3. 14=> 3.28 Process narrative + process reading.

You turned in your process narratives.  I have most of them, if you have not yet turned yours in - send it before the weekend and I will provide *written* comments by 3.28  (since I missed class on 3.14).

In class on 3.28 we will catch up in terms of the process narrative, go over Bishop and Ostram (readings from last class) and we will talk about  James Gee (now available in the online readings list=> Introduction to Social Linguistics & Literacies).

Have a great break!

3.7 Conferences for process narrative

** Notes from today's class were published in the previous post.

Wednesday March 14
10:00 Liana
11:40 Allyson
1:00 Yasmin
1:20 Daniel
1:40 Arlette
4:30 Jessica
4:45  Brigit
5:00 Marietta

Thursday, March 15
10:45  Nahimot
1:15 Allison
3:30 Sarah
3:45  Sara
4:00 Alison

Erin - break for ENG 3029 (though I may be pretty braindead - we will give it a try).

3.7 Cooking for process narrative

Today's entire class was spent on braintroming for the process narrative. We used  techniques described by Elbow's chapter on cooking to guide our work so that in a sense - we not only talked about cooking as an abstraction - you explored and enacted the processes it entails.

Cooking experiments

1. Interacting with others
After reviewing the assignment - we started with cooking through talking to others.
In groups you had a discussion focused on :

• how do you write
• what strengths and challenges arise from this process?
• reflections on what you might change

You then wrote a one-sentence summary to describe your writing process.  Some summaries included:

• Straight forward = sit down and write in one stretch
• Process differs by feelings
• For material uninterested = straight forward BUT  for material deeply interested in = much more preparation and thinking
• Organic = spur of the moment => can’t pre-write, it either comes out or it doesn’t honest/ from the heart – but unorganized = freewrwite with fix later
• Detail oriented – can help to make effective texture – but can lose focus
• Strategic = planning + thinking = go back to story – can do too much (lose rawness) or too little
• Consciously aware of audience

2. . Exploration of conflicts:You used your one sentence description of how you write and then thoughtabout times when you wrote differently, or when your experience of success was related to a different writing process, or when your parts of your process both were and were not the way you said they were. . .look for writing practices you actually use that do NOT fit into your general characterization.

For example, in my one-sentence description I had described myself as an "unconscious" writer where I have to trust that my meaning will be there - yet at so many points in my process I actively & consciously analyze my writing (through reverse outlines) or use model texts as templates for how to present meanings, or


3. Moving between working ideas and working in words.  In our discussion of "spring break" we noticed how moving back and forth among different ways to "say" what we felt about spring break  - we moved toward an opening statement that "spring break should be sooner" to a statement that spring break for universities should all be at the same time because. . . "  It took a number of statements - back and forth to get there - and new "ideas" were introduced with each new way of "saying" what we meant.

4. Exploring metaphors.  As Brigit was talking about moving back & forth between ideas and words - she mentioned that she had come up with a list of metaphors for what she did when she wrote.  Her metaphoric positions to write from - along with metaphors from some of the rest of us in the class included:

• a philosopher
• a chemical engineer
• a war/writing strategist
• a mother
• a ship on the ocean
• a musician
• an artist (painter)

Each of these metaphors for writing identities suggests different ways to thinking and acting -as well as different relatinships to writing.  They open up ideas that you can then look for conflicts and connections that reflect what you actually do when you write.  They are ways to help you define your process in more detail - and to distinguish your process from other general approaches.  This sets you up to present both a more nuanced description of how you actually write, and therefore puts you in a better position to think about strengths and weaknesses, and what (and how)you want to change.

5 Switching up perspective or mode;
In teaching writing - patterns for writiing are sometimes defined in terms of mode.  These modes are generally identified as: narrative, persuasive, expolition, definition, slassification, description, analysis.

Each mode emphasizes particular forms, particular language choices, & certain kinds of focus & voice.  For example, we identified "once upon a time" and "he said. . ." and "and then . . ." and "then they lived happlily ever after" as some of the kinds of language moves (even if these are not the specific words) associated with narrative.  For persuasive writing, you identified words & phrases like therefore, because, this shows that, andand  it is proved, and we pointed out that most persuasive writing has a thesis statement - whereas stories definitely don't.

Switching your writing from one mode to another help writers see their ideas differently, and it can help them write (for example, if you have trouble writing persuasive essays - try it first as a story).  Elbow points out the switching perspective in terms of subject position (from I to we, or third person onmniscient to second person) or other features can also open up new information and relationships.

So - you have spent some time with Elbow, and you will have these strategies as resources - if you even get stuck or need a way to dig something out of what you have written that you feel is there - but you have not yet been able to say directly.  I know this wasn't the most favorite class for some of you - so thank you for your patience, and I am looking forward to see what comes up in your process narratives.

For next week.

