Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) feels like a back-to-basics approach to teaching composition which I absolutely foresee applying to English 1101. Of the two approaches to WAC discussed in the essay by Susan McLeod, the Writing to Learn aspect would seem most appropriate for a creative writing class however; it would be interesting to use the “exploratory writing,” and perhaps even “free writing,” for students to consider their own ideas and thoughts about literature, as opposed to being told what to think about it. The Writing to Communicate approach, with its emphasis on “Writing to an audience outside the self in order to inform”…and that “the writing therefore is revised, crafted, and polished,” is more traditional, and in my opinion, necessary no matter what field of study.
In the essay, McLeod points to an encounter with a colleague in the history discipline who accused “you people” of not teaching students how to write. That by the “you people” he meant English teachers, I think is a little unfair when we consider that writing varies depending on what discipline one is writing in. Because, there are various styles of writing such as MLA, APA, AP, and of course writing that is produced through technology, perhaps a division of composition classes should be made with regard to each discipline. That is, perhaps there should be History majors who could teach a History Comp 1101, a Sciences majors who would teach Sciences Comp 1101, or even a Comp 1101 which focused primarily on journalistic writing. Rather than making English teachers responsible for teaching composition that spans all disciplines, let teachers in other fields be responsible for teaching the styles of writing their own disciplines.
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"Of the two approaches to WAC discussed in the essay by Susan McLeod, the Writing to Learn aspect would seem most appropriate for a creative writing class however; it would be interesting to use the “exploratory writing,” and perhaps even “free writing,” for students to consider their own ideas and thoughts about literature, as opposed to being told what to think about it."
ReplyDeleteI latched onto the "writing to learn" idea, personally. As a creative writer, it seems like a good avenue into composition pedagogy, for me. What I wonder is, can you expect the process to work the same way for writing that is inherently less personal than creative writing? Are you going to get students to care about expression and finding their voice when they're writing an essay rather than a poem or a story?
[can you expect the process to work the same way for writing that is inherently less personal than creative writing?]
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! Somehow I think this does eventually happen, but for more seasoned writers. When I first began writing academically, a professor always commented that she liked my "voice". I didn't see how that could be when I was, at the same time, instructed not to used the personal (I) when writing academically. But, the more papers I write, the more I believe that despite the subject matter, my papers carry my personality. And, that I believe has just developed along side my ability as a writer....Make sense?