Beyond the Bridge Metaphor: Rethinking the Place of the Literacy Narrative in the Basic Writing Curriculum.

To read the full text of this article, click here: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1053239

Author(s): Hall, Anne-Marie; Minnix, Christopher

Critical analysis of the literacy narrative assignment within the context of the other genres in a basic writing course complicates understandings of the political import of the assignment. While several advocates of the literacy narrative have argued that it has the power of what Jean-FranAs.ois Lyotard has called petits rA[c]cits, the authors argue that the relationship of the literacy narrative to other genres can also diminish the value of the literacy narrative and create what Lyotard has termed a "differend." While still arguing for the value of the literacy narrative, authors present a narrative about curricular reform that demonstrates how students can learn to recognize how this genre circulates within the power/knowledge of academic writing. This critical reading of the literacy narrative genre leads the authors to call for a reconceptualization of the assignment as a productive "conflict" that can be utilized to reshape the entire curriculum of the course while still cultivating the skills of argumentation and analysis outlined in the course outcomes.

ERIC Descriptors: Basic Writing; Writing Instruction; Persuasive Discourse; Assignments; Literacy; Literary Genres; Curriculum; Conflict; Academic Discourse; Educational Change; Pragmatics; Journal Writing; Metalinguistics; Content Analysis; Figurative Language; English Instruction; Revision (Written Composition); Personal Narratives; Reflection

Publisher: Kingsborough Community College City University of New York. Available from: Boyd Printing Company, Inc. 49 Sheridan Avenue, Albany, NY 12210. Tel: 800-877-2693; Tel: 518-436-9686; e-mail: info@boydprinting.com; Web site: http://www.boydprinting.com

Source: Journal of Basic Writing

ERIC Citation: v31 n2 p57-82 Fall 2012

ERIC Number: EJ1053239

Peer reviewed

Record Type: Journal

Pages: 26

Abstractor: As Provided

ISSN: ISSN-0147-1635

Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative