[Teaching_Composition] Academic Discourse
Matthew Parfitt
teaching_composition@mailman.eppg.com
Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:10:59 -0500
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Yes, that understanding is hard to come by, and I see your point,
Russ. I think "expose" was a poor choice of words. I am fortunate
enough to keep my students for a full academic year, so we're able
read and discuss a number of different essay genres. So "expose"
really means three things: students read a range of essay genres, I
give them some information about the history of the genres and the
discourse conventions that characterize them, and we also regularly
discuss how the essays they are reading -- in my course and other
courses -- relate to the writing students are doing in my course and
others.
When we look at actual models, it quickly becomes apparent that
essays -- interesting ones, anyway -- rarely fit neatly into one
genre or another. Most are hybrids of some kind, and most suggest
ways of innovating or reinventing discourse conventions that students
find quite inspiring. But they need to know something about genre
and discourse conventions in order to identify where a writer is
doing something unconventional. If this kind of work is entirely
missing from the course, students never pay much attention to genre
or form, and their own writing remains stuck within the rigidities of
"school writing" in the most limited sense.
My own purpose for spending a good deal of time on matters of genre
is chiefly to dislodge these rigidities, and encourage them to
reinvent school writing in ways that succeed in both senses: enabling
them to meet the university's requirements and to get as much
personal satisfaction out of their writing assignments as possible.
-- Matt
--
Matthew Parfitt
Rhetoric Division
College of General Studies
Boston University
parfitt@bu.edu
On Nov 21, 2006, at 9:20 PM, Russ Hunt wrote:
> I want to pose a question about what Matthew Parfitt says:
>
>> 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.
>
> Agreed, but I wonder about what we all mean by "expose them to."
> There's a temptation here to think of those genres as fixed
> entities and assume that somehow we could introduce them to them,
> like learning various kinds of joinery (rabbeting, dovetailing,
> etc.) -- when really what we need to be doing is helping them learn
> how to join in the _invention_ of genres and become sensitive to
> disjunctions between their discourse and the genres they're living
> in. I think they do that by dwelling in authentic generic
> situations (which might be included under "expose them to," but
> might not, too).
>
> So I agreen entirely with this:
>
>> 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.
>
> But that "understanding" is hard come by.
>
> -- Russ
>
> Russell Hunt
> Department of English
> St. Thomas University
> http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/
> _______________________________________________
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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Yes, that understanding is hard =
to come by, and I see your point, Russ.=A0 I think "expose" was a poor =
choice of words.=A0 I am fortunate enough to keep my students for a full =
academic year, so we're able read and discuss a number of different =
essay genres.=A0 So "expose" really means three things: students read a =
range of essay genres, I give them some information about the history of =
the genres and the discourse conventions that characterize them, and we =
also regularly discuss how the essays they are reading -- in my course =
and other courses -- relate to the writing students are doing in my =
course and others.<DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>When we look at actual =
models, it quickly becomes apparent that essays -- interesting ones, =
anyway -- rarely fit neatly into one genre or another.=A0 Most are =
hybrids of some kind, and most suggest ways of innovating or reinventing =
discourse conventions that students find quite inspiring.=A0 But they =
need to know something about genre and discourse conventions in order to =
identify where a writer is doing something unconventional. If this kind =
of work is entirely missing from the course, students never pay much =
attention to genre or form, and their own writing remains stuck within =
the rigidities of "school writing" in the most limited =
sense.</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>My own =
purpose for spending a good deal of time on matters of genre is chiefly =
to dislodge these rigidities, and encourage them to reinvent school =
writing in ways that succeed in both senses: enabling them to meet the =
university's requirements and to get as much personal satisfaction out =
of their writing assignments as possible. -- Matt<BR> <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></SPAN></SPAN><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; "><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Matthew Parfitt</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Rhetoric =
Division</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">College of General =
Studies</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Boston University</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><A =
href=3D"mailto:parfitt@bu.edu">parfitt@bu.edu</A></DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Nov =
21, 2006, at 9:20 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; ">I want to pose a question about what Matthew Parfitt =
says:</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 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.<SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>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. <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; ">Agreed, =
but I wonder about what we all mean by "expose them to." There's a =
temptation here to think of those genres as fixed entities and assume =
that somehow we could introduce them to them, like learning various =
kinds of joinery (rabbeting, dovetailing, etc.) -- when really what we =
need to be doing is helping them learn how to join in the _invention_ of =
genres and become sensitive to disjunctions between their discourse and =
the genres they're living in. I think they do that by dwelling in =
authentic generic situations (which might be included under "expose them =
to," but might not, too).</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; ">So I agreen entirely with =
this:</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 think they<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>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.<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>Other subgenres serve other =
purposes.<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; ">But that "understanding" is hard come by.</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 =
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