(Download) "To Conform Or Not to Conform: Asking Questions About Unconventional Writing (Tutor's Column) (Personal Account)" by Writing Lab Newsletter # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: To Conform Or Not to Conform: Asking Questions About Unconventional Writing (Tutor's Column) (Personal Account)
- Author : Writing Lab Newsletter
- Release Date : January 01, 2008
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 57 KB
Description
I read the paper over, sit back, and come to the conclusion that, for this client, half-an-hour will not be enough. As I read, I am amazed to discover that there is not a single period until the eighth page. Additionally, the client seems to have composed the entire piece in stream of consciousness, and the progression of his argument (if, indeed, an argument exists) is impossible to identify. I am suddenly faced with a question that many writing center tutors face at least once during their careers: how does a tutor explain the rudiments of scholarly discourse to a client who doesn't even seem to have firmly grasped the English language? I do my best, but at the end of the half-hour we both come away discouraged. As I return his folder to the filing cabinet, I glance briefly at his name and shake my head. Whatever his major or vocation, this William Faulkner could use a lot of improvement in his writing. Go ahead and laugh. But honestly, what would you do if a young, undiscovered William Faulkner came to your writing center? Or, to state the question another way, what would you do if you met a client with a writing style like Faulkner's? The tutor in such a position faces many concerns: how to help the client achieve intelligibility while at the same time retaining a unique voice, how to guide te client into producing his or her best work while avoiding inserting the tutor's particular privileges and writing preferences into the piece, and how to tell the difference between effective use of unconventional writing techniques and ineffective uses. Faulkner's writing style is, perhaps, a bit of an extreme example, but it serves as a useful way to initiate the discussion on individuality of voice, style, and technique which tutors at all writing centers face on a regular basis.