Category: Identity

White Vernacular English: The Boss of Student Writing

6/1/2018

Photo: 12news

I’ve taught freshman composition courses for almost two years now, expecting my diverse body of students from multicultural backgrounds to all coalesce and perform to one standard above all others: White Vernacular English (WVE) or White American Vernacular English (WAVE). As writers, we pride ourselves on being open-minded yet authentic, and we hope our students do the same—as long as they adhere to what we consider valid style of writing. Why have the rigid, outdated principles the foundation of college composition was built on not shifted to accept other vernaculars?

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Pronoun Rediscovery: Media as a Platform for Change

5/1/2017

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by Sarah Knapp

The above videos contain clips from two very different, but two very popular TV shows: RuPaul’s Drag Race and Steven Universe. What do all of these seemingly unrelated scenarios have in common? In each clip, there are quite a few different uses of pronouns, some of which seem confusing or don’t exactly fit our expectations. There is a powerful force at work here: gender is being redefined. Subtly, and sometimes very overtly, the language used to talk about gender is being changed and shaped by the media that surrounds us.

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Disrupting Normalcy: The Key to Better Writing

4/2/2016

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by Michael Fotos

In kindergarten, I sat on a rug as every student discussed what their favorite color was. The room was silent save for one voice at a time--green, black, yellow, orange—normal. And then something happened when I spoke the word pink. My favorite color was pink and before the adjacent child revealed his favorite color to be the enchanting color of blue, everyone laughed. He likes pink, Ha! And I cried.

What is it about our world that says that blue is fit for a boy and pink belongs to girls and that if a boy likes pink it is worthy of ridicule? What of makeup, heels, skin tight dresses? What happens when a man plays the role of woman, when a man enters the genre called being a woman? I would argue that entertaining this genre and many others has benefits for all people, especially writers.

Entertaining an unfamiliar genre has the potential to enrich life experiences by providing perceptions of the world. By disrupting what we believe is normal, disruption becomes possible. We explore truths we are not used to, and explorers of truth must think outside the box, and consequently, prove to be excellent writers. Writers who challenge the normal create original works that transcend prose and poetry. Writers who only adhere to genres fall flat.

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Stop Hating on “They:” Language Evolution and Gender Pronouns

4/15/2015

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American English Grammar. A 300 level course. At 8:00 a.m. I took my seat, mid row, and looked down to find a single slip of paper on my desk. One sat on each desk and as each student filed in, a buzzing silence filled the room.

by Jessica O'Shea

Everyone wants a slice of cake for themselves.

The only text on the paper. The professor, a woman who had taught the course many times, took her position at the front. She asked us what, if anything, was grammatically wrong with the sentence. Silence reigned. One girl bravely raised her hand. “Nothing?” The professor’s smile was grim. Incorrect. You’ve failed. Return to grade school, do not pass Go.

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White Vernacular English: The Boss of Student Writing

Pronoun Rediscovery: Media as a Platform for Change

Disrupting Normalcy: The Key to Better Writing

Stop Hating on “They:” Language Evolution and Gender Pronouns

thoughts on writing, art, & new media by glassworks editorial staFF

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White Vernacular English: The Boss of Student Writing

Pronoun Rediscovery: Media as a Platform for Change

Disrupting Normalcy: The Key to Better Writing

Stop Hating on “They:” Language Evolution and Gender Pronouns

﻿thoughts on writing, art, & new media by glassworks editorial staFF﻿

Archives

Categories

thoughts on writing, art, & new media by glassworks editorial staFF