Fully Trained in the Autopsy

September 23, 2026 Adamari Peralta

I look back at all my english classes with a deep fondness and a load of appreciation. Those years were, one, extremely formative to me as a writer and, two, extremely formative to me as a person. Still, there’s a concern that grows a little larger every time read a new pedagogical essay:

The way my teachers approached the english curriculum, as I shared briefly last class, each varied in style and consideration. Looking back with what I know now (as a student who has done a lot of reading and has taken a billion english classes) there are a lot of things from that time that just don’t make much sense.

Take the amount of time devoted to the teaching and developing the writing process as just one example. Why?!? For so long?! Was I limited to hamburger style essays?!!? Why only in my first semester of undergrad was I taught that… no, that’s actually not the formula you should use to write your rhetorical essay…?

I have to agree with Murray, teachers are taught to direct students to be “fully trained in the autopsy.” You read something, you analyze it, and then—with a rubric full of requirements you must follow—you write about it. But that doesn’t necessarily work for (or benefit) everyone. And not everyone knows how—or even wants—to break out of that approach to the writing process.

A big part of that unwillingness or inability to break through is simply because students don’t think they’re allowed and students are trained in such a way that sometimes it doesn’t even appear as a possibility. That’s exactly why hooks was such a joy to read! The time she spent as a primary and secondary student navigating a segregated American educational system, to when she found herself in a complete mental crisis by her tenure acceptance is a true testament of the importance of “radical pedagogy’ in an educators approach to teaching and a students love for education.

I don’t know. The whole thing has surprisingly fascinated me.

“the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy”

For my work at college steps, I’m tasked with joining one of my students to their English Composition class every week. I’m there, sitting on the sidelines, simply for support. Yet, I often find myself transfixed by the class & I’ll tell you why:

The professor is great. He speaks very openly about his own experiences and prompts students to do the same during any and all stages of their writing process. I think he’s done a (really) good job in creating a space/classroom environment where every student feels heard and cared for. I mean, students participate eagerly and those who don’t raise their hands are always prompted to do so (never with any negative pressure). Students are comfortable sharing their own personal stories, they ask questions without fear or judgment, and spend the hour and fifteen minutes with eyes on him, really listening. Some of them update the professor—openly, perfectly comfortable with classmates providing their input— on their days or an ongoing situation in their lives. It feels as though a lot of them, and I don’t think I’m wrong, are happy to be in class.

That’s rare.

By doing as he does (successfully engaging freshman, first semester students in a writing class (!!!) and doing it passionately), this professor (Professor Woods is his name) is proactively transgressing the boundaries of what we’re told academia is supposed to be.

I wonder if he’s read hooks?

Which leads me to wonder the possibility of this kind of framework being applied in all classrooms. I know the likelihood of significant pedagogical changes starting tomorrow, next month, a year, or even years from now is somewhat improbable (but never impossible!), but I’m happy to know a room full of so many educators are reading these texts. I’m happy to have read it and feel moved. & I’m happy to put this knowledge in my pocket to carry with me wherever life takes me.

P.S. He did this thing today where he introduced the class to the compare & contrast essay but prompted them to compare the U.S. educational system to the ones of the world’s highest ranking educational systems (for example, China). I thought this was interesting because he opened up why this may be the case for discussion which in turn prompted students to think about pedagogy through both perspectives (as a learner and as an educator).

Adamari 9/24/2026

Student Blogs

the one in which i forget (and rediscover) common sense

September 23, 2026 bacaya

I must admit: when initially looking at the titles of our readings this week, I was under the impression that their content would not mesh. It was not like the pairing was an issue to me; I had faith that there was a reason we were reading them now. It was just a small act of noticing. Perhaps I had this idea that the teaching of craft would stay focused on just that—craft—and that the idea of liberation and social justice in the classroom were separate issues. I cannot tell you why I thought that. In hindsight, I was wrong.

