Contemplations, Creations and…well it’s a blog.

As A Composition Scholar- Final

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Jamie Costin

Dr. Allen

ENG 319

As A Composition Scholar

"Is this your paper?"

"Um...yes?"

"Well then. I would like you to answer this question for me: Who was your composition teacher?"

Blink. Blink. "Um, Mr. Kaye, what does that have to do with anything?" was my hesitant response.

"I would like to speak to them about why the hell they taught you to write like this. This paper is so poorly structured, and so off-base about your conclusion that I am honestly shocked you passed a composition course," was the curt reply.

I thought my jaw would hit the floor. Instead I felt hot, angry tears welling.

"What's wrong with it?!" I muttered angrily.

"Everything. I must be honest with you, on a writer-to-writer basis. This paper has no real point to it. It uses too little of the author's information that was provided to you and sounds nothing like what you were assigned to write. I thought you knew better than this, I will not accept a paper written by someone who has not given the author enough credit and who did not study them or their text thoroughly," Mr. Kaye replied as he nonchalantly plopped my paper onto his desk. The 'plop' of my eight page report echoed throughout the classroom. Does he have any idea how hard I worked on that?! All those hours of typing away and re-reading every...single...word of that boring essay? I thought furiously; I could feel many eyes burning into the back of my skull as my fellow students stared at me and my accidental confrontation with our teacher.

"But, I did study them thoroughly! And what's wrong with my conclusion?!" I retorted as, and who are you to judge my opinion?! rang pronouncedly through my mind.

A slow, deep sigh answered me before his eyes lazily slid toward mine and made contact, "Everything."

This traumatizing experience was the result of one of my first essays I wrote in my A.P English class in high school. An unpleasant experience. Oh yes. I learned a valuable lesson, however: To make the teacher happy, stick with the rules, and keep as little of my opinion out that they did not deem to be "correct." I did not like this conclusion, but with my grades on the line I found that it was the best way to go about passing my classes and get decent grades on my papers.

As I take more composition courses, thoughts of how I would like things to go in a composition classroom scramble around in my mind. First off, I believe that a writer (more or less) is any person who is able to write and articulate their thoughts through writing. This opens up the Pandora's box of grading by the teacher or a peer; if a person simply writes their thoughts down on a paper and turns it in, it is still considered writing, right? To many, not necessarily. Many times, it depends on the teacher who is instructing the course and how they are going about explaining what a writer is and how writing should be done.

Different types of teaching compositions exist. Two teachers that are well known for their vastly different views on composition are Bartholomae and Elbow. I think that both of these authors have brilliant views on what composition should be. One is more strict in their "right and incorrect" beliefs while the other believes in a more loose and free way of analyzing. However, I also believe that if we take principles from each of these authors then we can get a constructive, yet more comfortable writing environment for authors to grow in. This can be applied for teachers like Mr. Kaye who believed in there only being one set way of going about teaching. That's good for him, but as for students like me that were mortified and humiliated at hearing that our views were "wrong," it was detrimental rather than conducive to my learning and growth as an author.

I think, that a good composition course can consist of studying some great works and not necessarily idolizing them, but instead using them as more of a reference. This is more of Elbow's approach and I feel that it works more constructively for the student. Students can use these works and can go back to them if they feel lost, or that their writing is missing that little piece that would complete their thoughts. Also, texts that are great examples of composition should be utilized so that how they are written is more of the focused point rather than what they were thinking. This can be separated more or less by the instructor who is teaching the rules of composition and finds certain works that are making a compositional point rather than an ethical, or perhaps a personal point. For instance, if the teacher has a piece by an author who is known for their more radical pieces, that show a great way to compose an argument, then the teacher can focus the discussion on how it was written. The teacher can perhaps not focus so much on why the author wrote the piece or what their (the teacher's) own personal interpretations are and instead focus more on the compositional aspect and teaching that there is not only one set way of perceiving an authors work. This way the student is still learning something and not being attacked or shot down for their individual perceptions of the text.

With this studying, comes a teacher of course. This is where Bartholomae's teaching style comes more into play. I do strongly believe that a teacher is an important piece to an author's growth. However, I believe that the teacher should be more of a guide rather than a dictator. Instead of saying things such as: This is completely wrong. What were you thinking? This is not what the author was saying at all! Go read it again. This is the prejudicial way that Mr. Kaye addressed his views on my paper. Who's to say that my conclusion was completely wrong? I could very well have had some important aspects that could be correct, but because he was so set in his ways, he paid no heed to my views and shrugged them off while making me feel like an idiot. He could have been more constructive and said something along the lines of: You pose an interesting point. It's not what most people perceive but you just might be able to make it work. Why don't you elaborate more here and there and then add some more quotes? Then go have so-and-so read over it. This way, the student still knows that they have some more work to do on their papers rather than feel that they failed at life and cannot write at all.

Bartholomae believes that a student, cannot be their "own" author. He believes that the authors and their writing are merely a result of race, sex, social environment, history, etc. All these factors make up a person and therefore the writing is a result of these things. He believes that there is no writing without these influences. I agree with this to a point, but one part I do not believe about this statement is that society makes us who we are. I believe that we are our own person, sure we are exposed to all of these things but I do not believe society is solely responsible for who we are as authors. I, personally, go more with Elbow's approach that anyone can be a good writer if given the proper environment and light direction. He believes in having an open, free environment and less structured way of thinking and writing. He has his students do free-writing exercises to clear their heads and perhaps start a good piece of writing. Elbow also publishes his students' work in a magazine; this encourages students to write and allows them confidence in knowing that their works are important enough for publication. I believe this is essential to a writer producing good work, that is, to have the teacher show them that their work matters and is in fact worthy of reading.

Bartholomae, on the other hand, believes that the students should go through more rigorous and often, demolishing training in a disciplinary method. The teacher has sole power to instruct the students, and they should be eager learners that absorb everything the teacher says and apply that, and solely that and the scholarly works to their own pieces. Sometimes, even putting the "greats" of writing on pedestals knowing that the students believe they will never achieve such greatness but they need to try to do so. Along with this goes the onerous studying of scholarly writers works and their "meanings", that is the meanings that the teacher deems correct. By putting them on these pedestals it can be damaging to an author rather than conducive to their growth. If they look up these "greats" and are being taught that their way is the only real way to write, then there is more of a chance that the author will become a copy of the "greats" and will not find their own style. They are too focused on making it like the "greats" that they turn off their own thoughts and styles, and pertain their writing to that of the "greats" and have it look just like an others rather than their own.

Either way, teachers I find to be necessary but not necessarily all-knowing deities; the same with scholarly writers. And one thing that many teachers appear to overlook and that I believe is essential in reminding students to encourage them to grow into great authors is: They started where you presently find yourself. As students, there to learn, grow, and develop into your own self and style. Teachers are meant to guide, and we are meant to learn and to write. We should be taught composition and given the strength and encouragement that we can indeed write, that it is worth reading, and that perfection does not exist; it is merely an idea that is pressed into wishful thinking persons minds and finds itself often in places like scholarly works and deemed worthy literature.