Picture this if you will... here I am writing this blog an hour before class because I just spoke to some people from class and realized I read next week's reading selections!! agh!! Needless to say this review will be fairly short.
Before even reading the intro to Sherwood's essay i noticed the quote that read, "To me, the biggest turnoff in the world is a woman with a briefcase in her hand" (129). Had he said this to me my briefcase would be not only in my hand but it would also be smacking him over the head. There is a lot to be said for considering your audience. If any women read this it is likely because they are in his class, which means that they are planning on pursuing a career, or his professor is a woman.
However, the student is right when he said that it is his paper and his opinions and he can say what he wants to (130). We are also told not to deal with the text so this limits our options as tutors. If I were the tutor that was assisting him I would bring it up to prevent him from getting smacked and inform him why it would be very wise to at least censor his statement.
Assuming he simply refused to change his postion I would strongly advise him to present valid evidence as to why he says this. For example, if he found several statistics and articles about how children who are raised with stay-at-home moms consistently bring home better grades than those kids who do not, then we would have something to work with.
I agree with Sherwood's statement on page 131, "I would argue that, perhaps inadvertently, many of us who work in writing centers practice a form of censorship in our everyday duties." I think everyone practices censorship in their professional lives. If everyone said exactly what was on their mind all the time there would be complete havoc in the workplace. For example, you make think your co-worker is a complete... well you know, but that doesn't mean you have to say it out loud. Most people naturally censor, or filter, what is in their heads into something else before it comes out of their mouth. The same should be done in an academic paper. This is not a column in a magazine or newspaper, it is an assignment for a class.
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The brain-mouth filter is an excellent point, Erin. While I still think we need to encourage students to interrogate their beliefs (so we help them revise racist, sexist, or other offensive positions), if all else fails, we can always return to the point about audience appropriateness: There are things we simply don't say in certain types of situations, because it is flat-out inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement about changing the paper up a bit by including facts and statistics. I believe that everyone should be able to express their opinions, but if they are going to be taken seriously, they have to be educated opinions. If that student had used facts and good reasoning instead, I don't think anyone could be upset about his opinion. I think that anything that a student writes should have good reasoning behind it, and this paper is no different.
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