First, though, I would like to examine Murray’s idea of the writing process as “discovery through language”. For most of my life, I was under the impression that we should only write what we know. It was advice I had heard both online and in creative writing classrooms—how could you write about what you don’t know? Oddly enough, the time I learned to do the opposite lines up with the time I really began to learn how to write. In a class with my mentor, Edi Giunta (there will be no shortage of her appearances in my blog posts, I apologize in advance), I was told to write what I don’t know. It was an idea I struggled with at first. It feels shameful to have to admit you don’t know something. For a while, I resisted this advice, and came into class with the idea that I knew what I wanted to write about, and that I would not stray from it. I told myself that I had been wanting to tell that story for so long, and I would tell it, memoir best practices be damned. In reality, that piece of writing had already been turned over in my head over and over again. The narrative was set in stone, so to say. I now know I had to dip into the unknown to be able to come back and tell the story as faithfully as I could.

Even in non-academic writing, the process of discovery is irreplaceable. While reading, I was reminded that the course titles for English 101 and 102 at NJCU were not just titled something along the lines of “English Composition”, but rather “Critical Reading and Writing”—emphasis on the critical. I look back on those classrooms now and see Murray’s implications of teaching process all throughout them. I think about the ways I’ve encouraged my students to just write—to not worry about the assignment, to just get their thoughts on paper. The way I’ve been taught to let them grapple with not knowing. To not jump in and try to guide them a certain way. To, as Murray so eloquently puts it, just shut up. It is beautiful when it works.

However, I am cognizant that this ideal practice might not be realistic—at least, not yet, and maybe not for a long time. While reading bell hooks, I thought about the kinds of students and classmates I had. On one end, I think about my high school classmates. Many of my classmates, including myself, were the top achievers during our middle and elementary school years. Many of them came from families who could afford to put money into education and extracurriculars. If we committed ourselves to education, we were all but guaranteed placements in Ivy Leagues and prestigious internships. School was a chance at power. This, however, meant a suffocating school environment. Advanced placement was expected, not exceptional. If you were not staying after school for extra classes or resume-ready extracurriculars, you were falling behind. You did not, could not, think of school as a place where it was safe to discover.

On the other end of the spectrum are the peers I had in undergraduate. I think it is safe to say that college was also their chance at power, albeit of a different kind. If my high school classmates had the privilege of time to dedicate to their studies, in college, time was a resource often stretched too thin. I am cognizant of the fact that NJCU was seen as a “safety school” to many. Most of our students attended because it was cheap, or the school was nearby. Our demographic is very different from the kinds of people I knew in high school. I had many students who believed they had to conform to the traditional path: go to college, get a degree, get a high paying job. However, many of these students also faced additional outside pressures. They were the breadwinners of their family. They had siblings or parents to tend to. They were the first to attend college. Because of this, school was just something they had to do. Their focus was the degree at the end of it all. I had many conversations with students who wished they could take the time to sit down and do the kind of learning that would help them, but more often than not, schoolwork—and discovery through writing—was last on their list of priorities.

In class, we talked about new writing technologies—generative artificial intelligence. Generative AI allows learners to skip the process, the most liberating part of education, in favor of the product. What is so disappointing is that I can see students from both ends of the spectrum falling victim to this. When you have been told your entire life that you must go to school to better your social standing rather than to learn, it is easy to justify cutting out the parts of the journey that don’t seem to support that goal. The unfamiliar is scary. Why should I risk being vulnerable when I can just plug in a prompt into AI and go? It gives me my time back. It ensures I turn something in rather than nothing. It is safe.

In an ideal world, everyone has experienced the joy that I’ve been able to experience in the classroom. Everyone has the resources to go to school for the love of learning, rather than out of necessity. Everyone is free of pressure, free of fear of vulnerability. At the beginning of my reflection, I wrote about my initial confusion about the two articles. I now assume I must have known somewhere in my subconscious how they were connected: through the idea that the ability to deeply pursue the craft of writing is intrinsically tied to the state of the human being.

