bias

Well I have not had to deal with a paper that has offended me. I guess I’ve been lucky so far, but I can imagine what I would do in this situation. But here goes.

If I was presented a paper that had some insulting information such as a racist comment or an anti-homosexual message, I would probably want to make sure the writer meant to include this-and if so, I would want to ensure that’s the way the writer wanted it to come across. While I am against racism and I believe in homosexual rights, I am not personally offended by these issues. So again, my first step would be to point out the comment. If the entire paper is on this subject, I would obviously skip this step. So, I would point out the comment and ask the tutee what was meant by it. If the tutee simply phrased it in a bad way without realizing it, I would help fix the problem. However, if the writer meant to phrase the comment in a prejudice way, I would try to explain some of the risks in that. I would try to make sure that the teacher would be okay with it, and if the writer still wants to phrase it that way, I would not argue. The writing center is not the place to mold students into ethical beings, and it is certainly not my job to push my ethics onto another person.

Now, if the entire paper was a racist argument, then I would again point out the risks and maybe a few other directional ideas that closely relate. If the writer is persistent in the original direction, then I think I would play devil’s advocate. I would explain to the writer my goal in this tactic is not to disprove the writer or argue, but I want to point out some different ideas to address to make a stronger argument.

The only issue I could possibly have a hard time with is religion. I can deal fairly well with different religions, but what I cannot deal with is someone who refuses to see points in other religions. Some people don’t even want to take other ideas into account. I know that is their choice, but honestly, it bothers me. If I received a paper that had some biased comments on religion, I would try to point them out, and if the writer doesn’t want to change incorrect information or consider other view points I might have to call on another tutor. Before resorting to that, I would explain to the tutee that I am not comfortable with the topic after all but another tutor is.

However, I don’t see myself getting overly concerned with this issue either. I think I can handle myself really well, and I would probably laugh off the entire situation. The only time I can see this being a problem is if I just had a terrible day; then, I might get a little frustrated in the session.

Audience Cornucopia?

I think that whether you personally agree or disagree with a paper has nothing to do with your job as a tutor. A tutor besides the obvious writing-strength-assistance can assist with argument and form as well, but your personal objection only goes as far as playing the "devil's advocate." Being offended is a moral judgement, and teaching writing is almost pure rhetoric. We are entrapped in our writing by what society dictates as worthy subject material; within society itself hierarchies such as school dictate subjects as well. Language shapes our writing, society molds what we write about. The tutor's job relies specifically on the Language-bit.
When a student approaches with no argument at all, the tutor does not simply write it for them. The tutor persuades the writer to translate their own opinion, to take their own stance on subjects. If you want to argue content they already have, you're directly contradicting that mantra, "make better writers, not writing." The writer imagining their audience is an important component to their writing, but each individual has their own grasp on society's expectations in that capacity. If we were to strip others of their own cultural influence by asking them to reconsider their imagined audience, we would be missing the point of there even being writing to begin with.
Granted, sometimes a person writes with no conception of audience-cornucopia needs a little nudge of awareness, but I generally believe that if you have a problem with what someone's written about, and not how they've written it, you should just leave it alone, THAT'S ALL I'M TRYING TO SAY!!!

Controversy Ho!

The most important thing to ask in such a situation, if I found myself in one, was the perceived severity of the essay. I like to think that I am not someone who is easily riled up by much, so for the most part I would simply go ahead and attempt to help the student make the best paper the student could make under the circumstances. There will always be varying degrees of offensiveness within a paper. Barring something blatantly and overtly racist/sexist/etc with a specific time and date to kill someone of said category, I don't think that one should argue for forcing the student to change his or her paper, especially if the issue within the paper is something the student strongly believes.

Generally speaking, however, I think that the most important thing is to ensure that the student is aware of the issues and possible connotations within the paper. "Ignorance is no excuse" as is said within the American justice system, and we are tutors and act as pseudo-educators, after all. I believe that enabling the student to be more fully aware of the topic presented would help said student make better choices, and ultimately either further strengthen their controversial opinion or enable them to make the decision to change it. I believe it is key to ensure that the student is aware of possible issues with whatever chosen topic, and any controversies associated with it.

