Howdy howdy! Life has a funny way of getting in the way of living sometimes. Because of this, I’ve fallen a little behind on my posts, but Rocco returns at last!

This week I was tasked with reading both Writing Comments on Student Papers by John Bean and Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking: Sorting Out Three Forms of Judgment by Peter Elbow.

Writing Comments on Students Papers proposed very intriguing ideas that I think, on a foundational level, would have revolutionized my writing when I was younger. The section “Students’ Responses to Teachers’ Comments” was one of my personal favorites, because I believe if this open line of dialogue was more commonplace in academic spaces, then there would fewer areas of confusion in regards to the teacher’s expectations. Growing up, I was very accustomed to having revisions tear apart my papers and fixing exactly what I was told to fix without understanding why that section was marked in the first place. This type of academic programming is precisely how students become academic machines with no personal voice or expression, which is the exact opposite of what we should want; we should want free-thinkers and creative writers that understand the foundations of writing to be more prevalent. The funniest part of this section is that a student’s response to “Needs to be more concise” was “I thought you wanted details and support,” (318) and I feel that this quote perfectly encapsulates a relationship between teacher and student that is aware of the fact that both parties are human; teachers may not always perfectly explain what they need from a student, and this student’s response perfectly displays where the confusion lies. Having open lines of communication like this is the first step to a healthy revision process. The article continues to discuss purposeful commentary and I really cannot explain how much I think praise in comments is important! I feel as though the more you show your students that you’re willing to support them just as much as you’re willing to correct them, they stop looking at you as a person of power and more as a guiding hand. Finally, I believe the most interesting piece of this article was the “old/new contract.” I’ve never heard of this concept before, but it truly does simplify the commentary process if academic papers are just a matter of following a specific set of rules. The old/new contract is a simple way of proposing a formula for students to follow. If bad writing is simply a breach of the contract, students can observe it as an objective wrongdoing rather than the teacher’s preference, making commentary easy to follow and revisions simple to approach. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the ideas that this paper introduced and it has a very genuine approach to assisting students.

Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking: Sorting Out Three Forms of Judgment does a perfect job explaining the subjectivity of ranking systems and how it’s an overall unsatisfying method of evaluation. As I’ve stressed countless times throughout this post, communication is the most important piece of the grading process; if a student doesn’t understand why they received certain feedback, it can create a tense relationship and worsen the overall motivation and ability of that student as a writer. I remember back in elementary school, students were graded on a four point scale, with four meaning the student exceeded expectations. My teacher prided herself on her strict grading, saying “I’m not going to just hand out 4s. Very few of you are going to see any on your report cards.” I think this a perfect example of what the author was discussing when they stated, “Ranking or grading is woefully uncommunicative. Grades and holistic scores are nothing but points on a continuum from “yea” to “boo”–with no information or clues about the criteria behind these noises” (3). This teacher essentially created a barrier that challenged students to impress her, but with the little information that was given, that challenge was realistically impossible. This a prime example of how exacerbated power dynamics contribute no benefit to either party in an academic space. I think that ranking systems pose as a modifier for these power dynamics, so I agree with the author that they are simply uncommunicative and unhelpful.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s readings and I believe they explore the importance of writing pedagogy as well; most writers can attribute some of their success to good teachers, and as we learn more about the practice, it becomes abundantly clear why that is.

This week, I was tasked with reading “Rhetoric & Composition” by Janice M. Lauer. In all honesty, I am not typically a fan of academic articles; however this chapter spoke to me in ways that made a rather difficult read easy to digest. In essence, this journal told the origins rhetoric and composition while explaining the strides we’ve made in this field over the past 60 years.

The most interesting part of learning bout the history of composition and rhetoric is that it’s journey is very similar to my own. Before pursuing my Master’s Degree in English Writing Studies, I was a Psychology Major with minors in both Philosophy/Religion and Art History. Since this concept has been interdisciplinary since its inception, being prevalent in fields such as psychology and sociology (Lauer 2), it should be unsurprising to witness my pivot from that field to this one. Rhetoric is a concept heavily utilized in psychology courses, which is partially where my love for it began. Though the field is full of hard facts and truths, it was the idea of subjectivity and interpretation that piqued my interest; and it was the through the use of rhetoric that one could discover the perspective of their peers.