Student Blogs

Reflection of 9/10/26

September 23, 2026 lboyd13.educator

I enjoyed what we covered in class today. Dr. Zamora had us do free writing for five minutes. That was engaging, as well as relaxing. It felt good to hear other students thoughts as we group shared our free writing.

We looked at some pictures and had to pick one picture that stood out to us, and relate its meaning to our thoughts of the picture. I chose the pottery wheel because it took me back to my undergraduate years where it all started. I remembered taking pottery as an elective. Out of all of my rigorous classes, pottery was relaxing. Feeling the cool, wet mud between my fingers. It gave me a minute to slow down my everyday stress, and enjoy it without the pressure from my other classes, especially since I was seven months pregnant with my first child.

My mind was blown away at some of the reactions that other students discussed about the picture they chose to talk about. Everyone had different stories to tell. That was amazing.

Dr. Zamora handed each of us a piece of construction paper. We had to fold it into four. Then we had to draw a small bullseye circle about the size of a dime in the middle of the paper. We had to write about four different topics in those four boxes and group share.

This entire lesson, the free writing, the pictures, the bullseye writing was absolutely amazing. It allowed us to form a small community together, and shared our personal feelings. I wonder what Dr. Zamora has planned for us next week.

Student Blogs

Rhetoric and Composition

September 23, 2026 lboyd13.educator

Upon reading Janice M. Lauer’s Rhetoric and Composition, I found her research on different fields of writing interesting. She mentions the emergence of Rhetoric and Composition developed within English Studies in the 1960’s.

A lot of research went into the development of writing and teaching of composition over several decades.

At the beginning of the article, she talks about the study and teaching of different types of writing that educators should use to help students become better writers, or more effective writers.

Her research covers various areas of English Writing Studies within English Studies. Some of her research includes Writing and Teaching Strategies, Assessments, Differentiated Learning, Writing and Teaching Writing, Pedagogy and Audience. These are just a few of her research methods. There are more.

Her research helped shape what English Writing Studies is today. It helped develop new strategies that educators can use to enhance their teaching. For example: Writing Across the Curriculum. This helps students who struggle with their writing to strengthen their writing skills and become more effective writers.

As I read this article, I found myself engaged with how Lauer broke down the different approaches to writing. She breaks down the study on Rhetoric and Composition as being both exciting and challenging. She writes about the study and teaching of many types of writing in different contexts. Civic, Workplace, Academic, and Cross Culture. This was enlightening to me, because I am a former Science Teacher. I taught English Language Arts for one year. I am new to this area of teaching. As I read Lauer’s article, it helped me connect writing instructions from a different perspective. Science and English Language Arts writing have similarities to the writing approach. They both require writing strategies.

Two different approaches that stood out to me go hand and hand with teaching both Science and English Language Arts are: Interdisciplinary teaching and pedagogy. These stood out to me because of my years of teaching Science and my new experience with teaching ELA.

As I taught Science, I helped students conduct investigations, research, form conclusions, and apply the scientific method. It all required writing. Lauer’s article helped me think deeper into teaching ELA by using a similar approach to teaching students writing in science and now digging even deeper and learning how to engage students with their writing.

I am feeling very good about how this article connects to my English Writing Studies. It is helping me think about my teaching approach and thinking of other ways I can improve my instructional teaching methods. It also helped me focus on how I can challenge differentiated instructional learning to meet all needs of my students.

The way I see it, if I use these teaching approaches, I believe I can provide a better learning experience for my students through engagement practices that would create a better learning environment for all students, allowing them to feel supported by inspiring them to have successful outcomes in their writing.

Even though I am new to this, I think transitioning from Science to English Language Arts will be a smooth experience. Reading Lauer’s article was an eye-opening experience for me and a real wake-up call about how to teach students to become better writers. It made me think differently about students writing and how I can better support them as they learn to develop better writing skills.

Lauer’s article helped me look at teaching in a different light. Returning to graduate school while learning different aspects of teaching, is going to help me become an ever better educator. I am learning new perspectives and strategies that can help students become successful writers.