Read: Wendy Bishop’s “Revising Out and Revising In.”  Hans Ostrom’s “The Masks of Revision.”  (posted in the course library

Write: 

• Post your brainstorming notes from work in class today - and any other brainstorming you have done to your portfolio (create a new page (7. Process narrative, as in the sample portfolio).
• Complete your first draft for the process narrative and 1) post it at your course portfolio; and 2) send it to me. 

Thanks for the good class and see you next week. 

Literacy narratives

I've almost got all of your literacy narratives marked and they are wonderful.  I will have them back to you by class on Wednesday.

2.29 Peter Elbow and Process narratives

We started class with a discussion of Peter Elbow's concepts of doubting and believing as relationships to writing process.  We compared the two processes in terms of the notes below.


Doubting game
Mark things identified as important
Notice “errors” in terms of content or the way it is written
Judge the writing = Find a way to argue against it
Consistent with our experience?
Compare to outside standards
Coherent (any internal conflicts?)
Might challenge style or emotional content


Believing game
Looking for strengths rather than weaknesses
Get into the idea of the paper
Assume the writer (you) have something valuable to say and that they can say it
Affirming the writer’s ideas
Saying back ideas
Not judging encourages writers to take more risks


You then worked in groups to use the believing game as a way to respond to, think into, and receive your literacy narratives.  In class discussion after this exercise, you observed that it was HARD to step out of the the doubting/ciritiquing game - but that seeing classmates work, and receiving it in affirming ways was - as Elbow said - a constructive way to think about how to move forward in your own writing.  


Freewriting
We talked about the two ways freewriting works to turn off the internal editor: 1) by separating the gathering information/creative processes from the selecting the right language/polishing the ideas process; and 2) establishing a habit of mind where ideas and words are welcomed onto the page.  The habit of mind is especially important - because you can step into that mode whenever you get stuck - and simply let yourself write through the tough spots - and then you can come back to them later, when more words are on the page.


After this discussion you did an experiment where you did an open freewrite = to prime the pump, followed by a focused freewrite where you wrote to prompts for the process narrative. For some of you this worked, for some of you- you didn't need any loosening up, and for some of you - it felt like an interruption to switch focus.  So - use the results that apply to you!


Cooking-Growing
We briefly talked over Elbow's rationale and process for his write-the-paper-four-times method before there was an overpowering smell of smoke in the room.  I think you his main idea - that letting go of control and trusting writing as a discovery process can work to create papers - and that it might even create papers with less agony that keeping tight control of the decision making for  all the right language and sentences at the same time you are trying to discover.


For next week:
Read: Elbow, Chapter 3
Write: keep working on your process narrative and bring whatever notes you have to class

An Allegory for Writing Studies Majors

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

2.22 Audience, Literacy Narrative +Process Narrative

We started class with a discussion of audience - and whether (or not) or to what degree writers should write to an audience - rather than from their perspectives.

You raised the point that in many ways - the writing piece itself will select the audience, so in some sense, writing to an audience can change what you have to say.  This line of thinking seems to indicate that "writing to audience" might be a kind of compromise in what writers have to say.  At the same time, you also pointed out that writing is about communication, and that it can be important to say things in ways that readers will understand (like filling in enough background) or in ways that readers will be able to hear (like acknowledging their point of view and connecting it to the different point of view in the writing).

You also pointed out that there were different audience considerations for school work and other public writing, for creative writing, and for writing you did for yourselves.  You raised lots of important points about this - but at this point I got so involved in listening to you that I stopped taking notes.  I think the conflicts between "audience" (especially when audience is mostly teachers) and writers authority over their material and the forms they want to explore present lots of problems in writing classrooms.  You pointed out that you wanted to use writing to learn and think - but that often what was "taught" in writing classes (the audience expectations) did not leave room for that = both in terms of the forms and subject matter you were expected to "learn."  I noticed these same themes in your literacy narratives - where many of you had two kinds of experiences with writing: good experiences where you used writing for your own purposes; and not always bad - but often frustrating - experiences where you "had' to write in formulaic patterns on content that was not relevant to you.  We will think about this some more.

I gave you some general feedback on your literacy narratives - mostly about sharpening your focus and developing your stories so they were fully rendered - as opposed to functioning like voice-overs.  Each story should make a particular point to develop your focus.  And your focus needs to be idea centered => some observation or generalization about how your identity as a writer connects to or was shaped by the cultural stories we have been talking about.

We also talked about the process narrative = and about creating data for the process narrative.  The assignment for next class - the first two chapters in the Elbow book - will move us forward in terms of thinking about writing process and how it works.  For now - you are gathering your data.

For next week.
Read:  Writing as process: Elbow.  Introduction to the second edition; Chapters 1 & 2 (Freewriting, & Growing) => think about this as kind of process narrative.


We will talk about Elbow - explore some of his ideas in terms of your writing - and do some more writing for your process narratives.


Due: Final draft Literacy Narrative


Thanks for the good class today.  

Different levels of “freedom” with respect to audience

depending on what kind of writing it is





Writing to audience can

What defines “directness” + what we want to say is kind of shaped by who is going top read





Most of us know who is going to read the paper and how we want them to perceive us =