I did my inquiry paper at the end of last semester on students' apprehension to writing so I am familiar with a lot of the information contained in this chapter. One question I still had that this chapter answered was whether students are more apprehensive to write formal essays or informal writing that contains personal experience. I was kind of surprised to learn that Blasingame and Bushman say students are more apprehensive to write personal narratives. This is so interesting because it makes me think that students aren't reluctant to the activity of writing as much as they are to sharing their own personal feelings and ideas. Realizing this shows me how important it is to establish a safe, comfortable writing environment.
In a way, I think The House on Mango Street ties in with this idea of being scared to share who you really are with others. In the novel, Esperanza is so ashamed of not living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. She is ashamed of being poor and different than how she thinks she should be. In her introduction, Sandra Cisneros describes how, in a way, she is Esperanza. She was ashamed to be the poor, hispanic female. She also describes how she realized her differences and turned her shame into celebration. She used her differences to find her own unique voice and write about things no one else could write about. I think that this is what many of us want for our students. We want them to realize their differences but to celebrate them and not be scared to share them in writing. Being the Caucasian, middle-class female that I am, I don't often feel like I am unique or have the heritage of people like Sandra Cisneros. I realize now that I've still had different experiences than others and I can develop my own unique voice and write about things that others cannot. As writers, we need only to dig for the things that make us unique, not be scared to "break the rules," and not be scared to share our feelings, experiences and ideas with others.
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3 comments:
I like the title of this post, "Scared to Share", because I know personally that this is how most students feel about their writing. Even as a future English teacher and fairly confident writer I have faced apprehensions of sharing my work with my classmates even as last as last year. As mentioned by Brittany, my insecurities are mostly around my personal or creative writing. Yet, I had a poetry writing workshop at Mizzou that really helped me overcome my fears. We were a small group and everyone was expected to share every poem. The knowledge that everyone was in the same situation I was really helped. Also, workshopping the work of others as well as receiving comments from fellow students improved my writing immensely. Although I know most high school classrooms can not enjoy the intimacy of a 15 person classroom this does not mean that students can not become comfortable sharing their work. The key to this seemingly impossible task is an equalizing atmosphere that promotes positive feedback as well as suggestions for improvement.
You raise a great point...I'm not sure I agree with B&B about kids being more apprehensive about writing personal experiences. My students would ten times have rather written about themselves than any formal paper.
I love that you picked that out...and I LOVE your comment about us not being scared to share what makes us unique and sharing our feelings, experiences, etc. Those teachers who make themselves human to students will get the best writings (and attitudes) from their students.
I agree with you, but i think that it really can be scary to share personal things--this is why the community of the classroom is SO important and as teachers we can't let that slip. Finding ways to make the class comfortable around each other--in class and outside of class--goes a long way. Building that friendly atmosphere is so important, one where everyone feels as if they can share because they won't be made fun of and because the people really do care about each other individually.
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