Debate Over Language Use

Hi, folks. An article well worth reading in today's edition of the NYTimes: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/arguing-about-language/?hp. The writer speaks of traditionalists and revisionists, and claims both are correct, albeit in different ways. I think, in the Writing Center, we are smack dab in the middle of this discussion each day as we work with writers. (And it's really neat to use the phrase "smack dab.")

What's a Metaphor?

For keeping your sheep in. Puns aside, I'm glad the metaphors seemed to be a hit. They are intended to be a way of thinking about your work, in part by not thinking about it. When we take the first choice that comes to mind, I'd argue we are doing what Malcolm Gladwell calls "thin slicing." We are making sense of a situation quickly, so quickly that we don't notice the thinking that we are doing. He details such quick action (what others sometimes call intuition, but that's a term Gladwell dislikes) in his book _blink_, which I recommend: http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html. I believe as writing advisors we also begin to thin slice, building up and then using our experiences with many writers to decide where to go in a session quickly. We might not be able to chart our thinking as to why we made a decision, but it's still a thoughtful response, one made too quickly to capture. I think picking up the first metaphor (or simile) is similar. You are thinking about it, but that thinking is so buried that you are not cognizant of it.

Conversations

So I'm currently listening to a host of conversations--the English 101 folks are working with the morning group, talking about their feed essays and then brainstorming on their final papers. Lots of good moments that I've noted already, instances of writers responding with "oh, I could do that" and "yeah, I understand." You folks are saying, "As a reader, I was confused here," or "this was a really strong point for me; I understood what you meant." The third hallway of Hollenbeck is echoing with these conversations; you're spread out from one side of the building to the other.

Very cool.

ECWCA

A great conference. That's pretty much the consensus after this weekend. Seven advisors went up to present at IUPUI on Friday and Saturday, and everything went well. Leigh and Kali talked on chaos in the writing center, and no less than Mickey Harris, the keynote speaker, attended their session (yup, she wrote the article you read, Sarah). She said the presentation was excellent. And so was Jordan, Tyler, and Rebecca's, on how work in other centers influences their work in the Writing Center, and so was Colin and Kelsey's on how we talk with writers. I may even try to have them come in to 242 and give the presentation. They examined both student texts and transcripts of sessions to uncover what questions we ask and how they might affect a writer.
I also found some other sessions that sparked a lot of ideas. I've got a copy of a tutoring rubric that I'll bring in to show you. And, there are more ideas for research that we can, and should, conduct in a writing center, trying to measure and evaluate the work we do. If we look to make better writers, and better texts, then how to we determine how well or even if we are doing that.
And, of course, we found a good restaurant. An Italian place where we ordered together and ate as much as we liked. For dessert, tiramisu. Fantastic. And the fried zucchini was excellent, too. They announced at this conference that the next one will probably be over in Clarion, Pennsylvania, so perhaps some of you will be interested in attending that one. A good, energizing, invigorating time, which is what a conference should be.

Confidence and Reflection

Reading through recent blog posts of yours, I'm noticing a trend of questions about ability. Can I do this job? What if I don't know this? What can I do in this situation? Is there any way to really prepare for all these situations? Those are all good questions, and, in truth, I do think you should all be nervous. That's a sign that you care. I think most good performers, in any field, still get a little nervous about their work. It means you're engaged with it, wanting it to be the best it can be.
The catch, of course, is to balance the worry with enough confidence that you can do the job and do it productively for the writers you work with. You need to be able to reflect and critique yourself without that leading to inactivity. And that is a tough balance. You need to be in the moment, offering an honest response to the writer, but there is also the small window you leave open to watch yourself as you work, being able to shift direction as necessary during a session. And there's the larger window that opens up after a session, when you evaluate your conversation and think about what you can learn towards next time. We continue reflective work throughout your time in the Center. We observe each other; we tape our own sessions; you have sessions with me; you have sessions with each other. We're like writing center sharks; if we stop moving, we die. Hmmm, now sharks can be our new mascot.
Again, all this is a lot to ask. But, work worth doing is rarely easy.

Words, words, words

"Eager--and doomed--as words are to serve you, they want to do so in lively, dashing, dancing, swooping, curving, crossing, flapping capacities, in sense and harmony with one another. Each time a word shows its face, to countenance its fellows, new possibilities reveal themselves. Language lives, breathes, moves with you . . ." -Karen Elizabeth Gordon

Every word is a choice. That's the beauty of writing, I believe. We have a choice for every single word we put down on the page. Not a right/wrong choice, but a choice of possibilities. For each word that appears, that shows its face, we have certain other words that can follow. Each step in a sentence takes us a little further into the cave and we have to figure out which path is possible. Then again, we can always back up and start again.

I hope you're enjoying the reading so far. She certainly has fun with the language (perhaps overly so at times), and she does offer up the basic points that we want to have down for thinking about (and talking about) language use.

Looking forward to our talk on Tuesday. (Do grammar quizzes help at all in retaining information?)

A Blog in Two Parts

Part the First: To continue our discussion of margin and center groups, and indirect and direct communication--I think some of those concerns really come into play when we're talking with writers about revision. We questioned in class about how direct to be about a writing situation, and I think we often should lean towards the explicit--name the rules and the idea that writing works a certain way in certain situations (or rather, people expect it to look a certain way). It is one thing to ask a writer, "Is there anything about this introductory paragraph you'd like to change?" That's an indirect question, a la, "Would you like to take a bath now?" Some of us understand that neither is intended as a question, even though phrased as such. It is another thing to say, "This introductory paragraph does not seem to me to have as much of a focus as an academic essay usually does. Many faculty like to see a thesis statement early on in the paper, often towards the end of the introductory paragraph. Why don't we talk about what is possible for this paragraph?" Is that too heavy handed? I'm interested in what you think.

Part the Second: We had a good day at Xavier on Friday, and the folks there put on a good meeting. An improv group, some thoughtful talks, and good food. Just what a conference should have. We especially liked the idea of having whiteboard walls; we're going to buy some paint and do the same in our space. Also, our work connects well with the improv theme that the Xavier folks put forward. We might even be able to conduct an improv workshop at the next OWCC meeting, at Miami University, in Oxford, on October 5th. I'll keep you updated. But, do ask Autumn, Jennifer, Ana Jeanne, Evan, and Keri for their thoughts. We can talk some on it in class, too.

Blog post now ended.