The Danger of Dyadic Thought
The Importance of Fiction in Writing Center Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v7i1.25722Keywords:
collaborative tutoring, composition, new racism, standardizing English, writing centerAbstract
This essay is concerned with contemporary writing center and composition studies and focuses on including fiction in both the theory and practice of writing centers and classrooms. Stemming from contemporary theorists such as Andrea Lunsford and Min-zhan Lu, my work incorporates Sapphire’s (1996) novel, Push, so as to highlight the unique perspectives fiction can give as to how we approach teaching and tutoring students. Offering fiction as impacting both theory and practice – in its potential inclusion within tutor-training syllabi, for instance – I assert that fiction is an untapped resource for writing center and pedagogical studies that is often overlooked or cast aside. By also observing race and education theorists such as Laura Greenfield, Karen Rowan, and Victor Villanueva, my analysis of Sapphire’s work makes evident the potential for fiction to more thoroughly inform our approaches towards past, present, and future writing center and pedagogical studies.
References
Achebe, C. (1964) Arrow of God. New York: Anchor Books.
Boquet, E. H. (2002) Noise from the Writing Center. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Dickinson, E. (2005) After great pain, a formal feeling comes. In R. S. Gwynn (ed.) Poetry: A Pocket Anthology 179. New York: Penguin.
Geller, A. E., Condon F., and Carroll, M. (2011) Bold: The everyday writing center and the production of new knowledge in antiracist theory and practice. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 101–123. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Greenfield, L. and Rowan, K. (2011) Beyond the “Week Twelve approach”: Toward a critical pedagogy for antiracist tutor education. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 124–149. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Grimm, N. M. (2011). Retheorizing writing center work to transform a system of advantage based on race. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 75–100. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Hobson, E. H. (1992) Maintaining our balance: Walking the tightrope of competing epistemologies. The Writing Center Journal 13.1: 65-75.
Kiedaisch, J. and Dinitz, S. (1993) Look back and say ‘so what’: the limitations of the generalist tutor. The Writing Center Journal 14.1: 63-74.
Labov, W. (1969) The Social Stratification of College English in New York City. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Lu, M. (2007) From silence to words: writing as struggle. In D. George and J. Trimbur (eds.) Reading and Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing 150–159. New York: Pearson/Longman.
Lu, M. (2006) Living-English work. College English 68: 605–618. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2307/2547217.
Lunsford, A. (1991) Collaboration, control, and the idea of a writing center. The Writing Center Journal 12.1: 3-10
Matsuda, P. K. (2006) The myth of linguistic homogeneity in U.S. college composition. College English 57(4): 637-51.
McWhorter, J. (2003) The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language. New York: Harper Perennial.
Newkirk, T. (1989) The first five minutes: Setting the agenda in a writing center conference. In C. Anson (ed.) Writing and Response: Theory, Practice, and Research 317–331. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English Press.
North, S. M. (1984) The idea of a writing center. College English 46: 433–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/377047.
Ozias, M. and Godbee, B. Organizing for antiracism in writing centers: Principles for enacting social change. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 150–174. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Sapphire (1996) Push. New York: Random House.
Shakespeare, W. (2009) The Tempest. In S. Greenblatt, W. Cohen, J. E. Howard, and K. E. Maus (eds.) The Norton Shakespeare 1606–1657. London: Oxford University Press.
Twain, M. (1999) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Norton and Company, Inc.
Villanueva, V. (2006) Blind: Racism and responsibility. Writing Center Journal 26(1): 3-19
Walker, K. (1995) Difficult clients and tutor dependency: Helping overly dependent clients become more independent writers. Writing Lab Newsletter 19(8): 10–14. https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v19/19-8.pdf.
Wallace, D. F. (2005) This is water by David Foster Wallace, full speech. Online video clip. Retrieved on 15 September 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI.html.
Young, V. A. (2010) Should writers use they own English? Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 12: 110-117
Boquet, E. H. (2002) Noise from the Writing Center. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Dickinson, E. (2005) After great pain, a formal feeling comes. In R. S. Gwynn (ed.) Poetry: A Pocket Anthology 179. New York: Penguin.
Geller, A. E., Condon F., and Carroll, M. (2011) Bold: The everyday writing center and the production of new knowledge in antiracist theory and practice. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 101–123. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Greenfield, L. and Rowan, K. (2011) Beyond the “Week Twelve approach”: Toward a critical pedagogy for antiracist tutor education. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 124–149. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Grimm, N. M. (2011). Retheorizing writing center work to transform a system of advantage based on race. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 75–100. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Hobson, E. H. (1992) Maintaining our balance: Walking the tightrope of competing epistemologies. The Writing Center Journal 13.1: 65-75.
Kiedaisch, J. and Dinitz, S. (1993) Look back and say ‘so what’: the limitations of the generalist tutor. The Writing Center Journal 14.1: 63-74.
Labov, W. (1969) The Social Stratification of College English in New York City. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Lu, M. (2007) From silence to words: writing as struggle. In D. George and J. Trimbur (eds.) Reading and Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing 150–159. New York: Pearson/Longman.
Lu, M. (2006) Living-English work. College English 68: 605–618. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2307/2547217.
Lunsford, A. (1991) Collaboration, control, and the idea of a writing center. The Writing Center Journal 12.1: 3-10
Matsuda, P. K. (2006) The myth of linguistic homogeneity in U.S. college composition. College English 57(4): 637-51.
McWhorter, J. (2003) The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language. New York: Harper Perennial.
Newkirk, T. (1989) The first five minutes: Setting the agenda in a writing center conference. In C. Anson (ed.) Writing and Response: Theory, Practice, and Research 317–331. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English Press.
North, S. M. (1984) The idea of a writing center. College English 46: 433–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/377047.
Ozias, M. and Godbee, B. Organizing for antiracism in writing centers: Principles for enacting social change. In L. Greenfield and K. Rowan (eds.) Writing Centers and the New Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change 150–174. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Sapphire (1996) Push. New York: Random House.
Shakespeare, W. (2009) The Tempest. In S. Greenblatt, W. Cohen, J. E. Howard, and K. E. Maus (eds.) The Norton Shakespeare 1606–1657. London: Oxford University Press.
Twain, M. (1999) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Norton and Company, Inc.
Villanueva, V. (2006) Blind: Racism and responsibility. Writing Center Journal 26(1): 3-19
Walker, K. (1995) Difficult clients and tutor dependency: Helping overly dependent clients become more independent writers. Writing Lab Newsletter 19(8): 10–14. https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v19/19-8.pdf.
Wallace, D. F. (2005) This is water by David Foster Wallace, full speech. Online video clip. Retrieved on 15 September 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI.html.
Young, V. A. (2010) Should writers use they own English? Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 12: 110-117
Published
2015-06-13
Issue
Section
Reflections on Practice
How to Cite
Fitz Gerald, J. M. (2015). The Danger of Dyadic Thought: The Importance of Fiction in Writing Center Theory. Writing and Pedagogy, 7(1), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v7i1.25722
