Re: Reassessing our practices

Bob King (kingbx@HAMLET.UNCG.EDU)
Mon, 12 Feb 1996 21:39:00 -0500


On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, Steve Krause wrote:

> the fact of the matter is we
> _don't_ value the sort of writing practices fy comp students (all
> undergrads for that matter) are required to engage in. So no, I
> personally don't see much connection between the "power" of the esay form
> either within academia or within the work-a-day world.

Now this *is* an interesting statement. We don't value the kind of work
that we ask our students to produce. There is no connection between the
issues of essay writing and power. But if our students could
write like Foucault, Spivak [insert your favorite essayist here], all
powerful and further up the totem pole than we are, then we would value
their work. Go figure. C'mon folks, let's just say there are
connections between anything and power -- let's go at least that far. If
it makes you feel any better, Foucault would go along with this idea! :)