Blog Post #5 - Brittany Means


While I was reading Jennifer Brice’s “Northern Realities. Northern Literacies: The Writing Center in the “Contact Zone,” I was pleasantly surprised and thankful to see the acknowledgement that not all stories are told or should be expected to be told on the Western style. That “Phillip” was being asked to conceptualize his story through a Western lens speaks to the fact that, in many ways, assimilation is still a goal of education in the United States. Last year I read an article (which I sadly cannot find now) about how the advice “show don’t tell” is a very Western ideal and doesn’t consider the cultural significance of oral storytelling for certain communities. Brice’s account of working with Native students reminded me of the article and made me wish that our education system valued more styles of writing than it currently does. While I can understand the value of teaching students Western writing styles for the sake of broadening their toolbox, grading adds a layer of complication. In the case of Phillip, I can’t help but feel grossed out that he was given a lower grade because he wrote a story—a story that went over the expected length, even—framed around his cultural values.

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