Chapter 1 Class Activities
The Journey Begins
- Video: Neil Gaiman–On Why We Should Write
- Through 11:19 (“…as only you can”)
The Abolitionist Movement (1995/2020)
- “The End of the College Essay” by Rebecca Shuman
- “Everybody in college hates papers.”
- “Composition’s Ethic of Service, the Universal Requirement, and the Discourse of Student Need” by Sharon Crowley (Requires login via IUP account)
- JAC, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1995), pp. 227-239)
- “We might make a start at speaking a more disciplined language by firmly distinguishing composition from writing. Composition is an institutional term that is thoroughly saturated with the discourse of formal correctness. Writing, on the other hand, names the practice that we study and teach. This is not just a matter of switching terminology, but of thinking of our students as writers, rather than as persons in need of linguistic fluency or corrected habits of punctuation” (p. 237).
- “I conclude by taking this stand: let us not stake our professional future on an outmoded requirement that perpetuates the discourses of hierarchy and exclusion. Let us, rather, articulate the practices that do legitimate us: the study, practice, and teaching of writing. We can devise vertical and diverse curricula in writing that aim at the achievement of critical, public literacy. We can also begin to teach writing and what we know about it outside the academy. In order to accomplish these tasks, I believe, we must abandon the institutional discourse of student need, abandon the service ethic of remediation, and abandon the universal requirement” (p. 238).
The Power of Writing
Chapter 1 Required Materials and Tasks
Chapter 1 Required Readings: The Composition Abolitionist Movement (1995/2020)
- “Composition’s Abolitionist Debate: A Tool for Change” by Kevin Brooks
- “Abolish or Perish? Managed Labor in Composition: A Roundtable with Sharon Crowley” by Anthony D. Baker
- “Alternative Models of First-Year Composition: Possibilities and Problems” by Betty Bamberg
- NCTE Policy Brief on “First-Year Writing: What Good Does it Do?”
Chapter 1 Discussion Questions
- What should a first year writing class teach a person?
- Should first year writing be a required class? Why?
- Is learning to write well actually important? Why?
- Is writing the same as making art? Why?
Chapter 1 Optional Materials