ERIC EJ1069984: Subversive Complicity and Basic Writing across the Curriculum

2013·0.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

Subversive Complicity and Basic
Writing Across the Curriculum
VictorVillanueva
ABSTRACT:Whatfollowsisasimpleassertion:timeforbasicwritingtogetoutfromunder,
acallforustoinculcateaBasicWritingAcrosstheCurriculum. Itistimeyetagaintomove
awayfromtheconceptthatbasicwritersareinneedofremedies,inpartbecauseallcompo-
sitioncoursesareinsomesenseremedial,andtoagreaterdegreebecausethe“illness”that
weseektoremedyisinbeingatleastdiscursivelyother-cultural. Withinthisessaythereare
reflections,speculations,considerationsofhowtogoaboutwhatisdemandedofus—encul-
turationandassimilation—whiledoingwhatitiswebelieveweoughttodo—promotecritical
consciousness,somethingthatmanyofusinmanydisciplinesseektodo,evenifthosein
otherdisciplinesareunawareoftheterm.
KEYWORDS:Basicwriting;programs;writingacrossthecurriculum;discoursecommunities;
racism;assimilation;remediation;enculturation
AMemory,1984
Wefinallyhavehealthinsurance,soCarolcandeliverthechildwhowill
beAnaSofíainabirthingroominahospital,VirginiaMason,Seattle,Washing-
ton.Thedilationhasbeensudden,precipitous. Unpreparedforalongstayatthe
hospital,IcallmyfriendVirginiaforsomehelp:mymedicines,toothbrush,those
kindsofthings.
VirginiashowsupinthemidstofCarol’scontractions. Shetellsmethatthe
basicwritingprogramthatIhavebeeninchargeofisgoingtobecut,soshehas
madeanappointmentformewiththeprovostforthenextday. Idon’tknowwhat
aprovostis,butIgettheidea:someonewithpower.
Thebabyisborn. Somecomplications. Theumbilicalcordhadbecomea
noose. TwonursesandIunwrapthecord,cutit,rubthefeet,andthenthesquallof
life,thebabyborn. Momandbabyarefine. I’vegotaprovosttomeet.
Stillshakenbythemiracle,Ishowupattheprovost’soffice.Idon’tunderstand
whereaprovoststandsinthehierarchy,butIdounderstandanofficelargerthanthe
apartmentthathousesCarol,me,andthreekidswithafourthabouttomovein.
Officesinacademicsarehegemonicallylegitimatingmonuments,primarysymbols
ofpower(orthelack:TAsandinstructorsinthesub-basement).
VictorVillanuevaisRegents’Professor,EdwardR.MeyerDistinguishedProfessor,and
thecurrentDirectoroftheWritingProgramatWashingtonStateUniversity.Thisyearmarks
histhirtiethyearinservicetothosewhotendtobeunderserved.
©JournalofBTahsiec SWherirtiidnagn, VProels.s32,No.1,2013
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The provost explains that the university is about higher education, not
remediation,especiallygiventhetimes(oneofmanybudgetcrisesinmycareer;
theycomeoften;financialcrisesareanormalpartofcapitalism,accordingto
MarxandtoKeynes,thougheachprovidingdifferentwaysofdealingwithcrisis).
Theuniversitycannotaffordtheluxuryofremediation.
Well,ifthat’sthecase,Isay,thenwhydoweofferalgebraorevenregular
101compcourses? Seemslikeremediationtome. TheonlydifferenceIseeiswho
isbeingserved. Itwassomethinglikethat,thatIhadsaid.
Theprovostappearstogetdefensive. I’mscaredthatI’vecrossedaline.
Shethenexplains,patiently,thatthosealgebraandcompcoursesarethenorm,
thatbasicwritingfallsbelowthenorm,ismoreabasicliteracy,pre-university.
Iunderstand,Isay. ButIgoontosaythat,basedonpersonalexperience,
communitycollegeshavetheirhandsfull,thatculturallytheyaresomewhatdif-
ferentfromtheuniversity,andthatthejobofbasicwritingasIseeitisn’tteaching
grammarorotherdiscreteskillsbutmovingfromonewayofdoinglanguageto
another,movingtothewaysoflanguageoftheuniversity. Sometimenotlong
afterthisparticularconversation,compositionistsbegantowriteof“academic
discoursecommunities.”
