Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
from the
Thoughts from the Chair
Tom Cormen .......................1-2
Chair
Spotlight on Writing 2-3
Karen Gocsik .......................3-6
Readings on Writing
Laura Braunstein..................7-8
H
Writing Program at CCCC......8 ere I am, at gate A12 in the Raleigh-Durham Airport, where I am
Dickerson Prize Nominations .8
waiting for a delayed jetBlue flight to depart. [Cheap shot alert:]
Considering that it’s jetBlue, I am grateful that I’m waiting in the airport,
Summer Hours .......................8 rather than stuck in a plane on the tarmac.
A Closer Look at Faculty U.S. airports have gotten a lot more interesting in the past ten years or
Sara Chaney ......................9-10 so. A walk through any one of most major airports now resembles a
stroll through a mall, with the occasional gate interspersed. With stores,
Professional Development
restaurants, and bars (and who among us doesn’t relish spending time at
Karen Gocsik ........................11
an airport bar?), airports offer plenty of distractions. I have no need of a
Faculty News........................12 restaurant at the moment, having recently finished off a superb lunch of
smoked brisket, hush puppies, fried okra, beans, and Texas toast at the
What’s New at RWIT? Q Shack in Durham. That should hold me until I get back home several
Stephanie Boone .............13-14
hours from now.
ESL News So here I am at gate A12, waiting. Even with all the distractions that the
Judith Hertog ........................15
Raleigh-Durham Airport offers, I see plenty of people doing one of two
NE Faculty Dev. Consortium .15 things: reading or talking on their cell phones. And that reminds me of
the mission of the Writing Program: written and oral communication.
FYS Workshop ......................15
At this point, you probably have a pretty good idea of how the Writing
Dealing with the Fear of Writing Program strives to improve written communication by Dartmouth
Zsuzsa Mitro....................16-17 students. If you don’t, I encourage you to visit our web site, http://www.
dartmouth.edu/~writing/. You might not have known, however, that oral
communication is also part of our mission.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
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W e have started slowly—very slowly—in oral
communication. A handful of Writing 2-3
and Writing 5 sections include oral presentations
position is structured to have a component of
service to faculty and students across Arts and
Sciences. This service will comprise speech
or debates. When I taught my baseball-themed coaching and professional development. Working
section a couple of years ago, our class had three closely with DCAL, the Writing Program already
debates on topics selected by the students: Should has an active program of professional-development
Pete Rose be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Was activities, and so it will be easy to add speech-
Barry Bonds at the time (Winter 2005) the most related workshops. Moreover, the Writing
valuable player ever? Should the designated hitter Program already works with faculty across Arts
rule be abolished? I thought these were terrific and Sciences by virtue of the First-Year Seminar
topics because the warrant program. As I wrote in
of each one was arguable, a previous column, I
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
3
B ecause Writing unchallenging and dull—for students, and for instructors, too.
Dartmouth’s basic writing course, Writing 2-3, works very hard to
2-3 was one of
defy this stereotype. Those of us who teach Writing 2-3 believe that
the first courses I the basic writing classroom offers us the opportunity to do our very
best teaching. After all, when students are under-prepared for college
took at Dartmouth, it
writing, we instructors must think especially carefully about our course
became my standard design and methods. We must have a variety of pedagogies ready
for what a Dartmouth to assist students who continue to struggle. We must set very high
standards and fully expect our students to meet them. And we must
course should be. be especially aware of, and sensitive to, differences in our students’
While I found many learning processes.
courses intellectually This thoughtful, creative approach to teaching pays off. Each year,
stimulating, only a Writing 2-3 enrolls 105 students who come to Dartmouth unprepared
to meet the rigors of academic writing. Some of these students are
few really inspired international students, for whom English is a second language. Some
me or managed to come from school systems that are under-funded and so unable to offer
adequate writing instruction. Some simply have the bad luck of never
spark the excitement having had a writing teacher who insisted that they move beyond the
of discovery that true five-paragraph theme.
knowledge brings. My
Because of their lack of preparation, many students admit before
experience in Writing entering Writing 2-3 that they don’t like to write. Some declare
themselves “very concerned” about their ability to succeed at
2-3 is something to
Dartmouth. But over two terms in Writing 2-3, something happens.
which I will always Students write—and rewrite—their papers. They read—and discuss—
go back. extraordinary and difficult texts. They are introduced to the rigors
and complexities of research. In sum, they are challenged to master
the skills they need to succeed as members of Dartmouth’s academic
community.
