Readings
Here are four
readings that influenced my knowledge and are significant to me as a writing
major:
1. Audience
Addressed/Audience Invoked: The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and
Pedagogy by Lisa Ede and
Andrea Lunsford
2. Four
Philosophies of Composition
by Richard Fulkerson
3. Genre
and Cognitive Development: Beyond Writing to Learn by Charles Bazerman
4. From
Pencils to Pixels by
Dennis Baron
Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked:
The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and Pedagogy
Ede and
Lunsford talk a lot about the differences between an invoked audience and an
addressed audience and how writers can use each one to their advantage at
different times. Audience addressed means that a writer has a concrete audience
that is able to provide feedback. It is crucial that the writer has some
knowledge about their audience’s attitudes, beliefs, and expectations; when
writers address an audience, they are essentially writing for the audience and
not themselves. Audience invoked means that a writer creates an audience in
their head. That is, writers don’t know the reality of their audience like
speakers can (since a speaker’s audience is right in front of them). When
writers invoke and audience, they are writing more for themselves than for an
audience.
As a
writing major, I have to make decisions all the time whether to address an
audience or invoke an audience. If I address an audience, I might make them
happy but I might suffer the consequence of not fully loving my work. If I
invoke an audience, I might love what I write more than my audience does. Since
I am in school, I at least have to keep in mind what my professor will find
appealing since he or she is in charge of my grade. I ultimately think writers
need to take into account audience addressed and audience invoked; it is
neither one nor the other. I always take into account what people tell me in
workshops, but in the end, I’m still writing for me. If someone suggests
something I really don’t agree with, I won’t include it. I have to be happy
with my work as well.
Four Philosophies of Composition by Richard Fulkerson
Fulkerson explains
four philosophies that are employed in composition classes. The formalist
theory is when teachers judge students’ work based on form and the errors that
were made. Work tends to be evaluated based on what’s wrong (spelling and
punctuation errors, not fulfilling the required length, etc.), rather than the
content. The expressionist theory explores why people write and what makes good
writing. The expressionist theory also values an honest and credible voice. The
mimetic theory states that there is a clear connection between good writing and
good thinking. Teachers must help students learn as much as possible about a
subject so they have something worth saying when it comes time to write about
it. The first mimetic approach emphasizes logic and reasoning, and the second
mimetic approach states that students don’t write well because they don’t know
enough about the topic they are writing about; students must read about all
aspects of a topic before they can write about it. Lastly, rhetorical
philosophy states that good writing achieves the desired effect on the desired
audience. Writing is therefore judged based on its effect on the targeted
audience. Fulkerson also talks about how when teachers grade papers, there is a
conflict of theories at work. For example, an assignment might call for a paper
to be written from an expressive point of view, but the teacher grades it from
a formalist point of view.
Fulkerson’s
four main philosophies can definitely be applied to me as a writing major. I am
always aware of how a professor grades, even if it takes a couple of trials to
get it right and have what they want. The classes I’ve taken in college have drawn
on these theories. For example, the creative writing classes I’ve taken have
drawn on the expressionist theory and the more research-based classes I’ve
taken have drawn on the mimetic and rhetorical theories. Every class draws on
the formalist theory a bit since it’s important to have as little errors
possible in your work, but it’s never 100 percent focused on that theory.
Genre and Cognitive Development: Beyond Writing to Learn by Charles Bazerman
Bazerman
explores how genre in writing matters a lot because people write differently
depending on which genre they are writing in. Bazerman writes, "For
example, though there may be variation among the writing processes of students
writing an impromptu essay in their class, that same group of students will
engage a different set of processes when they are at work on the student
newspaper, and a different set of processes when they are filling out forms the
next morning in the registrar’s office." This applies to me not only as a
writing student, but also as a person in general. Not only do I write
differently for each class that I take, but I write differently in the emails,
tweets, and texts I compose as well; I fill out forms much differently than I
write articles for Imprint Magazine.
From Pencils to Pixels By
Dennis Baron
Baron's claim is that literacy technology is always
evolving and that what seems really old to us now was once new and was also
viewed with skepticism like it is today. The computer, he says, is just the
newest invention in a long line of inventions that have helped us write. As a
writing student, I have had to adapt to various forms of technology like blogs,
InDesign, etc. When I graduate and get a job, I will probably have to adapt to other
forms of technology that my place of work uses. Not only that, but technology
will continue to advance in my lifetime and I will have to keep up with it so I
can write effectively and so people can see what I’m writing. In today’s world,
newspapers and magazines are decreasing and online writing is on the rise. Who knows
what will be on the rise during the span of my writing career.
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