My minor in philosophy had already exposed me to the origins of rhetoric, but discovering it from a writer’s perspective is surprisingly refreshing. I found it interesting that scholars essentially taught situational awareness in rhetoric: “…and that introducing the notion of kairos (the right or opportune moment for certain arguments) encouraged the construction of a full composition curriculum with different aims of writing” (Lauer 4). Situational awareness is definitely one of the aspects of rhetoric that we take for granted. It seems obvious, for example, that you wouldn’t discuss things like “the benefits of fire” to a room full of house fire survivors, but it’s something that’s foundational in a newer form of rhetoric that we’ve developed. In that same vein, understanding audience seems like a relatively new concept despite the emphasis modern education places on it. I wouldn’t have guessed that this concept wasn’t heavily published until the 1960s (Lauer 9), especially with the importance of rhetoric dating back to the era of great philosophers like Socrates and Plato. This makes me question the discovery and utilization as empathy in writing. If the importance of audience wasn’t heavily discussed in previous eras, I wonder how many tone deaf papers had been published at the expense of the less educated.

This paper genuinely spoke to me in a way that I’m unfamiliar with when it comes to academic papers. Louise Wetherbee Phelps described rhetoric as a human science (Lauer 6) and I completely agree. Rhetoric throughout this article has proved itself as more than a method of communication, and slightly proves itself to be an art form, primarily focused on the art of communication. With all of the factors present in active communication, it’s no wonder that rhetoric has so many dimensions to be studied.

I will end today’s blog with this: one quote from this writing genuinely spoke to me. “fundamental misconception which undermines so many of our best efforts in teaching writing: if we train students how to recognize an example of good prose, (“the rhetoric of the finished word”) we have given them a basis on which to build their own writing abilities. All we have done, in fact, is to give them standards by which to judge the goodness or badness of their finished effort. We haven’t really taught them how to make that effort” (Lauer 7). I cannot emphasize the importance of this ideology. Harsh critiquing from educators who simply had different writing styles has stunted my ability and motivation to revise as a writer. The idea that the teacher alone holds the standards to a student’s success as a writer is diabolical, and leads to many students failing to pursue writing as a passion simply because their teacher has a power trip. There needs to be a balance of power in a classroom. When we start teaching students how to teach themselves, then we have created a generation of critical thinkers and savants.

Howdy howdy! My name is Rocco and I’m the creator of this blog. If you’re going to read about my personal opinions about works of literature, it’s only fair that you know who I am as a person to better understand my perspective!

On August 14th, 2002, I was born in Livingston, New Jersey…a city I would never see again as I was raised in Linden for most of my life. I developed a passion for linguistics and etymology at a young age, mainly priding myself on being a little kid that knew big words. I spoke very formally and tried to impress those around me with my enhanced vocabulary, but many will say from experience, being proper-spoken in an urban area has its benefits (none of which are social). Naturally, this led to me feeling rather lonely as I’d progressed through grades, so I did what any angsty teenager would do in that situation; I began writing poetry.

Poetry has been my main method of creative writing for over a decade at this point. Between allowing me to depict settings in memorable ways, easing the troubles of story pacing, or even just allowing me to use big words with even bigger rhyming partners, poetry has always stood out to me because of it’s opportunities for expression, and expression is the most important thing to me as a writer. So many people get lost in the idea of the story they’re supposed to tell rather than the story they want to tell. My goal in life is to give a voice to those who feel they were never heard; not so that I can speak for them, but so they can finally hear what they sound like. Writing is an art form that everyone has the potential to excel at. Some people just need a little push to understand what they’re trying to say. I was one of those people. And though I’m the one who pushed myself, I know it’s not that easy for everyone.

As a writer, I focus on the minute details of life and nature, and the substantial roles they play. This is mostly because, as a person, I am just as fascinated in the little things. There’s joy to be found in every facet of life, which is exactly why I strive so hard to experience it. This course is yet another experience for me enjoy, so cheers to it and everything like it!