[Teaching_Composition] Academic Discourse
Matthew Parfitt
teaching_composition@mailman.eppg.com
Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:49:09 -0500
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I've had my head down in a pile of essays and so unable to follow
this entire thread, but I want to put in a plug for a "both/and"
approach. That is, I think our students at Boston U need to become
able to recognize and reproduce academic discourse conventions, but I
think they are better able to do so when they can see these
conventions in relation to other discourse conventions. So I try to
expose them to periodical essays, personal essays, academic essays,
experimental essays, etc., in order to illustrate how genres (or
subgenres, if you prefer) express purpose and audience. I think they
produce better academic writing better when they understand the
conventions not as rules they must follow in their school writing,
but as malleable practices that serve the particular purposes of the
academy. Other subgenres serve other purposes. -- Matt Parfitt
--
Matthew Parfitt
parfitt@bu.edu
(617) 358-2917
On Nov 21, 2006, at 8:14 AM, Linda Adler-Kassner wrote:
> Just to second or third or fourth Rich's and Russ's comments: I
> think we do students - and our profession - a service when we help
> them realize (as we all do) that while we can't "prepare" them for
> a specific _kind_ (/genre) of writing, we can help them develop
> _flexibility as writers._ After all, we can't know every genre. But
> we can know how to help students develop the strategies they need
> to analyze audience expectations; develop a variety of writing
> strategies and think about when, where, and why to use them; know
> how to develop even more strategies; make conscious choices....
> After all, that's what writers do.
> -Linda
> On Nov 20, 2006, at 9:25 PM, Russ Hunt wrote:
>
>> Like Rich Haswell,
>>
>>> I'm happy to see someone questioning the focus on "academic
>>> writing" in the current college-writing curriculum, and
>>> questioning it in the
>>> interest of the kinds of writing students will do after college.
>>
>> We need to bear in mind, too, that we can't anticipate what those
>> kinds of writing will be, and even if we could we probably
>> couldn't "teach" them. A book which makes a similar argument to
>> Anne Beaufort's _Writing in the Real World_, but with piles of
>> real-world empirical evidence, is _Worlds Apart_, by Aviva
>> Freedman, Patrick Dias, Anthony Pare and Peter Medway. They
>> followed writers moving out of pre-professional programs of
>> various kinds and into professions. Their work convinces me that
>> the best I can hope for is to help students learn how to figure
>> out and adapt to the new genres they'll encounter in whatever they
>> do. One thng we can be sure of, though: the classroom essay almost
>> certainly won't be one of them (even if they become academics).
>>
>> -- Russ
>>
>> Russell Hunt
>> Department of English
>> St. Thomas University
>> http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/
>> _______________________________________________
>> Teaching_Composition maillist -
>> Teaching_Composition@mailman.eppg.com
>> http://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/listinfo/teaching_composition
>>
>> To unsubscribe, please visit http://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/
>> listinfo/teaching_composition and update your information.
>
> ----
> Linda Adler-Kassner, Ph.D.