Myintentionisnottodenigratethecommunitycollege.Iamfindingthe
availablemeansofpersuasion—exploitingthediscourseofelitismandthedis-
courseofassimilationtothispersoninafootball-fieldsizedoffice. Iarguethatwe
don’tremediate;weenculturate.Andso,BasicWritingsurvivesatthatUniversity
(andremainstothisday,nearlythreedecadeslater).
Abouttenyearsafterthatfirstmeetingwithaprovost,theotherstateuni-
versityinthesamestate:Sameconversation,samethreat,sameresult,giventhe
promiseofassimilation,akindofenculturation.
I
First-yearcomphasalwaysbeenremedial,butitgainedspecialnotice
whenitbecamedesignedforthepoorandthefolksofcolor,notHarvard’s
compcoursebutopenadmissionsatCityCollegeofNewYork,inHarlem.
InHarlem. Andsuddenly,theseweretheNewStudents(seeMcAlexander),
“thetrueoutsiders”(Shaughnessy,Errors2).“New”remindsmeofthesome-
whatrecentnationalelection’ssuddenrealizationthatthereareLatinos
in the U.S., failing to remember that the Latinos, the Spanish, were the
supposeddiscoverersofthiscontinent,thefirstnon-indigenouslong-term
inhabitants.Beenhereallalong,andtiedtotheoriginalinhabitants,insofar
asrulesagainstmiscegenyappliedmaTihnel Syhetroidatnh PreesSspanishelite(Acuña). In
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muchthesameway,theNewStudentsweren’tallthatnew. Theywerethe
victimsofaparticularpoliticaleconomy.
SotheuniversitydecidedthatthoseHarvardboysorthoseYaleboys,
productsofthebestcollegeprepschoolsofthesecondhalfofthenineteenth
century,werenotquiteliterate,certainlynotforHarvardorYale,KellyRitter
remindsus.AtHarvardtheboyswereassignedtoEnglishA,andsometoEn-
glishB,andevensometoEnglishD,theletterscorrelatingtopotentialgrades
inwritinginEnglishA,todegreesofheads’boniness,“bonehead”theterm
usedattheUniversityofUtahforitsremedialstudentsinthe1940s(Ritter
68),withShaughnessysayingthatthenewstudentsweren’tevenuptopar
withtheboneheads(Errors2). OrtherewasYale’s“AwkwardSquad,”white,
middle-classIvyLeaguersofthe1920sthroughthe1960swhonevertheless
requiredwhatwewouldnowcallbasicwriting(Ritter43-44). Andwhenthe
likesofSharonCrowleyshoutedforanendtotheuniversalrequirementfor
first-yearcomp,shewashooteddown. Butwheneconomiccrisesloom,the
racialized,non-middle-classversionof“remedial”writingisimmediately
slatedforremoval. Andthewaytosaveitistoinvokearhetoricthatcobbles
togethermulticulturalismorequalopportunityandassimilation.
Monday,11March2013,TheChronicleofHigherEducation,frontpage:
Alongcolumntitled“TheSecond-ChanceClub:InsideaSemesterofRemedial
English.”It’saverynicepiece,showinghowthestudentshavetopassatimedwrit-
ing—clearthesissentence,fourparagraphs(well,atleastitisn’tfive),answeringthree
questionsontheassignedwriting. TheChronicle’scolumncontainspicturesofthe
students,Blackstudents,andthewhiteprofessor(thoughthereisonewhitestudent
inthepictures,aswell;youjusthavetolookcloselytofindhim). Thecaptionunder
aheadshotoftheprofdeclaresthat“Professorsinremedialcoursesoftenmustbe
socialworkers,too.”Thisexposureisgoodforthesurvivalofbasicwriting.Andthe
messageisclear—asecondchanceatupwardmobility,adedicationtoassimilation,
amulticulturalimperativeforanimprovedeconomy.
