week 12 chris wei

Re: the non-fiction case study

I agree with what Sallie and Bethany have already pointed out re: the case study feeling more approachable, legible, less intimidating, less laden with jargon, etc., compared to more academic-style work (this comes tethered, of course, with the inevitable counterpoint that a more "casual" style of writing may feel less precise or comprehensive, but when it comes to humanities work or pedagogical work, I'm less interested in precision and comprehension anyway, and more interested in the narrative, in the qualitative description of experiences/people/phenomena). I think academic writing in general could benefit from a greater sense of accessibility, narrative, and character; however, that's perhaps a topic for another day. I'll just say I deeply appreciate the way Goedde articulates the tensions between creative versus academic writing--for example the tension between "wordy and tedious" versus "wordy and frivolous" (64). I think ideal writing--regardless of its context or audience--can avoid both tedium and frivolity. This is hard to do.

How is your WC online going?

Not bad! I don't have a webcam attached to my computer, so I've been doing my sessions without a video feed, but synchronous text-based tutoring works quite well anyway, as it allows me to carefully articulate my feedback and it allows the client to read through what I've written before responding. My clients seem to appreciate the level of detail with which we can workshop their pieces; they give me consistently good feedback, despite being online now instead of in-person. So I think overall it's going pretty well.

Comments

  1. AshlynApril 7, 2020 at 11:30 AM

    I think it's super interesting that you point to the tension you do on page 64 (I also found that a beautifully-articulated distinction). What I find interesting about your take on it is the suggestion that writing "can avoid both tedium and frivolity" with no mention of wordiness. Should wordiness also be avoided, or is it, as the supposed pitfall of both writing forms, an inevitability? I was also, on this note, intrigued by Goedde's inclusion of "wordy" in both cases. Do we think that he found academic writing wordy in the same way that Lorraine found creative writing wordy? I've never heard the word "wordy" used to described academic writing, but I think it makes sense. I do think, though, that perhaps they are two different kinds of wordy. Whereas in the case of creative writing, wordy obviously refers to writing that is overly floral, overly lyrical, in the case of academic writing, I think perhaps it refers to writing that is overly "big word-y" or overly technical. Personally, I agree with Goedde that we shouldn't use a $5 word when a two-penny word would serve just as well, and at this point I don't know where I'm going with this response, so I'll just end it here because what even are conclusions, right?

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  2. Carol SeverinoApril 8, 2020 at 2:44 PM

    Where are you, Chris? If you're in Iowa City, perhaps IT can get you a camera, maybe even deliver it to your house? So the students are just hearing your voice, but you can see them? It's like a hybrid phone conversation between a videoed student and a disembodied (or faceless) tutor?

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