Monkeys and Bartholomae

I think David Bartholomae's "Inventing the University" plays into some of what's going on in my class now. As I mentioned before, in my students' textual analysis papers (and more recently, their annotated bibliographies) they are reaching out for that academic voice. And Bartholomae, apparently, would be proud. But I want them to stop. If academic prose is necessary, it can come later, when they've internalized it more completely. But right now I want them to use a style of prose they are comfortable in.

I want to see their ideas, and they muddle their ideas by thinking too much about audience or discourse communities, even if they're not thinking in those words. I am trying to acclimate them to academic discourse, but I don't think they can learn how to differentiate summary from analysis and evaluation if they can't even keep their ideas clear for trying to sound scholarly. The prose style cannot come first.

I've got one student who emails me all the time with questions about the assignments, wanting to change topics, and so on. She's very self-conscious about her I-search topic: monkeys. I think it's a great topic and I have told her she can change it if she wants, but she really doesn't need to. She found good sources for her annotated bibliography and she has a personal interest--she wants a monkey for a pet, like Ross had on Friends.

This student is embarrassed of her desire itself, and more embarrassed to be writing a paper about it. The other students are tackling such topics as AIDS in Africa and alternative fuel sources. She wrote me an email an hour ago because she has writer's block and the first draft of the paper is due Friday. I'm thinking, Err...it's just a draft, and it's not due till Friday. But here's what get's me: "Its really hard to make my reasoning as to why I'm interested in monkeys sound professional."

My advice? Don't. She's working with this assumption that her paper should sound "professional," and as such, she realizes she has nothing to say. She has defeated the I-search, which is supposed to validate her experience, by turning it into an exercise in academic discourse.

See, Bartholomae? I want my students to know that they have something to contribute. I think the best way to acclimate them to the academic discourse community is by validating their style as much as possible. There is a sense in which they remain outsiders if they don't talk the talk, but only if we teach them to value "the talk" more than the ideas behind it. If we encourage them to be comfortable (within the bounds of articulate), then they don't have to feel like their failing simply because they can't make it sound "professional."