Butforalltheinherentsympathy,multiculturalismtendstofailbe-
causeby-and-largeittendsnottobeanti-racist. Theproblemwithmulti-
culturalismisthatitreliesonaconceptionofculturalpluralism,anideal(a
Platonic“Good,”even),butgiventhepoliticaleconomyoftheday(nomatter
whichschoolof"politicaleconomy,"thepoliticalliberal’sKeynesianorthe
economicneoliberal’sFriedmanian),theideaofallcultureslivingtogether
inmutualunderstandingisnotyethere. Sowedoaninjusticeinactingas
ifamutualityalreadyexists,thatwThiet hShearidlaint tPlreesesffortonthesissentencesand
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coherentparagraphsasdefinedbyCicero,Aristotle,orBain,wecanlevel
theplayingfield(andputthisway,resortingtoacliché,makestheabsur-
dityapparent). Butabsurdornot,therhetoricofthenewracism,withits
preferencefordifferenceoverracism,allowsforargumentsbasedonassimi-
lationandenculturationtobecomehowbesttosellbasicwriting,whether
tocentraladminortoTheChronicleofHigherEducation. Farbeitforusto
pointtoabsurdityoreventheviolenceinherentinournation’sdominant
metaphor,themeltingpot. Sometimesrhetoricactuallyisaboutduplicity,
Platonotwithstanding.
Assimilation,enculturation,remainsthegeneralnorm,evenaswein
writingtrytowriteourwaysoutofthatnorm. Meltingintothepotisseen
asthewaytomaintainanation,therhetoricgoes;identitypoliticsriskthe
lossofanationalidentity. It’sastrangenotion,whenwethinkintermsof
allthecultures(asopposedto“races”)containedbeneaththeumbrellaterm
America. We’rereallyquitecapable,apparently,ofclingingtoancestryand
realizingournationalidentity. Wedobettertolooktotherelationsamong
discourse,thecultural,thepolitical(notonlyasideologybutaspolitical
powermorebroadlyconceived),andtheeconomic.
GyatriSpivakbeginstoapproachthisrecognitionoftheforcesatplay
asshewritesnotonlyofepistemologiesthatgivecredencetothepowerof
discourseasideological,butalsoasshewritesoftheepistemologyofother
politicaleconomicforces,whatshecalls(àlaFoucault)anepistemology
ofviolence. Sheisreferringtothedegreetowhich“subalterns”(likethe
disenfranchised,thepoor,women,often)areneverquiteabletospeakor
writefromtheirownwaysofknowing. Thatis,whenSpivakasks“Canthe
SubalternSpeak?”shearguesthatsinceouridentitiesareformedinrelation
toothers,powerrelationsaresuchthatthereisnotrulyautonomousOther,
notrulyautonomoussubalternwhosevoiceisseparatefromandstands
alongsidethevoicesofthoseinpower. Sheconcludesthattheanswerto
whetherthesubalterncanspeakisno. Andthisissurelynolesstrueforso
manyofthose,womenandmen,whofindthemselvesin(orchoosetoenter
into)basicwritingclassrooms,forcedintoaparticularwayofmarshaling
arguments:EditedAmericanEnglishandAristotelianlogic.Yetwhatchoice
dowehaveasteachers,weask. Codemeshing? It’sagreatconcept:using
therhetoricalpoweravailableinsomedialectsthatarenotavailableinthe
Standard,anintentionalblendingofdialectics. Anditismorethansimply
agreatconcept;itisright;itissomeassertionofthesubalternspeaking.But
beforecodemeshingcouldworkinsociologyorinhistoryoranyplacein
thecollegeoruniversityoutsideofthTeheE Snhegrildiasnh Prceslsassroom,wewouldhave
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toeducateanawfullotofeducators. We’vebeentryingforoverfortyyears
now,butsomenotionof“properEnglish”continuestoholdsway.
Butmaybe,ratherthanthrowupourhandsandsaythatthereality
isthatwemustgiveintothepowerandtheeconomy,tostudents’own
wishesforachanceatthemiddleclass,sayinresignationthatweteachac-
ademicdiscourselestthefolksinsociologyorhistoryorwhateverhurtthe
students,maybewecangainaforceinnumbers,forgealliances,insinuate
basicwritingintoWAC. Wehaveourexpertise—literacyanditspedago-
gy—but theyhavetheirs. Andasoften,theytoorecognizethepolitics,
justnotnecessarilythepoliticsinbelievingwritingissimplywriting,in
believingthatthecodesareagreedupon,agiven. Ontheonehand,we
woulddowelltoinsinuateourknowledgeintotheirs. Someofthemost
interesting writing and research about racism obtains in sociology (like
Bonilla-SilvaorWinant);someofthemostinterestingresearchandwriting
aboutlanguageishappeninginpsychology(likeMartín-BaróinAronand
CornorMishler);someofthemostinterestingusesofwrittennarrativeis
happeninginthemedicalprofessions(alsoMishler);there’sevenanentire
fieldofstudycalledNarrative-BasedMedicine(see,forexample,Greenhal-
ghandHurwitz). Whatweknowthattheymightnotisthataslanguage
carriesmeaning,meaningcarriesculturesandtheirideologies,ideologies
andtheireconomies.
