Writing, Revision, and Writing

The readings for this week were diverse, to say the least. While Brodkey’s article was too long for my taste, there was definite gold in that mine. One such knowledge nugget is the following quote: “At issue is the unquestioned power of a pedagological authority that insists that teachers concentrate on form at the expense of content.” As a teacher, I see this far too often with middle-school children. What they’ve written commands less attention than how it was written. My favorite quote is this one: “Discursive resistance requires opportunities for resistance.” I believe that line is powerful, and no, I’m not going to explain why. Beyond that, Harris and Rose share in different, albeit repeating themes of readings thus far. They both explore ways to be flexible in writing – don’t allow rules to bind you! – and to use revision for more than shuffling your vocabulary – try changing your content!