Writers across the genres write for many reason---to entertain, to inform---but despite all the reasons to write, there is one purpose that transcends every genre and every type of writing. Authors write to captivate an audience. By captivate, I do not mean enthrall. The act of captivating an audience suggests the mere act of holding an individual still for a brief period of time in order to relay a message. Captivating an audience means to hold their attention, if only for a brief moment, so that communication occurs. The communication is one sided, of course, but it does not need to remain so. Behind every human being there is experience and personality which translates into a voice when a paper is written. The only difference between a skilled and unskilled writer is the voice in the paper.
I accept with hesitation the idea that a writer needs to "fake it" when he is writing about a topic he knows nothing about. In this case, should not part of the pre-writing process include research? That is the ideal, I suppose, and I imagine there are cases in which there is no time for luxuries such as research. (Aka political speeches, perhaps?) What I wonder though is how much impact this dishonesty has on the audience, never mind the writer? I would think a truly interested audience would somehow sense the dishonesty on the part of the writer. However, I may be giving the audience too much credit.
I do agree with Bartholomae in one regard. Sometimes the best way to learn is through imitation. Copying the language and methods used by a more experienced writer is an acceptable method for practicing verse and language that is beyond the layman. However, the developing writer must take care that as he learns he puts his own meaning to the words to develop the language or tone of his work.
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2 comments:
Tara,
When you said, "However, I may be giving the audience to much credit" when you spoke about dishonesty, I thought about why we call "faking it" dishonesty. Someone else mentioned that, too.
I started thinking about the nature of dishonesty. I think dishonestly is when you bring someone into a game they are not playing, without their full knowledge. But when we are writing within an academic community, we are all playing the same game, I think.
And when we move on from college, the contexts for writing will change; we will find we are less often the players and more often played.
Eh. Who knows.
Thanks for your post(s)!
I thought about your definition of dishonesty, Ian, and I suppose it depends on the situation. After college, I'm not sure the situation improves. I served as office manager for a temporary agency for a long while and you would not believe the language they use to manipulate the less educated.
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