Ihavemadethisargumentbefore,thoughinanothercontext(“Poli-
tics”),thatwecannotpresumetobethepurveyorsofcriticalconsciousness.
Intermsofracism,westandtolearnfromthoseotherdisciplineswhilewe
informthemofthewaysofwritingandrhetoric. Wecanlearnfromfolksin
businesswhohaveeconomistsamongthem,fromhistorians,frompolitical
scientists,fromsociologists,aswellasfromtheliteraryfiguresandcritical
theorists from whom we have grown accustomed to learning. We give
somethingtothedisciplines—mattersofliteracyandrhetoricgroundedin
thesociopolitical;andtheygiveussomething—theirconsiderationsofthe
politicalandtheeconomic. Andweintroducethemtobasicwriters,notas
needingremediesorinneedforproperdevelopment(Rose),butasrhetorical
powerplayers(Villanueva,Bootstraps). It'stime. Andit'sboundtosucceed,
sincewe’dbeinthebusinessofjusticeandmaybeevenrealequalitysome-
wheredowntheline,notcompositionteacherswho“mustbesocialworkers,”
notmissionariesconvertingthenativestothereligionof“proper”discourse.
Themissionary. SomeofusreadShaughnessy’s“DivingIn”asaspoof
ondevelopmentalschemes. Somuchoftheworkineducationwasbeing
tiedtodevelopmentalmodelsatTthhee Shteirmidaen PorefssShaughnessy:WilliamPerry,
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Maslow,Bloom,andespeciallyPiaget.Shaughnessywasclearlypokingfunat
themissionarymentalityofteacherslikeher:trainedinliterature,suddenly
facedwiththeNewStudent. Butitturnsoutnottobesofunnyascheme,
sincesomehowitseemsthatwecan’tquitegetpast“convertingthenatives”
becauseoftheexigenciesofpowerandeconomics. Weremainstuckinthe
ideathatthereisonlyonewayforstudentstosucceed:learnthediscourseof
power,doingalmostnothingoutsideofourclosedconversationsinWriting
Studiestoalterthatdiscourse. ThatChronicleofHigherEdarticlementioned
aboveclearlyhonorsthesuccessfulconversionofthenatives.Ifbasicwriting
istobenolongermissionaryinitsmethod,though,nolongersocialwork,
thenweshouldbeengagingwiththeothermindsacrossthedisciplineswho
alsofacethestudentsweface,havingthosefacultyworkwithusratherthan
pointaccusatoryfingersatus. Weshouldenterintoadialogueacrossthe
disciplinessoasbettertounderstandthesocialprocessesthatcouldrelegate
suchalargenumbertothetrouble-heap. Allofuscanusethetoolsatour
disposaltocircumventreproducingaschoolsystemthathastraditionally
failedtoeducatethewoman,thepoor,orthepersonofcoloratthesamerate
ofefficiencyasothers. Andwhilewelearnfromthem,wepassoncontact
zonesandcriticalpedagogiesandworldEnglishesandmeshedcodes,passing
onourparticularwaysofunderstandingwhatmanyotherdisciplinesalso
understand,thatlanguageisnotjusttheconveyorofknowledgebutisthe
wayknowledgebecomesknown.
