Apr
26
Final Paper
Filed Under Final Papers
What is a writer and how can we bring voice into a classroom?
The definition of a writer is complex. We can define a “writer” as someone who makes a living at writing, but then one could argue that any job requires writing in some aspect. Well then, a “writer” is someone who is published. Okay, then the accountant that writes up a report that is published and distributed through out the company is a writer by that definition. Fine, a writer is someone who is paid to be published and have others read their work for entertainment. Ok, so a screenplay-writer and journalist are both writers too. Yes, they are. That is ridiculous. I am having an mental battle with myself.
Let’s just focus and start at the beginning. To me, a “writer” is a person who uses their voice in the form of words to say something. (When I say voice I am referring to the Elbowian voice. The way an author writes.) That is a very broad term, I know, and extremely vague by nature but the definition of the term is open to interpretation. I would make an argument that anyone can be a writer if they use their voice to say something. The third grader is a writer when she writes an essay on the civil war in her own words. The science professor is a writer when he writes a forty page dissertation on chemicals found in the sewer. Musicians are writers when they write lyrics for their music. A government employee in charge of creating Standard Operating Procedures for a new program is a writer too. Although some may argue with me that SOPs lacks voice and therefore the author is not a real writer, that stems back to our different versions of the definition of the word “writer.”
I strongly feel that writing does not have to be made up entirely of voice in order to be considered writing, but it helps make writing better. The kind of writing that is emotionless I think lacks energy and heart of the author’s voice. If the author was not the slightest passionate about their writing, then way put it down? The best writings, to me and the general population, are full of character and heart. They have a piece of the author in them. That piece of the author is translated into the text through the voice of the author.
It is a difficult question to try to answer but here goes. What is a writer? As I have said before, a writer is someone who uses their voice to say something. Can two writers say the same thing? In theory they can, but the words and the voice will be different. I would argue that what these two authors are saying is different, however slightly that difference may be present, there is still a difference because they are coming from two sources. For example, both authors can be teenage boys talking about the soccer game they played earlier. The writing has the same content but different voices. I agree with Elbow in his theory that anyone who writes is a writer. I think society should start to classify writers. Some writers maybe classified as “newspaper journalist.” Other can be “screenplay or television writer.” And still more can be “writer of published novels.” I think that having a classification system would make it easier to use the term loosely. The people who write to-do lists or “thank you” cards can be classified as “normal, everyday writers.” Today alone, I have been a “normal, television, email, thank you card, and student” writer. Wow, I sound busy when you say that. So does this classification system offer society? It gives everyone the chance to be a writer. Does that take away from the conventional term “writer?” Should acclaimed novelists be lowered to the standard of a normal writer when asked what they do? “I’m a writer.” “Well, aren’t we all?” I think that everyone who writes is a writer. That simple. Elbow had it right, (no pun intended) if you think it and write it down then you are writer. Are you a good writer? Probably not, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have taken the first step toward becoming a good writer.
So with Elbow putting the “ball in your court” so to speak with the whole idea that if you write it down you are a writer, can we teach writing in the classroom? Should we bring voice into the classroom? And if we decided yes, then how do we teach voice? These questions are interesting and complicated. Voice should be in the classroom, but I am not sure it can be taught. I think that having exercises, such as Elbow’s free writing, can be used in voice detection and development. I think that if students knew that they were writing in voice, then they would understand how to use it better. I think that without voice, writing is dead and without cultivating the next generation’s voices then what will writing become in the future? Empty and lifeless? One way to avoid this is to have students read great literary works. After this, they should invent an essay or a piece of writing based off of what they have read. For example, have ninth graders read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After they are done, have them write an essay or letter pretending to be a character in the story. Make the students use their voice to give their character a voice. This exercise is based on how I read John Muckelbauer and his essay Imitation and Invention in Antiquity: An Historical-Theoretical Revision. The exercise is in practice of what Muckelbauer calls “imitation.” We teach students what good writing looks like by having them read great writing. We then have them try to copy this form of writing, but instead of having them copy verbatim, we should encourage them to develop their own ideas and their own voice through the imitation exercise. I think that through this modified imitation we can get to invention.
David Bartholomae would disagree with me on both points of what makes a good author and what “voice” should be. He thinks that if a writer has nothing new to say, then don’t waste the readers time saying the same thing other writers have said. His example of this is when a girl writes about her parents’ divorce. Bartholomae thinks that if she has nothing new to add, then she should not write. He would also say that keeping voice out of the academic world is the best way to write “academically” because academic writing should not have a voice. To Bartholomae, “academic writing” is the type of writing that lacks voice. It should be straight-forward and rooted in fact, not solely opinions and speculations. Keeping personal feelings out of academic papers allows the writer to present their finding without influencing how the reader will react. Elbow and I disagree with Bartholomae because almost all academic writing, even Batholomae’s, has opinion and speculation in it. Its how starting point the author uses to argue their point.
As Elbow argues, I believe that we can teach all students to be good writers. Through a variety of different exercise designed to help explore and build voice, such as free writing, we can teach students how to use their voices in all of their writings. And this includes academic writing. These students are the people who will grow up to be the next writers. Newspaper reporters, gossip columnist, screen writers, novelist, etc. They need to know what voice is and how to find theirs and that is way I think it is important to teach it in school.