Anastassia Williams Synthesis 3 For my synthesis, I decided to extract 3 common themes I saw in many of the texts and showcase

why those particular works fit into those themes or genres and how they differ from one another. I will also share my personal reflection of each theme section and include how much I plan to attribute the general consensus of the points to my personal pedagogy. I. Different Discourses Included in Composition A. Delpit, The Politics of Teaching a Literate Discourse Emphasizes the importance for students to express their personal identity in the form of their primary discourse, but stresses the necessity for every student to be literate and competent in the dominant discourse. The dominant discourse is what is going to lead students to be successful and hold precedence in society so it needs to be the main focus for teachers. B. Lu, Professing Multiculturalism Lu focuses on creating this space where students are accepted into the realm of the real writer; students are allowed to explore voices and methods and not be hindered by the strict domains of the dominant discourse. Student writing should take the form of however the students feels most comfortable and attribute their personal identity to the their writing. Teachers should critique student writing under the scope of literary analysis, as we do with real writers. Differs from Delpit because there is dramatically less emphasis on the dominant discourse. C. Jarratt, Feminist Pedagogy Jarratt strives to include everyone in the discourse of the community, oppressed or not. Everyone has a voice and has the opportunity to be heard. Creates an environment where multiple opinions are shared and heard, everyone is on equal ground. Does not hold such a strict view of what discourses should be included, or what reflects a particular discourse, but is more general in interpretation. My personal reflection on this specific theme is extremely important to me and I plan to make it a major part of my pedagogy. I strongly connect with Delpits ideas that the dominant discourse needs to be emphasized, because at the end of the day, our students need to be able to function successfully in society. However, I think Lu and Jarratt bring up excellent points and that there needs to be some sort of recognition of other discourses because it plays an important role in promoting selfreflection. A balance between the two needs to be established.

II.

Writing as a Process, Individualism A. Faigley, Competing Theories of Process Faigley does not care about the end product, but instead values developing original and expressive work through different stages. Faigley uses the binary of writing as a process and current-traditional rhetoric to explain the importance of writing as a process. There should not be such a strong focus on grammar, usage, or structure but rather having an expressive, cognitive, or social perspective on composition. There is no one-way to look at composition. B. Murray, Teaching Writing as Process, Not a Product As represented in the title, writing should most definitely reflect a process rather than writing solely for the end product. The process needs to be divided amongst three stages, prewriting, writing and re-writing. This process is supposed to be reflective, embracing the students natural traits and interests. Teachers need to be supportive and create an environment where students can discover for themselves what to compose. Teachers should have as little do with composing as possible. C. Flower and Hayes, The Cognition of Discovery Much more cut and dry then some of the other theorists, but still embraces individual interests in their idea of good composition. We should allow the students to make their own ideas and representation based on what they are interested in, we should not be limiting them by giving them a specific framework to work in. Students should be able to develop questions, problems, and solutions for a given topic all on their own and reflect on these ideas constantly. Also places an important emphasis on the audience, and having students aware of their audience throughout their work. D. Macrorie, The Poisoned Fish Macrorie is all about the individual. Students should stop writing in Engfish and instead focus on their natural voice and honest way to speak. This way you are engaging with the truth, the truth as the author sees it. There needs to be a connection with the content of the writing, the way it is written, and the experiences of the author. When all of those entities are connected, the author is able to write truthfully and honestly. Students should be given the ability to just write freely, in whatever mode feels most natural to them. My opinion on these theories in general is that they are hard to teach and there needs to be more structure in the classroom. I think Flower and Hayes do a good job of allowing expression and discovery but in the realm of a structured classroom. I do think promoting a students individual interests and voices are important, but

there also needs to be an emphasis on proper grammar and form. Again, there needs to be a balance between the two modes in order to form a balanced writer. III. Society in the Classroom A. Yancey, Made Not Only in Words Yancey believes that the school sphere and the public sphere of composition need to intertwined and constantly feeding back to one another. Composition needs to be more of a social form, making it reallife relevant in the classroom. We need to be encouraging students to write to different audiences, interacting with the world outside of the classroom. Student writing should be written to have some sort of impact on the public and the public should influence what is happening in the classroom. B. Howard, Plagiarisms, Authorships, and the Academic Death Penalty Howard believes that composition is collaborative, that we build of each others ideas, whether we recognize it or not. We live in this increasingly technological age where there are billions of authors on the Internet, and we are constantly influencing our understanding of the world around us and ourselves based off of what we read and hear. Because of this relationship, our strict definition of what plagiarism is should be adapted. Student composition is so complex that sometimes certain forms of plagiarism, such as patchwriting, should not be seen under this immoral lens of composition. I believe that the world outside of school needs to be represented and accounted for inside the classroom. You will not be in school your entire life (unless youre a teacher), so being able to function in the grand scheme of things is important. Also, in relation to Howard, I think that recognizing that we are heavily influenced by society is important and that ideas of plagiarism need to be altered in certain ways. These are all points I plan to cover in my personal pedagogy.