II
Buttheproblemremains:howtoteachthewrittenrhetoricofpower
withoutnegatingstudents’power,thepowerinherentintheirownways
withwords. Oneanswermightbetoteachaconsciousmimicry. Thisisnot
anewidea,ofcourse(see,forinstance,bell,Bhabha,Fuss). AsImentioned
someyearsago(“Rhetoric”),PuertoRicans,asthelongestcontinuouscolo-
nialsubjectsofthemodernworld,havelongusedastrategycalledjaibería,a
jaibarhetoric. PuertoRico'ssituationisoneinwhichpoliticalpowermakes
colonialismnolongertenable,yetthereremainsaneconomicsituationin
whichnationalismisnotfeasible. Thetrickthenismaintainingacultural
identitywhilecomplyingwithdominance.That'sachievedthroughajaibería,
a"subversivecomplicity"(Grosfoguel),kindoflikeshiningsomeoneon,a
consciousmimicry. SociologistsGrosfoguel,Negrón-Muntaner,andGoeras
callonDianaFuss’sreadingofFanoninBlackSkin,WhiteMaskstodescribe
ajaibapoliticsasamimicryratherthanThae Smheraidsaqn uPreesrsade:
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AccordingtoDianaFussinheressayonFrantzFanon,thereisaten-
dencywithinpostcolonialandpsychoanalyticdiscoursetodistinguish
betweenthepracticesofmimicryandmasquerade. Whileinpsycho-
analysis,masqueradeisunderstoodastheunconsciousassumptionofa
role,mimicry,accordingtoHomiK.Bhabha,isunderstoodasacolonial
strategyofsubjugation.Fuss,however,stressesthattherecanbeamim-
icryofsubversionwherethedeliberateperformanceofaroledoesnot
entailidentification.Theperformance’scontextsthusbecomecrucial
indeterminingitssubversivepotential...[In]bothFanon’sandFuss’s
texts,themostpowerfulexampleofsubversivemimicryisthatofthe
AlgerianNationalistwomanmilitantwho“passes”asaEuropeanized
subjectinordertoadvancethecauseofNationalliberation. (26-8)
Incompterms,thisiswhere“inventingtheuniversity”isamutuallycon-
sciousdecision,notjustfoistedonbasicwritersbutencouragedasajointly
agreeduponstrategy,notwiththeideathatstudentsbecomeliketeachersbut
ratherthatstudentslearnhowtogainthetrustofteacherssothatacommunal
learningcantakeplace,whatFanoncalls“aworldofreciprocalrecognitions”
(218). ThisisthestrategyofaparticularprogramwithwhichIamcurrently
involved,CLASP,whichI’lldescribealittlefurtherbelow.
GailOkawaoutlinesapedagogywhereinstudentsareaskedtolookat
howpeopleofcolorarerepresentedinwaysthathidetheirpoliticalidentities,
askingstudentstoremovethesemasks.Bythesametoken,folksofcolorcan
quiteintentionallychoosetoconcealbythewearingofmasks,consciously
enactingFanon’swhitemasks,thoughOkawareferstoMitsuyeYamada’s
useofthemaskmetaphor. Inasimilarvein,MaleaPowelltellstalesofthe
trickster’sways,arhetoricwhich"exposesthelieswetellourselvesand,at
thesametime,exposesthenecessityofthoseliestoourdailymaterialex-
istence”(9). Andthereisimitatio,aformingoftheselfthroughalearning
processofmimicry. Jaiberíaisnotanewidea. Italktoaprovost,imitating
thediscourseofassimilationdisguisedasmulticulturalism,soastobeable
toprovidecriticalopportunitiescritically.
AcknowledgethatBasicWritingProgramsarealwayssubjecttothe
politicaleconomybecauseofastructuralracism;recognizetheinstitutional
beliefthathighereducationcannotberesponsibleforwhatitseesasthe
shortfallsoflowereducation(blamealwaysflowingdownstream),andweare
perforcepulledintoarhetoricofsurvival,acomplicitrhetoricwithsomewhat
subversivemotives.Inotherwords,I'mcallingforimitatiowithananti-racist
criticalpedagogy,imitatiotakingonTahep Saherrtidicanu Plraesrsmentalstate—ajaibería,mask-
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inginadiscursivetrickery—whilestudentsworkwithusondiscourse,work
criticallyandconsciouslyonconventions,andwhilewe—boththestudents
andtheteachersofwriting—workonintroducingthoseinotherdisciplines
tothebasicwriterandswapdiscoveriesandconceptionsofeconomicsand
politicalpowerandlanguage.
Inthepagesofthisjournalsomeyearsback,ItoldofhowIintroduce
basicwritingstudents(andothers)totheideaofwritingasepistemological,
thatlanguagecomesfromtheselfindialoguewithone’sculture(“Theory”).