A senior looks And they do succeed: Writing 2-3 alumni include a valedictorian, a
back at Writing 2-3 salutatorian, Phi Beta Kappas, and students who have gone on to win
a variety of coveted college awards. Clearly Writing 2-3 provides
students the preparation they need to compete with their better-
prepared peers. It also offers a place at Dartmouth where students who
are unsure about their academic prowess can find a supportive and
instructive community—a first academic “home.”
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
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The Basics of Writing 2-3 students, some of whom have dubbed the course
“the hardest course you’ll ever love.” Our students
At the Writing 2-3 Orientation Welcome, before are initially surprised by the rigor of the course—
classes begin, instructors promise their students after all, many basic writing courses are built on
that Writing 2-3 will be more than just a class; it the model of “slowed down” instruction. But we
will be an experience. And so it’s gratifying to hear who teach 2-3 embrace a different philosophy.
our students echo this sentiment, affirming that Following the model that Ken Bain outlines in his
we have, indeed, delivered on our promise. We important book, What the Best College Teachers
do so by adhering to certain principles of teaching Do, we put our students through a rigorous three-
writing—principles that we think are “basic” to step process: show them that their existing models
any successful writing course. fail; make them care enough to look for new
models; and support them while they do. This
Consider: method requires students to “unlearn” the models
for thinking, writing, and research that served them
1 Writing 2-3 instructors believe that in high school, and then to navigate the sometimes
the writing process (of pre-writing, writing, mysterious, always rigorous conventions and
and re-writing) is part of, and not anterior to, the expectations of academic discourse. The work
discovery of ideas. is hard, but our students care about the course
precisely because it’s so ambitious. As one
Many students arrive at college imagining that senior put it, “Writing 2-3 is an introduction to
writing is one part of a three-part linear process: everything Dartmouth.” A student who recently
first you read, then you think about what you’ve completed the course adds, “Writing 2-3 gave me
read, then you write your paper. But experienced an appetite for confusion, as well as the powerful
writers know that it’s best to write (and to think!) tools to transform this confusion into a better
as you read. Writing 2-3 instructors therefore understanding” of what it means to succeed at
advise students to read as writers, encouraging Dartmouth. By investing in the work of 2-3, then,
students to scribble up the margins as a way our students invest in the work of the academy—a
of entering into dialogue with the texts they’re defining moment in their academic careers.
reading. We often ask students to write discovery
drafts and response papers, in which they raise
questions and make observations that will serve 3
Writing 2-3 instructors teach writing by
employing a variety of methods, both
traditional and innovative.
the academic arguments that they’ll later write.
We read and respond to these drafts (though we
rarely grade them) in order to engage students In some college classrooms, writing instruction
in written conversations with us – conversations consists of assigning papers and responding to
that inevitably lead to further discovery. It’s only them. In Writing 2-3, we employ a variety of
then that we move students through a drafting and instructional methods. We regularly hold in-class
re-drafting process designed to help them shape writing workshops, in which student essays are the
and re-shape their arguments, making additional focus of collaborative analysis. In these workshops
discoveries in ongoing conversations with their we discuss student writing as closely and
teaching assistants and their peers. thoroughly as we would any other text, focusing
not only what the writer is saying but also how he/
2 Writing 2-3 Instructors design a course that she is saying it (in terms of organization, paragraph
is rigorous. structure, syntax, and style). We also create several
opportunities for peer critique—in class, outside
Students in Writing 2-3 complain (or brag) that of class, and on Blackboard—in order to make our
they are working twice as hard as their peers in students better readers and better writers. Because
Writing 5 and the first-year seminars. Indeed, we’ve found that composing together gives our
the rigor of Writing 2-3 is legendary among our students the opportunity to discuss and debate
the construction of an argument, we require
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
5
group assignments—including group
presentations and collaborative papers—
and we work closely with each group in
conference to model effective analytical
and creative processes.
