Bow to the Power Structures

Because if James Britton can quote himself, so can I.

It's hard for me to believe that no one else finds it problematic that the existent power structures should simply be accepted, and we should play by their rules simply because they are in a position to make the rules.

It's also hard for me to believe this argument flies with eighteen year olds.

For Wednesday, my class read Lunsford's excerpt from Mike Rose's Lives on the Boundary. We talked about the idea of a canon of literature, "Great Books." The class was split on the concept, but many people thought a canon was stupid. That reading was inherently educational, and there was no need to read specific books.

I asked what they thought about the argument addressed in the piece that if we don't teach the underprivileged Shakespeare, we're withholding from them a key to power in our culture.

The class was unmoved. Even the supporters of canonical literature didn't jump on the "key to power" bandwagon.

I'm not sure what Murray or expressivists would say about grading on format...they might use Dr. Cadle's model and ask for a revision. But I have trouble seeing a hardcore expressivist requiring a specific format for papers, and I wonder how they explain to their students that they want most of all to hear their voice--just as long as they put their name in the right place on the page. I owe it to my students to make sure they are familiar with MLA format and where to find formatting guidelines, so they can use them in the future. When someone else tells them they need to use it because it's the power structure already in place.

Certainly students can express themselves within the bounds of MLA format. Just as Shakespeare could express himself within the much more restrictive bounds of a sonnet. I don't question that. I question why we ask them to.