It’safunexercise. Iinviteyoutotryit. Whatthatarticledoesn’tmention,
however(sincethatwasn’titsintent),iswhathappensaftertheopening
gambit. Onceweestablishsomethingaboutlanguageasepistemological
andasocialconstruction,wediscussconventions. Thisisprettystraight-
forwardatfirst,mattersofregistersandcodesthatallstudentsunderstand
immediately—speakingtoanelderversusspeakingtoapeer,say.Thentothe
“logic”behindacademicdiscourse,theideathatwhereasthewritingwith
whichtheyaremostfamiliarwithinaschoolcontext(thefictionandpoet-
ry)isdesignedforsurprise,expositoryandargumentativeacademicwriting
tendstoworkfromanolderRomanorallegaltradition,inwhichthejurors
orjudgesmustknowanargument’sgeneralpremisesorassertionsfirst,soas
topreparelistenersfortheargumentstofollow(andtherebyjudge). Ieven
showthemashortpassagefromCicero’sdeInventione. Thenwegointothe
matterofvocabulary.Thisis,ofcourse,anissueforgraduatestudentsnoless
thanbasicwriters,graduatestudentsgiventopreferring“that’sproblematic”
to“that’sapossibleproblem,”justasundergraduateslearn“tobecognizant
of”ratherthansimply“getit.” InspireddecadesagobyarhetoricbyPatrick
Hartwell,Iprovideanumberofclichésin“academic”speech,andwework
thesetogether:“Refrainfrombeinglachrymoseoverprecipitatelydecanted
lactealfluid”or“Malecadaversareincapableofyieldinganytestimony.”
Soontheyseetheprobleminusingavocabularywhichhasnotyetbecome
theirown. Asaclass,weworkthroughtheseexamples. Thestudentstendto
respond.Sostudentsareencouragedtoletgoofthefear,totheextentthat’s
possible,askedtowrite“naturally,”intheirownways.Thenweworkthrough
paperstogether. Unlikethestandardstagemodelofthewritingprocess,we
beginwithediting,mainlymarkingsentencebreaks(sincefusedsentences
andrun-onsentencestendtobethegreatestproblems). Thenwetranslate.
Usingastudent-volunteer’spaper,weworktogethertotranslatethestudent’s
discourseontosomethingakintoacademicdiscourse,especiallyaspertains
toaudience. Intheprocess,studentsbecomeconscioustranslatorsoftheir
ownwayswithwordstothoseoftheaTchae dSheemridainc Pdreissscoursecommunity. The
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processtherebycallsonaconsciousunderstandingofAristotle'slogic,and
aconsciousunderstandingofcontrastiverhetorics.
Ihaveusedthisprocesssuccessfullyformanyyearswithstudentsfrom
othercultures,includingthosestudentswhomightlookwhiteandmiddle
classbutwhoareatleastatoneremovefromthesupposedtraditionalstudent.
Aswithanypedagogy(includingtheonediscussedbelow),Ican’tclaimclasses
fullofcriticallyconsciousliteracyepiphanies,butmostgetmostofitinthe
merefifteenweeks,thefortycontacthours,thatwehave.
III
Gainingmorethanfortyhoursintheacquisitionofacademicdiscourse
meanshavingtoinvolveourcolleaguesacrossthecurriculum. Atmyinsti-
tutionrightnow,weareinvolvedinaprogramcalledCLASP(CriticalLiter-
aciesAchievementandSuccessProgram). Althoughthestudentsarethose
whoarefirstgeneration,ofcolor,andfrompoverty,thereisnoassumption
thatstudentsareoperatingfromalack. Wetaketheirpresenceincollege
atfacevalue,meaningthatwesimplyacceptwhattheythemselvesbelieve:
thattheyarecapableofcollegework,abeliefsubstantiatedbytheirvery
presenceataninstitutionwithnoopenadmissionspolicy,aninstitution,
infact,subjecttoastatemandateagainstracialpreferencesonadmissions
(abannowupheldbytheSupremeCourt’sApril2014decisioninSchuettev.
CoalitiontoDefendAffirmativeAction). CLASPisnotaremedialprogram.