Writing 2-3 is designed to offer professors the opportunity and “Writing 2-3 is
the support to innovate. The two-term structure, the network of
collaborators, the frequent conversations among the program
not just a class;
staff (TAs meet every week; the entire staff meets 3-4 times a it’s an experience.”
term)—all of these elements encourage professors to continually
evaluate their methods and to try new things. For instance, over
the coming year we’ll explore new ways to teach writing with
technology. We’ll work with Jones Media to improve the way we
teach multimedia composition. We’ll work with the library to
“Writing 2-3 is an
determine better ways to educate our students about plagiarism, introduction to all
intellectual property, and proper citation protocol. And we’ll be
embarking on a project to look over our students’ research papers
things Dartmouth.”
in order to determine what writing skills Writing 2-3 students are
and are not mastering.
Traditionally, many of the innovations that we’ve piloted in “We are more
Writing 2-3 have gone on to become common instructional
methods in other writing courses. Writing 2-3 professors will
than a class; we
continue to use the privilege of our two-term system and the are a family.”
support of our teaching partners to try out methods that other
instructors, limited to a single term, don’t have time to pilot. We
will deliver what we learn to Writing Program faculty via the
program’s Professional Development mission. In this way, Writing
2-3 instructors commit themselves not only to teaching but also to
re-defining and re-envisioning the basics of writing at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
7
Readings on Writing
The Arguments of Style
Laura Braunstein
In this column, English Language and Literature individual expression. Critical pedagogy,
Librarian Laura Braunstein reviews books on among the next set of “post-process” theoretical
composition studies from the Dartmouth College approaches, configured writing instruction as a
Library’s collection. means of resisting dominant discourse, in which
style too often languished as “a prescriptive set
Johnson, T. R. and Tom Pace, eds. Refiguring of colonizing rules” (7). From this perspective,
Prose Style: Possibilities for Writing Pedagogy. as Rebecca Moore Howard argues in her chapter
Logan: Utah State UP, 2005. on the politics of sentence-level pedagogy, Joseph
Baker-Berry PE1404 .R3824 2005 Williams’s Style (the Dartmouth Writing Program’s
recommended text) reinforces a restrictive regime
whether style is the province of composition Where, then, is the place for style? Several
or of literary studies, and second, whether contributors to Refiguring Prose Style look to
emphasis on style empowers or restricts students reinvigorate the teaching of style in the history of
in developing their rhetoric, from Classical
own voices. In their models to the belles
”
elevation of originality of prose styles in
in imaginative literature academic prose? order to develop their
and the valorization own voices, or as J.
of clarity in academic Scott Farrin puts it in
prose? How do we help his essay, “to make
students negotiate between their words and the that language part of them” (150). Chapters
language of the academy? In standard histories of on practical classroom techniques attempt to
composition, “current-traditional” rhetoric gave reconcile style with critical pedagogy, arguing
way to a process-oriented pedagogy in the 1960s with Nicole Amare on the one hand that “good
and 1970s. This new perspective associated style writing style is essentially linked to cultural
with a dry, usage-oriented view of language that capital” (155), while concluding with Lisa Baird on
took writing out of its social and educational the other that “writing instruction ought to make
contexts and foreclosed students’ authentic, a clear connection between students and their
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
8
lives” (178). An article by Jesse Kavadlo may have resonance for Dartmouth’s RWIT tutors and Writing
Assistants: although writing center pedagogy has historically emphasized the writing process rather
than the written product, “writers more than writing” (215), Kavadlo offers a useful strategy for tutors to
prioritize attention to style by breaking down the binary opposition of style and content.
In the end, Refiguring Prose Style contributes most meaningfully to the field by complicating this
opposition. M. Todd Harper speaks to the relevance of style for writing in the disciplines when he
concludes that the most important legacy of critical theory is that meaning does not exist outside of
language but is constructed and shaped by it. As Harper argues, “When a student is able to grasp this,
he or she is not only able to understand the importance of rhetorical and literary language in all the
disciplines, but also the manner in which style grounds our thinking” (266). To oppose style to content,
or originality to clarity, or the individual voice to academic discourse reinforces the false dichotomy that
this helpful and timely collection seeks to overturn.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
9
A Closer Look
An Interview with
Sara Chaney
F or two years, Sara Chaney has been a
committed member of the Writing 2-3 faculty.
