Collision Course

Issue Number One
Defining Composition

Reading over Durst's data in chapters three and four, caused me to mainly ponder why there is such a lack of definition as to what an English course is. The students Durst polled seemed to not really even know the main point and basis of composition study. They seemed to think of it as an extended grammar lesson, where they had to write in perfect textbook phrasing. Most of the writers, even those that showed skill at it, denounced themselves as poor because they were unable to correctly place a comma here and there. The students not only did not know what to expect from the class, but they didn't know what good it would do for them either. They gave vague, pardon my French, kiss ass answers as to what they thought they would learn. (e.g. I think this class will help me grow as a student. I think it will broaden my horizons.) The students gave stock, patent, answers because they truly did not know what Composition study could offer them. None of them particularly saw it as an outlet allowing them to better present their thoughts, opinions, and ideas to the world.

Why is there such a lack of understanding about what Composition study is truly all about? Why, when I tell people I am an English major, do they assume I sit around all day and do grammar exercises? What can be done to better situate students to understand what composition is? To be honest, I think when students enter college, they should be given a new outlook on Composition and English studies. Perhaps before the course even starts, a teacher should re-orient the students’ definition of writing through discussion and debate. Otherwise, I'm not sure if any amount of superior teaching can help students to become better writers. After all, if students come into a class dreading it, they are very hard to get motivated, interested, and involved.

ISSUE
A Fear of Writing

One other major thread I noticed in Dust's findings is that may students enter college composition classes with trepidation. While it is common for Freshmen to be unsure of themselves, people seem to fear writing at a higher, more dramatic rate. What causes this intense fear? Are all high school teachers grammar, automatons that torture their students for misused punctuation? Or is it that lack of definition in composition study, which leads students to fear it? After all, we have a tendency to fear the unknown. And if students are unsure of what their English classes will offer them, or they have some horrible misconstrued conception of them, then it is easy to assume that they would be afraid to enter the courses.

Perhaps another reason why students fear writing is that they’re not given any agency over it in much of their study. They are not told that writing is a vehicle for their self-expression. They are told, in more or less words, that writing is a way to get, or more importantly, not get, a grade. I remember teachers who high school who assigned my work a point value. It seems to funny to break down creative work that way. And to be honest, that point value looming over me, often stymied my creativity. Instead of thinking of the next idea I could express, I obsessed over passive and impassive voice so as not to lose "points."

What can be done about students' fears? What can be done to make them see writing as a place to grow? These questions are important for all future and present teachers to consider. It is hard, if not impossible to teach someone who is scared to death to make a mistake. Learning is all about making mistakes, after all.