Rather,itoperatesfromFanon’s“reciprocalrecognitions,”thatwhateverthe
studentsdon’tknowabouthowprofessorsoperate,theprofessorsareequally
ignorantofhowthese“NewStudents”operate.Attheheartoftheprogramis
discussinghowtotalkwithprofessors,discussingwiththestudentsthekinds
ofquestionstheymighthaveoftheinstructor,havingthestudentsjotdown
theirquestions,andmandatingaseriesofvisitsduringtheprofessors’office
hours. Thebestlearningisone-with-one;novicestudents’greatfearisthe
one-with-onewithprofessors. Throughthisprogram,theprofessorsgetto
discoverthestudentsasmorethanvictims;thestudentsgettodiscoverthe
professorsaslessthangeniuses.
WithinCLASP,weincludetheWritingCommons,anoffshootofthe
WritingCenter,whereintutorsaretrainedinthegrammarsofthedominant
dialects of the students who participate in CLASP: Chicano English (see
Fought)orAfricanAmericanLanguage(seeSmithermanandVillanueva).
They’re also shown the workings of contrastive rhetoric. And they are
taughthowtolisten—rhetoricallyTh—e Sthheraidtank Pirnesds ofconsciouslistening(and
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eveneavesdropping)thatKristaRatcliffedescribes. Andthestudentslearn
preciselythesamethings:rhetoricallisteningandrhetorics(asplural),and
ofcourse,mattersofcorrectness,sinceinfelicitiesobtainineverydialect
andlanguage. TheCLASPWritingCommonsprovidesanintroductionto
thewaysofawritingcenterbutwithinacommunitywithwhichtheyare
familiar,eventhoughthestudentscontainallthevariationsonideology
onewouldexpectof“traditional”students. Theygettoheareachotheron
racism,class,assimilation,sexuality—thehot-buttonsubjectsthataretypical
ofhumanitiesandsocialsciencecourses. Theygettoheareachother;they
learntodiscuss;andagain,thetutorsgettodiscoverhownot-at-all-different
thestudentsare.What’smore,thestudentsgathermoreandmoreawareness
ofthemselvesasrhetoricalbeings,gaingreatermetalinguisticawareness,
developavocabularywithwhichtospeakwiththeirprofessorsduringthose
officehoursthattheprogrammandates. Theybecometheagentsoftheir
ownbasicwritingacrossthecurriculum.
Andthoseofuswhoworkattrainingfacultywhoareinterestedin
CLASPfromacrossthecurriculum(andtheinterestisinfactacrossthecur-
riculum)reinforcewhatstudentsdiscoverabouttheorganizationalpatterns
andotherdiscoursemarkers(mattersotherthansimplemechanics)thatare
manifestinstudents'earlydraftwriting. Thefacultylearnfromusandfrom
thestudentsthatoftenthestudents’writingdoesnotreflectalackoforga-
nizationalabilitiesbutdifferentorganizationalpatterns. TheArabstudent
ortheLatinastudentwhoseemstogoonlongtangentscandiscusswith
faculty,thankstocontrastiverhetoric,howthetangentmightnotbe(and
discoverthediscursivefootnote). Andthestudent,indiscussionwiththe
facultywhoisconsciousofcontrastiverhetoric,mightalsodiscoverwhena
tangentreallyisatangent—andwouldbeatangentinSpanishorinArabic
academicdiscourse. Sowhileprofessorslearn(orrecall,sincemanyarenot
monolingualinEnglish)theconventionsofotherlanguagesanddeliverthe
conventionsofparticulardisciplines,thestudents—andtheprofessors—be-
comeconsciousoftheconventions-as-conventions.Inremainingconscious
ofstudents’patternsofpredispositionsbywayofearlydraftsthatgivevent
toculturallyspecificdiscursiveways,theconversationisopenedup;thepro-
fessorsandthestudentsworktogetherinassuringstudentsgainaccesstothe
placestheywishtogobywayoftheacademywithouterasingwherethey've
been. Theirmimicry,theirconsciousinventionoftheuniversity,hasthe
potentialofchangingtheuniversity,broadeningtheuniversity’sconceptions
ofdiscoursesinaction,oftherhetoricsthatarealwaysatplay,moremembers
oftheuniversitydiscoveringthat,atboTthteo Smher,idwane Parerses allcreaturesoftheword.
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