Journal of Basic Writing
Volume 20 Issue 1, Spring 2001
Table of Contents
· Laurie Grobman, “(Re)Writing Youth: Basic Writing, Youth Culture, and Social Change”
· Ann Tabachnikov, “The Mommification of Writing Instruction: A Tale of Two Students”
· Raul Ybarra, “Cultural Dissonance in Basic Writing Courses”
· Wendy Ryden, “ How Soft is Process? The Feminization of Comp and Pedagogies of Care”
· David C. Fletcher, “Tutors' Ideals and Practices”
· Linda VonBergen, “Shaping the Point With Poetry”
Cumulative Index 1997 - 2000
Journal of Basic Writing
Abstracts, volume 20 Issue 1, Spring 2001
Laurie Grobman
“(Re)Writing Youth: Basic Writing, Youth Culture, and Social
Change”
As an extension of Henry Giroux’s critique of mainstream media and popular
culture’s depictions of young people, this article examines the ways in which
students in basic writing respond to rhetorical constructions of their
generation. It argues that compositionists’ efforts to intervene and mediate
society’s conceptions of youth are complicated by students’ simultaneous
acceptance and rejection of these representations and also explores the
subsequent implications for students’ and teachers’ responsibility and
complicity in society’s “demonization” of young people. Claiming that students
in basic writing are uniquely situated to write across and against society’s
definitions of them, the author suggests approaches to critical basic writing
pedagogy that bring youth culture into its critique, paying particular
attention to public writing.
Ann Tabachnikov
“The Mommification of Writing Instruction: A Tale of Two Students”
The questions explored in this paper grow out of a long career in the teaching
of composition, and out of relationships with literally thousands of
students. Centering on two allows an especially complex dimension of such
relationships to be treated with some necessary personal depth. The issue
of teacher as mother is with most of us, students and teachers alike, from the
first moment we set foot in a classroom. Indeed, the issue of mother as
teacher—and, by extension, woman as nearly everyone’s first teacher—is one that
has abided with us for as long as humans have abided as a race. The
personal way in which this picture of woman as primal teacher speaks to so many
of us in composition may not abide for as long, but is in no danger just
now—for good or ill—of fading.
Raul Ybarra
“Cultural Dissonance in Basic Writing Courses”
Understanding why Latino students do poorly in writing courses is becoming an ever
more important issue because Latinos are the fastest growing group in the
United States. Although we can account for some of the
reasons for the high dropout rates of Latinos, we still do not understand the
majority of the factors. These statistical realities of Latino student
concerns warrant serious investigations. Indeed, the prevalence of
failure among Latino students in particular in Basic Writing courses suggests a
(dis)connection—or dissonance—between the cultural backgrounds and corresponding
thought processes of Latino students in the composition classroom.
To date, research in this area is virtually nonexistent. Thus, an
intensive case study using ethnographic techniques was carried out to
understand how teaching affects nonmainstream students, particularly Latinos.
Understanding, and consequently overcoming, this problem is key to reversing
the low retention rates of Latinos in the U.S.
Wendy Ryden
“How Soft is Process? The Feminization of Comp and Pedagogies of Care”
This article is essentially a narrative using the metaphors of “hard” and
“soft” to raise and discuss questions about pedagogy and the institutional
settings of college writing instruction. The author analyzes transformations
that have occurred in her teaching practices in relation to the feminization of
composition and an “ethic of care.”
David C. Fletcher
“Tutors' Ideals and Practices”
This case study of two college tutors demonstrates the importance for writing
instructors and tutors to engage in collaborative reflection to identify and
examine their frame of reference, including their assumptions, beliefs, values
and practices. An important finding was that the tutors’ interpretation of
writing instructors’ authority influenced significantly how they translated
their ideals into practices and had a clear influence on how tutors allowed
student writers ownership of their texts. Consequently, for both writing
instructors and tutors, central to their collaborative reflections is the
question of the extent to which they support basic writers to become
independent and authoritative writers and college students.
Linda VonBergen
“Shaping the Point With Poetry”
Although basic writers in first-semester composition courses progress to
expository and argumentative writing, they may begin the semester with a
personal narrative. This assignment serves as a bridge into college
writing since these students already have a variety of experiences about which
they can write. However, there are two possible problems with the
personal story: lacking structure, the writer occasionally fails to make a
point in the narrative; using the expressive aim of discourse, the writer may
also obfuscate the point with emotional, connotative language. To improve
student narratives, this article borrows a rhetorical device from Isocrates,
imitation, then combines it with the descriptive structure of Liva Polanyi and
the referential (rather than expressive) aim of discourse from James
Kinneavy. Students imitate the structure of a brief poem, and they use
the referential aim of discourse for clarity. Writing precisely and
making a point, students are preparing for academic discourse.