Douglass Hesse's "Who Owns Writing?
“I’m wondering if the word writing may frame our work in ways that aren’t always desirable. The term seems neutral enough, but it may well carry the sense of inscribing words on paper; that is, it may focus attention on the physical act of graphemic production, separate from thinking…” (1253).
I struggle with the level of importance writing should have. What does writing do? Is it vitally important as a means to know your self and to exert influence in the world, or is it entirely unnecessary? Can knowledge of the self and exertion of that self occur independently of writing? The answer I am leaning toward is that, if writing works for you, then writing is important to you and you should use it, but that it is only one tool out of many at our disposal. I think this gets at the heart of how Hesse views writing — Use it in a way that is meaningful for you and then you own it.
However you want to define good writing, some writers will always be better than other writers, and it seems to me that the dismay many colleges have expressed concerning the poor writing skills of first-year college students is not warranted. My sense is that with each passing grade, there is an increase in the value as well as an increase in the focus toward a student’s written output from the teacher’s perspective. In my 6th grade Language Arts class, for example, a student with poor writing skills can still manage to do well. This is chiefly the result of a flexible and “accentuate the positive” kind of approach I take to grading. Well, the student didn’t too well on his essay, but he did create some really interesting brainstorms… I admit it — In terms of grading, I’m a softy. I think it must be said, however, that, in general, elementary and middle school teachers take a more flexible and open approach to grading. This approach, however, gradually constricts with the passing of each grade, culminating in a much more rigid response to grading at the college level. In other words, at the college level, a student’s written output now becomes the single most important determinant to his or her academic success. It is not that the secondary schools have failed to prepare students for college; it is that our focus has been broader. Imagine, for example, if the vast majority of our colleges placed the emphasis on class participation rather than writing.
Writing strikes me as elitist when it precludes people from entering into a conversation, or from entering into academia in general. We see this play out most noticeably in academic writing that repeats old ideas with a slightly modified twist in high-flown and unnecessarily complicated prose. What are we valuing in a college education that is inextricably linked with writing? I want to believe that the core values we believe colleges are founded on can be attained without ever having to write a word. This is not to say that writing has no place, but that it must cease being the emphasis or primary locus of so much of our educational experience.
“Who Owns Writing?" (2006) by Douglass Hesse. Excerpted from The Norton Book of Composition
Studies (Vol. 1, pp. 1247-1261). London, England: W.W. Norton, 2009. Susan Miller (Ed.).
I struggle with the level of importance writing should have. What does writing do? Is it vitally important as a means to know your self and to exert influence in the world, or is it entirely unnecessary? Can knowledge of the self and exertion of that self occur independently of writing? The answer I am leaning toward is that, if writing works for you, then writing is important to you and you should use it, but that it is only one tool out of many at our disposal. I think this gets at the heart of how Hesse views writing — Use it in a way that is meaningful for you and then you own it.
However you want to define good writing, some writers will always be better than other writers, and it seems to me that the dismay many colleges have expressed concerning the poor writing skills of first-year college students is not warranted. My sense is that with each passing grade, there is an increase in the value as well as an increase in the focus toward a student’s written output from the teacher’s perspective. In my 6th grade Language Arts class, for example, a student with poor writing skills can still manage to do well. This is chiefly the result of a flexible and “accentuate the positive” kind of approach I take to grading. Well, the student didn’t too well on his essay, but he did create some really interesting brainstorms… I admit it — In terms of grading, I’m a softy. I think it must be said, however, that, in general, elementary and middle school teachers take a more flexible and open approach to grading. This approach, however, gradually constricts with the passing of each grade, culminating in a much more rigid response to grading at the college level. In other words, at the college level, a student’s written output now becomes the single most important determinant to his or her academic success. It is not that the secondary schools have failed to prepare students for college; it is that our focus has been broader. Imagine, for example, if the vast majority of our colleges placed the emphasis on class participation rather than writing.
Writing strikes me as elitist when it precludes people from entering into a conversation, or from entering into academia in general. We see this play out most noticeably in academic writing that repeats old ideas with a slightly modified twist in high-flown and unnecessarily complicated prose. What are we valuing in a college education that is inextricably linked with writing? I want to believe that the core values we believe colleges are founded on can be attained without ever having to write a word. This is not to say that writing has no place, but that it must cease being the emphasis or primary locus of so much of our educational experience.
“Who Owns Writing?" (2006) by Douglass Hesse. Excerpted from The Norton Book of Composition
Studies (Vol. 1, pp. 1247-1261). London, England: W.W. Norton, 2009. Susan Miller (Ed.).