We are pleased to have her on board. Finishing
Director of W131, IU’s first-year composition
course. During that year, I was part of a
committee that redesigned the W131 curriculum
her dissertation in Composition and Rhetoric and trained first-year instructors to teach it.
at Indiana University, Chaney is a terrific asset
to the Writing Program. She has already earned
a reputation as an excellent teacher and is a
KG: What’s the topic of your dissertation?
Professional Development
Karen Gocsik
Faculty News
S pecial Kudos to Marlene Heck (Art History), who received
the Dartmouth Student Assembly Profiles in Excellence
Teaching Award, March 2007.
Congratulations, Marlene!
Faculty photos, from top to bottom: Colleen Boggs, Sara Chaney, Aden Evens,
Gary Lenhart, Kevin McCarthy, Doug Moody, Kim Williams.
Colleen Boggs (English) has a new book out: Transnationalism and American
Literature: Literary Translation 1773-1892, offered by Routledge this month.
Sara Chaney (Writing Program) was invited to create a module for McGraw-
Hill’s basic writing listerv. She’ll be authoring a piece on a critical issue in Basic
Writing and then fielding discussion for a period of three weeks. In receiving the
invitation, Chaney joins a group of established basic writing scholars, including
Edward White, Susanmarie Harrington, and Linda Adler-Kassner.
Gary Lenhart (Writing Program) has four poems appearing in The Hat, issue #7,
forthcoming.
Kevin McCarthy (Writing Program) was named Head of Screenwriting, a new emphasis
of study at the postgraduate Bennington Writing Seminars, Bennington, Vermont.
Doug Moody (Writing Program), along with Elizabeth Polli (Spanish and
Portuguese) and Otmar Foelsche (Humanities Computing), was awarded a $70,000
grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning to develop
LanguageSpace.org, an interactive website for the teaching of languages. Moody
will be the manager of this project, which will partner with colleagues in the
Spanish departments at MIT and Harvard. Moody was also named a DCAL fellow
for the 2007-2008 academic year. (For more information on Moody’s DCAL
fellowship project, see http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dcal/news/).
?
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
What’s New at
Making Movies
Nik Primack, Special Projects
Coordinator for RWIT, and Susan
Simon, Academic Computing,
worked closely with a team
of student staff to produce an
informational and recruitment
video for RWiT. The video was
successfully screened at the annual
RWIT Awards Dinner in late May.
It’s red carpets from here for film
maker Nik!
Nik Primack and Susan Simon watch the screen-
ing of the RWIT video, which they produced.
RWIT Presents at NERCOMP
Liz Abernathey, Head Tutor, and Nik Primack joined librarian Laura
Braunstein and Academic Computing’s Susan Simon to represent
RWIT at NERCOMP, the Northeast Regional Computing Program
conference, in March. The RWIT team’s presentation featured the
center’s library and information technology services.
Notable Endeavors
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
15
ESL News
Judith Hertog
English as a Second Language Specialist
J
udith Hertog, ESL Instructor for graduate students, reports that the ESL
discussion group is expanding. Because of increased interest, Judith
now holds two weekly meetings: Tuesday lunchtime (in Baker library 152) and Thursday evening
(International Office). Recent reading assignments/discussion topics have included: eating out/American
foods, the American Constitution and the concept of “freedom,” The Virginia Tech tragedy, the work of
Kurt Vonnegut, email etiquette, Anna Nicole Smith and tabloid culture, and plagiarism.
Judith usually combines a reading assignment and a short grammar or vocabulary lesson with discussion
topics that relates to American society.
