of an All White High School."



As I was reading this article, I kept asking myself this simple, yet naive question,  "Why does racism have a place in literary studies, and how can teachers keep it out of the classroom?"  The answer to the first question is perhaps an easier one to answer. Obviously, we each bring our own views, conceptions, and misconceptions any number of racial groups. If someone was not fortunate to attend schools that were diverse, or learned to be tolerant of  other people, and accepting of someone that was different from you, then racist views can emerge. I really believe, however, that racism begins in the home, and then it unfortunately extends outside of the home to include schools, and other social gatherings. It then spills over into academia, and in this instance, in literary studies.

If someone grows up in a racist environment, then, what steps can a teacher take to steer the student away from racist views? What can the teacher do to help the student to identify with the person that he or she deems as  "the other?" How can the teacher help to not only facilitate compassion, but also to help them see parts of themselves in the person? What can the teacher do to prevent students from saying that an author is racist against white people, instead of saying, 'I can understand why the character in To Kill a Mockingbird feels this way.... It is because of ... and if I were in that situation I might feel that way as well. Or this may not be my truth-- but it is  the truth of the person in the novel. Let me try to see it from this perspective."

I suppose one of the things that a teacher can do to facilitate compassion in her or his students,  is to gear writing assignments  toward helping students to identify with characters, and by extension, people, who they believe are different from them. I don't have this completely worked out in my head, but I am thinking that a writing assignment would give details to how the students view various characters in the novel, and how they see themselves in situations that the characters have gone through.

Excerpt II from twelve readers reading

I’m a student that would rather receive a vase amount of feedback from an instructor as opposed to minimal words, or not at all. The class discussion on whether the feedback was too extensive, harsh, or unnecessary had its pros and cons. I agree with on colleague that stated some of the words used to were inappropriate and harsh. To that extent I agree, although the feedback might have been helpful and necessary, as instructors we must be sure not to crush or student’s while they are already down and use descriptive words that will not be considered offensive. Now the length of the feedback is generally up to how you read into your students. Some would look at a typed page and a half response and immediately be discouraged, unreceptive or sensitive. It’s up to the instructor to know what type of feedback would best suit the needs of their students. Me personally like another colleague stated would have appreciated such extensive notes. I have been on the other receiving side when I had not received any feedback at all and was lost on what needed improvement or where I lacked in my writing or even what my strong suits were. I am open to feedback that is detailed and specific because I feel it will only help to improve my skills. Nevertheless there is a dual responsibility instructors have, properly wording feedback and giving adequate lengths of comments/notes.