Tony Thomas

Dr. Starner

Quiz #2

There are two essays that support the notion of “writing to learn”. Those essays

are “Teach writing as a Process Not Product” and Bartholomae’s “Inventing the

University”.

Donald Murray’s essay brings up several ideas on how the process of writing is so

important and how writing is a form of intellectual discovery. Murray writes that, “The

writer, as he writes, is making ethical decisions. He doesn’t test his words by a rule book,

but by life. He uses language to reveal the truth to himself so that he can tell it to others”

(Murray 4). Writing is the usage of language to construct an idea. By writing one can

understand the truth of what they are writing about and in turn they are able to

communicate that truth to those who perform the reading process of the written product.

A student who writes about a subject can better understand the subject. The student can

express his/her ideas through the act of writing. Writing will show if they know the

subject or not. An instructor can understand if students understand post-structuralism by

seeing how they write about it. The students that know will be able to use language to

convey their thoughts and ideas on the subject and by writing out their ideas they will be

able to formulate the abstract thoughts and concepts inside their head of the subject being

written about.

Murray’s idea of the process is an important aspect of teaching “writing to learn”

because it gives the idea structure. Murray writes, “This process of discovery through

language we call writing can be introduced to your classroom as soon as you have a very
simple understanding of that process, and as soon as you accept the full implications of

teaching process, not product (Murray 4). The idea here is that one the instructor

understands Murray’s idea of process then the implication will be easy in the classroom. I

would use this as a defense of “writing to learn”. The best way to get an instructor who is

uncomfortable about adding writing to the classroom may be swayed if they can

understand the importance of writing and by changing their views on what writing is. If

the instructor is stuck with the notion that writing is the product then they probably will

be behooved to bemoan that they simply do not have the time to teach writing in their

classrooms. However, if they are able to see the process and understand the process then

they can implement the process in their classroom juxtaposed with assignments. I feel

that understanding Murray’s process allows one to feel at ease with writing because it

attempts to control the abstract ideas of what is writing and how writing is performed and

the end of a text (if there is an end at all).

My suggestion in relation to the ideas that Murray brings forth is that you can

have writing in a class where the instructor may not believe that they have the time for

writing. Have a student write about a subject and they will learn more about the subject

through the act of writing about the subject because they will need to understand the

subject in order to properly write about it. The instructor does not need to have a full on

section or time taken away to teach the writing process. If they understand the process

then they can implement it.

Another essay that defends the “write to learn” idea is Bartholomae’s essay,

“Inventing the University”. His whole idea of students entering themselves into the

discourse community in which they are writing is central to the idea of writing to learn.
By inventing the university students are writing to learn because they are attempting to

learn the language of the discourse community that they write in. If they start to use the

language then they can end up learning it. Firstly students need to know the language and

from knowing the language they then can be able to know the meaning of the language.

In the correction process an instructor can make sure students are using terms and ideas

properly. I believe that regardless of the discourse, ultimately the instructor would like

the student to know the language of the discourse community. Writing is perhaps the best

way to judge their knowledge of language. If they are using the language properly and

intellectually then presumably they are learning and knowing the language. If they are

misusing the language then that will show the instructor that the student is not learning

and appropriate action can be taken from there.

Continuing with Bartholomae’s idea is that we can show instructors of other

disciplines the importance of writing. If we can contextualize writing within their

objectives then this would be the best way to persuade them. If we show a biology

professor how writing can help students understand the concepts of biology then we can

be successful. If we can show a history professor how writing can show if students

understand the Cuban Missile Crisis then we can be successful. The students may not like

writing, but writing will be more beneficial to them than simple memorization which

takes us to the bastard discourse that Bartholomae talks about.

I do have a personal story to relate to this. The way I write a paper is very
systematic. I like to read the text and then while reading write notes about the text. When
I am done reading I then go write about the notes that I have taken. I feel that this
approach helps me understand what I am writing. By doing writing this way I feel I learn
more about the subject I am wring about through the writing process.