> Director of First-Year Writing
> Associate Professor
> Department of English Language and Literature
> Eastern Michigan University
> 612 Pray-Harrold
> Ypsilanti, MI 48197
> 734.487.0148 (o) 734.483.9744 (fax)
> http://www.emich.edu/english/fycomp/
>
>
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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">I've had my head down in a pile =
of essays and so unable to follow this entire thread, but I want to put =
in a plug for a "both/and" approach.=A0 That is, I think our students at =
Boston U need to become able to recognize and reproduce academic =
discourse conventions, but I think they are better able to do so when =
they can see these conventions in relation to other discourse =
conventions.=A0 So I try to expose them to periodical essays, personal =
essays, academic essays, experimental essays, etc., in order to =
illustrate how genres (or subgenres, if you prefer) express purpose and =
audience.=A0 I think they produce better academic writing better when =
they understand the conventions not as rules they must follow in their =
school writing, but as malleable practices that serve the particular =
purposes of the academy.=A0 Other subgenres serve other purposes. -- =
Matt Parfitt<BR><DIV> <SPAN class=3D"Apple-style-span" =
style=3D"border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: =
rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: =
normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: =
normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; =
-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; =
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; =
white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; =
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: =
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; =
-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; =
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; =
white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
"><DIV>--</DIV><DIV>Matthew Parfitt</DIV><DIV><A =
href=3D"mailto:parfitt@bu.edu">parfitt@bu.edu</A></DIV><DIV>(617) =
358-2917</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></SPAN> =
</DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Nov 21, 2006, at 8:14 AM, Linda Adler-Kassner =
wrote:</DIV><BR class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE =
type=3D"cite">Just to second or third or fourth Rich's and Russ's =
comments: I think we do students - and our profession -=A0 a service =
when we help them realize (as we all do) that while we can't "prepare" =
them for a specific _kind_ (/genre) of writing, we can help them develop =
_flexibility as writers._ After all, we can't know every genre. But we =
can know how to help students develop the strategies they need to =
analyze audience expectations; develop a variety of writing strategies =
and think about when, where, and why to use them; know how to develop =
even more strategies; make conscious choices.... After all, that's what =
writers do.<DIV>-Linda<BR><DIV><DIV>On Nov 20, 2006, at 9:25 PM, Russ =
Hunt wrote:</DIV><BR class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE =
type=3D"cite"><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Like Rich Haswell,</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE =
type=3D"cite"><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">I'm happy to see someone =
questioning the focus on "academic writing" in the current =
college-writing curriculum, and questioning it in the</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">interest of the kinds of writing students will do =
after college.<SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0</SPAN></DIV> =
</BLOCKQUOTE><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">We need to bear in mind, too, that we can't =
anticipate what those kinds of writing will be, and even if we could we =
probably couldn't "teach" them. A book which makes a similar argument to =
Anne Beaufort's _Writing in the Real World_, but with piles of =
real-world empirical evidence, is _Worlds Apart_, by Aviva Freedman, =
Patrick Dias, Anthony Pare and Peter Medway. They followed writers =
moving out of pre-professional programs of various kinds and into =
professions. Their work convinces me that the best I can hope for is to =
help students learn how to figure out and adapt to the new genres =
they'll encounter in whatever they do. One thng we can be sure of, =
though: the classroom essay almost certainly won't be one of them (even =
if they become academics).</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: =
14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-- Russ</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Russell =
Hunt</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Department of English</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">St. Thomas University</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A =
href=3D"http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/">http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/</A></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; =
">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Teaching_Composition maillist<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>-<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN><A =
href=3D"mailto:Teaching_Composition@mailman.eppg.com">Teaching_Composition=
@mailman.eppg.com</A></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A =
href=3D"http://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/listinfo/teaching_composition">htt=
p://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/listinfo/teaching_composition</A></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">To =
unsubscribe, please visit <A =
href=3D"http://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/listinfo/teaching_composition">htt=
p://mailman.eppg.com/mailman/listinfo/teaching_composition</A> and =
update your information.</DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; =
border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; =
font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: =
normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; =
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-apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; =
white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; =
"><DIV>----</DIV><DIV>Linda Adler-Kassner, Ph.D.</DIV><DIV>Director of =
First-Year Writing</DIV><DIV>Associate Professor</DIV><DIV>Department of =
English Language and Literature</DIV><DIV>Eastern Michigan =
University</DIV><DIV>612 Pray-Harrold</DIV><DIV>Ypsilanti, MI =
48197</DIV><DIV>734.487.0148 (o) 734.483.9744 (fax)</DIV><DIV><A =
href=3D"http://www.emich.edu/english/fycomp/">http://www.emich.edu/english=
/fycomp/</A></DIV><BR class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> =
</DIV><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>=
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