Moffet Reflection

I remember reading Moffett 20 years ago, and it wasn't any easier the second, third, fourth, fifth and six times. I like Tara's word, "masticate" to describe chewing on this piece. I've become very visual, and this article is difficult to break down, but not for lack of specific or effective terminology but rather due to the lack of formatting. That said, it is an invaluable essay when discussing the foundation of teaching writing.

Did I not understand Moffett's argument that "freezing" the student is the result of too much writing about reading? I think that responding to reading is always challenging the reader/writer to dig deeper to understand the author, the structure and the point of the piece. Moving from the concrete to the abstract requires this kind of analysis. Literary exegesis is the step (applied) between literal and applied comprehension.

At the beginning of the last paragraph Moffett also says that the student should be forced to "confront all the right issues of choice" as that will allow him to "develop the faculties necessary to produce the ideas of exposition." What are the "right issues"?

6 comments:

  1. sherrysandenJuly 14, 2009 at 10:59 AM

    I read Moffett as decrying too much focus on writing about the text of others instead of the use of others' text as models for students' own writing. I agree that there is value in delving deeply into a piece of writing and using writing to express your thoughts about it. However, I get the impression that Moffett thought that instructors used that strategy to the exclusion of other forms of writing and that they also failed to exploit the possibilities of text as models for students to use to expand their own writing options.

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  2. NIWPJuly 14, 2009 at 11:44 AM

    There also seems to be a habit of asking students to simply regurgitate what they've read rather than asking them to take a text, dig deeper, contemplate, create meaning, and then actually add to the 'conversation' at hand. The former is hardly constructive :D

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  3. Anna RachelJuly 14, 2009 at 4:41 PM

    I agree with what you say about how writing about reading can be a powerful tool for deeper comprehension. I wonder if Moffett might be saying that too much writing about reading "freezes" the student's ability to move outside of the text into their own ideas?

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  4. kell9582July 14, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    I like the question you pose at the end, "what are the right issues?" It's an interesting question because it depends on who you ask as to what issues will be chosen. In one of my classes this last semester we talked about anthologies and who gets to decide what poems get taught because they are in the text book. It's the same deal here, who is the one deciding the issues? The answer of which ones are the right issues will be different every time.

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  5. TaraJuly 16, 2009 at 12:23 PM

    I happen to think our students freeze in the writing process because they assume that the purpose is always for a judgmental reader. There is always a teacher, an editor, or contest. We would do them a great favor by just appreciating their work and presenting it in a way just to enjoy it.

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  6. MercedesJuly 16, 2009 at 12:56 PM

    I think reading is a powerful tool in order to be a good writer.

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