Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bartholomae's idea of "routine" writing in "Inventing the University"
After reading "Inventing the University" by David Bartholomae for the second time, I was drawn more heavily to the students actual essays. The first time I read the "The Clay Model" I didn't find it as "routine" or "play written" as Bartholomae had suggested. I did however change my mind after breaking it down sentance by sentance. The writer of the "Clay Model" shows that they are aware of the audience and include the discourses "jargon". Even though they have included this jargon, it is included so brief that you could even miss it's presence. This is done because the writer knows they dont have the knowledge. You can tell his knowledge of the subject is breif because he only includes quick text-book conclustions and moves on to this "taught" role of being a fellow researcher. The point in the clay essay that defines the discourse to be just a "routine" is when the author addresses his audience as he's teaching a lesson or talking down to some one. The reason bartholomae includes for this change of tone towards his audience is because it's easier to offer advice than to give academic conclusions. I have found myself plenty of times in my writing playing the counselor instead of giving a well thought out answer. This has struck me as interesting to see how Bartholomae views "routine" essays.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The first time I read the "clay model" essay I too thought it was a pretty solid essay. It remined me of my own writing in some ways. As I continued to read Bartholomae's essay I was surprised at first by the way in which he critiqued the paper. After talking about it in class and re-reading the essays I too have realized the weakness in the writing. It does come off sounding slightly passive and the author doesn't take a set argument or position. I also sympathize with the essay's author though. The process of making a transition into academic writing has not been easy for me. I too still find myself making suggestions rather than taking a stance in my papers from time to time. Not just that but first learning and then incorperating new languages and codes into my writing has taken substantial effort. That being said it is amazing how much those two imporovements have reshaped my writing for the better.
ReplyDeleteMy first reading of the student's clay essay left me unimpressed. I didn't understand some things because the wording made little sense. So when Bartholomae gave that writer credit for pushing his own "inner boundaries" I was unsure. But reading it again this second time I have more appreciation for the writers style. I think the reason I didn't like it at first was because the style was different from my own. Having the author's position more elaborately explained made a lot more sense to me.
ReplyDelete