Writers as Archetypes

[Ashley Hennefer]

Atwood, M. (1993). Negotiating with the dead: a writer on writing. New York: Anchor.

 

Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite writers of all time; she is one of those rare writers who seem to capture thoughts and feelings I had never been consciously aware of and turn them into unnervingly familiar emotions. Powerful stuff. Strangely enough I had never read her book about writing, and needless to say I completely fell in love with it. This text takes an underappreciated stance on writing, and more importantly, the purpose of writers in society.

 

Negotiating with the Dead is a collection of six essays questioning a writer's place, especially the function of female writers. Each essay tackles a different topic - for instance, are writers supposed to be entertainers or teachers? Is art for value or or profit? She references her favorite writers, many of them long deceased (hence the title) and ultimately claims that writers are all building upon a unified conversation with their unique voices. The writers she loves have served as her mentors through their words.

 

I love the idea of a writer as an archetype, and I think educator is an archetype as well - the sage, the scribe.  I liked this description on the book: "What do we mean when we say that someone is a writer? Is he or she an entertainer? A high priest of the god Art? An improver of readers’ minds and morals?" What roles do our students fulfill?

 

Given that my education experience is generally with older students, I think this book would be great to use to spark a discussion about their roles as writers in their chosen professions, as well as in their personal lives. 

 

1) How can we assess that student writing is done with a purpose? Even if it is for a grade, their writing should always mean something; and yet, students even at a college level often struggle with explaining their reasoning for writing in a particular genre. Should this be done through discussion or different writing assignments?

 

2) What kinds of writing assignments can we give that will allow students to explore their identity as writers without the confines of grading? Should we address identity before even giving them assignments?

[Tracey Albee]

Ashley,

 

I read your post and instantly loved the idea presented in your book. I really think as teachers we try to give our students ideas for who they are as a writer but ultimately due to standards we assess them differently. I think our goal is to help them find their voice and try different genres of writing using that voice but when we assess them on standards that we have to teach.

 

In saying that I do think we can assess student writing that is done with a purpose. I think we can help the students develop their purpose for writing and then explain how they achieved writing with that purpose in mind. For instance, I give my students several different choices when writing about a novel. I use the RAFT assignment. This helps them choose a role, audience, format, and theme. In choosing the role and audience they have to write with a purpose. They need to show that they understand what is going on from someone else's point of view and for a specific audience. I have used this assignment several times in my class. I think the assessment for this needs to be through both discussion and different assignments. I have my students talk to me about what they wrote, why they wrote it the way they did. They have to assess themselves on whether or not they were writing with a purpose.

 

Your second question is one that I am still pondering. I don't have a good answer for it because it is a hard thing to accomplish. I truly believe it is important to address identity with students before they write. I think one way we can help students find their identity as writers is having them choose their favorite writers and then explain why they like them. I would want my students to specifically look at things such as format, word choice, idea development, and voice. I think students can emulate things from the writings that they like and then maybe add more of themselves into it. I think one of the most important things is finding the writing voice. This is a touch subject for students to handle. These are just some ideas I had.

 

Thanks for making me think about this topic. I am interested in seeing what others have to say!

 

Tracey

[Megan Garijo Pruitt]

Hi Ashley!

 

The question this book evoked for you is intriguing; what DO we mean when we say someone is a writer?  And what roles do our students fulfill?  I am beginning to realize that one of the most pivotal roles a writing teacher can play for students is to provide opportunities to see the vast array of purposes writing can play in our lives.  We must show students how powerful writing can be as a tool for communication and find topics and situations that affect students that they can invest in through writing. 

There are many topics of social change in today's world that we can introduce students to and get them involved in.  By getting them involved in issues they care about and have an opinion, their identity will positively be explored and refined through the process.  Getting students involved in real issues develops a person's sense of how important audience is to writing.  These opportunities would allow teachers to assess student writing on topics that are authentic to students.  This is how writing should be. 

By teaching students to study other writers as mentors, we can help them connect with the development of their style.  This book sounds like an intriguing mentor text for older students.  I will definitely check this out!  Thanks for the thinking, Ashley!

 

Megan

[Lucy Elise Peters]

Ashley,

 

I have just had the best week of teaching because I really planned the writing into my classes every day.  That said, I am in the process of having my students start the writing process to engage them in my project to write a cook book.  I think the assessment piece will come in the form of the final book we will publish.  I hope to work in the works of other known writers in the foods field, Child, Beard, etc. to inspire them to write their recipes and intros to them.  I believe this will satisfy my need to include the academic aspect of their learning into the daily labs format that my class follows.  The planning for me not only includes the assessment process, (book), but also the components to get to that end product.  We have begun by doing the same exercise with the Seven Silly Eaters book I had everyone do for my Lit share.  Then they will begin a shared recipe analysis where I put chosen pieces before them to look at and revise.  We have the journal starting this next week also. 

During this first semester, I plan to allow them to not only experiement with their writing of original recipes, but also, make those items in class.  We will be working on spaghetti recipes, revising them, and refining the cooking processes.  Then we may do a bread or dessert one also.  So, each piece of the process may or may not be graded in the traditional sense, but their final cooked item is the fruition of the writing.  I plan to have them do family recipes this fall.  That works nicely into the whole holiday study we focus on. 

Either way, the assessment or the type of genre I choose may change according to the focus of the day.  But in the whole scheme of the semester, staying on track with standards, and teaching culinary techniques, I know I am on track for a great year. 

Your entry to the blog energizes me to look into incorporating more about the great chef writers that have influence our modern concept of the culinary world.  Maybe by next year, we may be studying these people in research projects, who knows?  Thank for the inspiration! 

[Michelle Peirce]

Hi Ashley,

Author's purpose or craft is an integral piece of the new Common Core State Standards. I think to be effective in teaching these standards and student mastery, we have to use a variety of texts as models as well as a wide genre of writing assignments in class. With any age student, if the instructor used the lit. share format like we did in class, the instructor could pull out the information that he/she would wnat to model to the students. With all our basals and "reading/writing programs" I think we have gotten away from great literature models that can produce authentic writing pieces. As far as what kinds of writing, I feel that we need to assign as many different pieces "genres" (like Kim's presentation) as possible for students to experience, with very few actually being graded. The graded pieces would be those that have gone through the entire process, to create a portfolio at the end of a year.

[Sarah Flynn]

Hi Ashley, I wanted to address the second question that you posed. When I think about my experiences in school, all the writing that I did was an assignment. I was talking to a good friend of mine and we were comparing thoughts and writing stories and she said that she always wrote, regardless of an assignment or not. It was a norm in her schooling experience. I love that idea. Kids knowing up front that writing happens regardless if it is collected or not. It becomes an embedded culture in the classroom. After this class in July, I bought all my own children composition books and we call them their journals. They write in them all the time. Even my three year old brings hers in the car to write/draw in while we drive somewhere. There are many pieces of writing emerging letting each of them express themselves. It's exciting to see.

I know that I did not answer your question at all, but it made me think about a classroom where this writing can happen. Where students are writers and get to explore their identity in many purposeful ways. A classroom that I want my own children to be a part of.