Judith is also keeping busy with individual clients form various departments, working with several students
who are writing their doctoral theses and with MA students who are writing papers for classes. She is also
doing the ESL training for the RWIT staff, sensitizing tutors to the needs of international students.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
16
students to create lucid academic writing without To be sure, young writers arrive in the course
losing their personal voice—a goal that requires with a lot of anxieties. As one student put it at the
evolution not only in a student’s writing, but in her beginning of the fall course, “My biggest frustration
thinking as well. Indeed, 2-3 professors claim that is the flow of the paper. The material is good, but
2-3 “is not just a writing course,” noting that first- it’s not in the correct order.” This same student
year students are often unprepared for how much had additional problems with run-on sentences
their thinking changes in the class. Eventually, and grammar. His greatest fear, however, was “not
of course, students benefit from the changes. To making sense.” Still, he was to overcome these
be sure, this change depends on what methods problems by the end of the second term half a
Writing 2-3 professors use to teach their students year later. And how was this going to happen?
to write better papers. Yet the ultimate mark of their According to my experience, most students shared
success is that students the assumption that if
they followed the syllabus
“
usually take away much
more from the course. Making young writers closely and did what they
were supposed to do, the
As a TA, I witnessed care is important not primarily rewards would naturally
students grow intellectually because it guarantees them bet- follow. And this is exactly
within Stephanie Boone’s where Stephanie’s syllabus
class during fall and winter ter grades. It matters because put them to the test.
terms. Stephanie’s syllabus when students know how to After the first few weeks,
was my first encounter with
what 2-3 students might write well, they gain clarity of the question shifted from
“What am I supposed to
experience while learning thinking, a good command of do to get a better grade?”
to write better academic
papers. Her course their own critical voice, and a to “How do I address
assignments were designed conscious acknowledgement of my topic in an effective,
meaningful way?” Focused
”
on the premise that putting
first-year writers in charge their readership. on the themes of trauma,
of first confronting and landscape, and memory,
then learning to manage Stephanie’s assignments
their own fears gradually first challenged students to
made them more mature, as well as more careful start thinking critically about their own personal
about the content and the style of their papers. In experiences. For instance, in the “The Place Essay,”
other words, once students forget their anxieties, she invited them to make a personal connection
clarity is likely to replace confusion. Similarly, as with the central themes of the course. Over the
the internal authority of young writers emerges, period of several weeks, the students produced
the external authorities of the professor and TA several drafts on the same topic. In this way,
successfully complement, rather than overwhelm, the final paper evolved from a familiar personal
narrative to their first argumentative essay.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing
Spring 2007 • Volume 2 • Number 2
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This assignment had further productive outcomes. On the one hand, the students were challenged to
revisit something problematic in their past, and although they had to explore a personal experience with
fresh eyes, they could do so in the supportive environment of the 2-3 classroom. On the other hand,
the distance provided by time prompted new questions, and these young writers had to find meaningful
ways to answer them. While in their writing they initially investigated the personal, the students were
also gradually making connections to the broader context and larger themes of academia.
Whether or not a student becomes a successful academic writer depends, in part, on the student’s
trust in the professor-as-authority method. Yet when a young writer is invested in his or her own
learning process, a breakthrough necessarily follows. Making young writers care is important not
primarily because it guarantees them better grades. It matters because when students know how to
write well, they gain clarity of thinking, a good command of their own critical voice, and a conscious
acknowledgement of their readership.
In truth, my reason for becoming a TA was simple: I wanted to help young writers overcome their fear.
After all, I used to struggle with the awkwardness and frustration of not knowing how to make sense on
paper myself. However, since I was motivated to succeed, a breakthrough inevitably came.
And what was there for me in return for the care I wanted to provide? First, the experience of working as
a TA enhanced the quality of my own writing and made me a sharper reader and more thoughtful critic.
Second, I could make a connection with first-year students and find out how they thought and what
interested them. Finally, I could make sure that once our first-year writers found their own unique voice,
they were not afraid to write eloquently about what truly interested them.
Stephanie’s syllabus and methods made me appreciate the unique position that TAs are in. Writing 2-3
TAs indeed occupy a rich and complex space that mediates between instructors and students and, more
importantly, between the experience of teaching and learning. Furthermore, we get to mentor a group of
bright and hard-working students, and we ourselves are mentored as teachers and writers as well—and
not only by our professors, but by our fellow TAs and a program of faculty and administrators obviously
devoted to the challenges of teaching writing.
Dartmouth College Writing Program • 6250 Baker Library, Suite 200 • Hanover NH 03755 • 603.646.9748 • www.dartmouth.edu/~writing