Reading Romano's "Blending Genre, Altering Style" moved me to set down the text and pick up a pen. Except for a creative writing class or two in college, I was never encouraged as a student to stray from literary analysis or research papers in my English classes. It was so refreshing to read, "the quality of writing that I get to read is often much truer...the power of the multigenre form makes the information real" (p. 5). Looking back at my own experiences, I feel like we spent so much time exploring the writing and ideas of published authors and theorists. Clearly, there is value in that discussion, however, I think the danger is that we lose the opportunity to develop our own voices as writers and thinkers. The concept of a multigenre paper is so exciting because it encourages students to think outside of traditional boxes. Further, students are more likely to enjoy writing as it becomes a more personal art.
Romano also explores the relationship between writing and other forms of art. In my own reading, I love to follow the friendships and sources of inspiration in artistic communities (for example, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Picasso). With this in mind, good place to go for writing inspiration is the art museum. Most of you know I work at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (so I putting in a plug, ha, there I said it), but seriously, it is a free art museum and it has such a HUGE collection. I've spent hours walking the halls, sketching, and taking notes. Here's the link: artsmia.org.
I also enjoyed the first chapters of "Within and Beyond the Writing Process." The authors seem to stress the connection between writing and thought, and I can connect with that. For instance, if I haven't written in my journal for a few days, I feel a little lost. I know there are thoughts swirling around in my head...but I can't internalize them until I put pen to paper. In fact, like Dornan suggests, I believe that keeping a journal or record of daily life and thoughts can be eye-opening. In this day and age, we rarely take time to reflect on what we actually do each day.
Additionally, as a teacher, I hope to enact Dornan's point that writing is a process. I have never agreed with the concept of "final grades" or "final paper." The best paper I ever wrote in high school was the result of five earlier "final papers." Each time I handed one in, my teacher read it, marked it up, and conferenced with me. Each time, he said, "I think you can do better." By the end of the semester, my writing had improved...and not just my paper, but my whole writing process. That teacher really did his job...and that's how I intend to do mine!
20 minute writing practice
3 years ago
Hey Molly!
ReplyDeleteI too am enjoying Romano's ideas about multi-genre papers. It just seems like such a great way to get students interested and motivated in writing a variety of genres. Not only will students enjoy likely enjoy writing these kinds of works more than traditional papers, but us teachers will have a much better time reading them and they will likely be a good indicator of student understanding.
Romano's ideas reminded me of a few great books that I can look at over and over again...like Woody Guthrie Artworks, a collection of entries from Guthrie's journals that includes sketches, watercolors, song lyrics and prose. Also, The Wilco Book, a collection of photographs, philosophies, prose, sheet music, and a CD of non-album songs by the band. These various methods of attack provide for an extremely rich reading experience.
This kind of approach also makes sense considering the fact that we must prepare students to write in this technological age, where they will be creating websites/blogs/wikis that use a variety of different tools (words/images/sounds/video). I'm only a few chapters into the Romano book, and maybe I'm getting a bit off topic with all of this multi-media talk, but it sounds like fun stuff to try in the classroom.
Molly, you put it best when you said "I feel like we spent so much time exploring the writing and ideas of published authors and theorists. Clearly, there is value in that discussion, however, I think the danger is that we lose the opportunity to develop our own voices as writers and thinkers." I have to say, I completely agree. The idea of multigenre papers, from the little I understand of them so far, is very refreshing. After years of doing typical academic analytical essays, I can say I have exhausted my learning (and am rather bored) of that genre. I feel as though my development as a writer had been stalled in that I was only learning to do one type of writing. With multigenre papers, it seems as if you learn and develop multiple modes of writing and communicating ideas, providing a much more enriching writing experience. Though I don't yet fully understand what a multigenre paper is or really looks like, it seems like something that will not only help students develop their writing, but it also, as you put it, is a tool for students to better find their voice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the MIA, Molly. Some of the best writing that I ever got from my students was prompted by works of art. I loved reading the stories they would generate from an image.
ReplyDeletemaybe it's our way of not-so-subtley resisting the technology :)
ReplyDeleteMolly,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your desire to pass on your good experiences with writing to your students. I too subscribe to the belief that writing is a process, and I also think that most writing is never complete...that is, there is a difference between being done with a piece of writing, and piece of writing being complete.
However, I do wonder how to deal with students who are fully invested in the final paper/final grade system. Change is difficult, and while I think the students who have been shut down will respond well to writing as a process, I fear that students who have done very well with the traditional writing expectations will struggle with the process.???