Literacy Journal - Week 10

Blog Prompt: Select a quote from Au that resonates with your experience. Why is that quote meaningful to you?


I had a particular interest and connection to Au's article, "An Expanded Definition of Literacy," mainly because of my educational background. I received an M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University in 1977, and at the time, the raging debate in literary criticism was between the deconstructivists (led by Jacques Derrida) and social relativists.

Boiled down to its essentials, deconstructivism is a philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth; it asserts that words can only refer to other words and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings. The whole movement always bothered me on a fundamental level, since it seemed to imply that a book (or film) was a self-contained entity, and basically existed in a social vacuum, which strikes me as a lot of high-falutin' hooey.

This is why I was gratified to read Au's article, particularly in the assertion that "meaning does not reside in the text, but in the interraction among the reader, the text, and the social context....Viewing reading and writing as constructive, creative processes takes us away from a mechanistic, skill-by-ski approach to literary instruction."

It seems to me that for both reading and wrting, constructing meaning is an essential part of literacy. By deconstructing a text, you deprive the text of meaning and ultimately dismiss the value of anything it touches. Perhaps on a college level, reading French new wave novelists like Robbe-Grillet or Duras, deconstruction can be helpful in unmasking certain contradictions present in a text, but when talking about teaching literacy to school children, the influences of background knowledge and the social context that children bring to a text are both fundamental and often profound, as evidenced by the anecdote Au relates with regard to the different perceptions by readers of letters relating to wedding ceremonies in India and America.

While deconstructionists would be horrified at the idea that a student's social and personal environment could bring anything meaningful to the words contained within a particular text (even the author's own intentions and background become immaterial to deconstructionists), Au is exactly right when she writes, "when someone reads or writes, those acts of literacy are taking place in some social context."

Literacy Journal - Week 8

We will be focusing on writing during the next class. How does one (or more)of the readings for this class relate to your placement experience? Have you experienced 6 Traits or writing conferences as a student or as a teacher? As usual, you may also choose your own topic related to the readings.

In both my main placement (5th/6th grade Quest class in elementary school) and in my dyad (8th/9th grade language arts class in junior high school) there is a great emphasis on writing, so I have found both the readings AND the assignments in my Literacy class to be both relevant and enlightening. Although I have already confessed to a preference to teach higher grades, I still find that much of the work relating to writing and literacy in the earlier grades is very helpful in understanding and teaching good writing proficiency in my placements.

I have not personally experienced either whole-class shares or conferences with students related to their writing, I have been able to have some really great first-hand observational experiences in seeing how many students, particularly in Junior High School, are still struggling with some of the most basic concepts and strategies associated with good, clear writing. For example, in my dyad, students have to complete several essays throughout the school year, in nine different formats. The most basic essay form is "Form 1," and they grow increasingly complex and challenging as students complete each numbered form. Although there is an element of competitiveness involved (nobody wants to still be on Form 2 after three months), the teachers truly are more concerned that they master and perfect each form before moving on. The essay forms each differ in format, such as "Persuasive with Text," "Compare and Contrast," "Problem/Solution," etc., but each level also requires students to know how to make outlines, take notes, and do the necessary prep work for writing a good essay.

It is also a bit disheartening to see the number of students who are still struggling with these forms, particularly in light of the fact that many of them will be starting high school next year. But it was also refreshing to see the 6-trait model for assessing and teaching writing, because, whether or not they are specifically aware of the "Six Traits," my dyad teachers emphasize all of these characteristics, such as ideas, organization and voice, in their writing classrooms. They have also supplemented this with very detailed blueprints and examples of how to write each of the particular nine essays, with very helpful hints to improve and enhance their individual writing styles (e.g., in a persuasive essay, open with an attention grabber rather than pose a question). Of course, as will inevitably happen in five classes of 60 students each, you will get a lot of repetitive essays, but those students who get into it really take ownership of their work. That said, there are quite a number of students who are bored out of their skulls and never seem to move beyond forms 2 or 3.

One writing class that I found more inspiring and innovative was being taught to an 8th grade honors class in Language Arts, whose students had advanced past the basic mechanics of writing, and were more eager to personalize in order to be creative. In this class, the teacher handed out what she called "Smiley-Face Tricks," which consisted of eight things that a writer can do to really place a more individualized stamp on their writings. These included such things as: giving a series of examples in order to create a poetic rhythm or to support a point; making non-literal comparisons; repeat specific words or phrases to make a point; and using humor.

I also very much liked what Lamott said about carrying around index cards and jotting down ideas. All too often I notice that a student gets up to make a point and has completely forgotten what he or she intended to say, and you wonder how much of this could be avoided if we began encouraging students, at a young age, to get into the habit of jotting down thoughts and ideas (I know this is something that would have benefited me enormously, both in writing and in speaking).

Not coincidentally, I have also found the writing classes in my dyad to be extremely helpful in constructing my own literacy vignettes. One of the things that some teachers seem to lament is that for all that they are required or expected to teach about writing, they very rarely get to practice what they preach, so being asked to write so many different kinds of assignments this quarter (book reviews, annotations, lesson plans, reflective essays, vignettes) is a perfect marriage of theory and application.

Literacy Journal - Week 7

Share a quote from Lamott (include page number) and your response.

For the most part I enjoyed Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, although I found the most interesting and quotable passages to be from the book's opening pages, particularly in her rather lengthy Introduction. I felt that her more generalized and "non-technical" comments regarding writing to be far more enlightening and meaningful, at least for me. (Without trying to be arrogant or a know-it-all, I think it is more difficult to teach students or write a book on "how" to write, as opposed to the more intriguing "why" we should write).

Perhaps that is why I responded strongly to the more autobiographical aspects of the book, because it's there that I think Lamott really articulates the virtues of a "writer's" life, or at the very least, a writer's sensibility. For example, when she writes that "there was a struggle going on inside me to find some sort of creative or spiritual or aesthetic way of seeing the world and organizing it in my head," (pg. xx) this beautifully conveys an almost universal struggle that all of us can relate to, no matter what level of literacy we may have obtained.

A few pages later, she writes "That thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual art of writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward." (pg. xxvi) The higher truth that I think Lamott has stumbled upon is in discovering the power and strength of writing - the self-discovery, the need to dig deeper into one's self, and the drive for reflectiveness - these are all things that speak less to the quality of one's writing (which of course will vary wildly as between individuals) and more to the liberating and healing power of the writing itself.

This notion is reaffirmed on page 19 when she writes, "Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong." These are probably the strongest and most poignant words I have ever read about the creative process, and it can apply in equal force to all art, not just writing. More so than her "words of advice" to burgeoning writers, or her admittedly helpful hints about how to construct a story, or write dialogue, the true majesty of Lamott's book can be found in this one sentence, because it speaks to those most basic of human emotions and needs: to be seen, to be heard, to grow, to belong.