Once a student is made aware, that student can then make the necessary decision on where to proceed with the paper. This isn't really changing their paper, and sometimes testing the boundaries of acceptability is a good thing, if only to get us out of our comfort zones. The introduction of awareness does not necessarily lead to a black and white situation where the student must either decide to make it "the best racist paper ever" or "abandon it completely." Awareness empowers the student to make many decisions with the paper, of which those are only two. This awareness can allow the student to change tone, and show evidence that the student does not share these views. This awareness might also enable the student to find a new direction for this or a future essay, and discover the meaning behind an "innocently used" racist statement, and enable the student to find new directions, not only within educational pursuits, but possible careers afterwards. Or the student could simply delete said statement, and move on if the overall argument is strong enough to stand on its own without the statement.

I don't believe that this either/or view with such an essay is the only route that could be taken. There are many different paths and forking roads to be considered, depending on the essay, depending on the amount of support this misconception provides to the overall argument, or depending on the beliefs of the writer (if it was, say, abortion or gun control instead of something racist). Ultimately I believe it is an important responsibility for the tutor to make the student aware of what is being said, if nothing else, and to provide possible directions for how to "fix" or "change" this, so the student can go down whatever new path these possibilities lead.

Generally speaking.

The Loyal Opposition

Once, when I first began teaching, I was conferencing with a student who was making an argument that, I came to realize, was racist.  I don't remember the specifics of it, but I pointed it out to the student who was appalled.  We fixed the problem and moved on.

But then it occurred to me:  was that my job?  This was a regular Composition class in which I was teaching argument.  Was it my job, as an instructor, to stop the student from making a racist argument?  Or was it my job, as an instructor, to help the student make the best racist argument she could?

What about your job as a tutor?  How do you respond to an essay that offends you?  

Questions (creative title, huh?)

I officially started my bibliographic essay last night. [Hold for applause] Not that I've put any words on paper, of course, but I did read a few articles on ESL. Because Cameron has decided to research this topic as well, the anxiety of influence has urged me to seek a niche, parting from the typical purview of ESL tutoring practicum. And I think I've found that niche:

Tutoring and language acquisition.

Information on this topic is less than copious, though online databases house an encyclopedic wealth of articles on both tutoring and language acquisition -- but not specifically "tutoring to promote language acquisition among L2 students of English." Harris and Silva do address the subject, but in order to meet the essay requirements, I'd have to plumb deeper into language acquisition theory. I'd have to find researchers others than Harris and Silva. I'd have to use articles that, though not written specifically about tutoring, are nonetheless relevant to tutoring. My question, then, is this:

Is it okay to consult articles on linguistic theory and apply their principles to tutoring?

drowning

Well, my questions are similar to Katy’s. I honestly did not want to procrastinate on this paper, but low and behold, this semester totally sneaked up on me. I was not prepared for this much work, and I did not keep up on everything. And although I love this class, I feel there was much more work than I could handle. That is okay. That is how college is supposed to be; I should not be expecting cake classes, but I need to get my butt in gear. And, I do have to admit that I usually procrastinate even on huge projects such as this. In fact, I just turned in a paper for my music history class today. It is the only paper due in the class and we have one midterm and a final. That can tell you how important this paper is to my grade. Yet, I typed it up in two days. I started it on Sunday and I felt fine about the paper. I guess I will find out once I get my paper back.

Any way, the point is that I just have the usual questions that any student would have when they are not very far into the project. My questions range from “What is the paper on again?” and “How many sources do I need to have?” Now I obviously have those questions answered. I am wondering how formal I need to be, but I will probably make this a formal paper instead of using blog tone. I do not have many more questions, but I am sure than when I get in deep, I will be drowning with questions.

Shot in the Dark

I think the in-class discussion covered everything. I did an essay like this last semester, and I feel confident I know how to go about it. It's too bad we're not doing drafts...This is quite a hefty chunk of the grade and I think (for me anyways) it's going to be a shot in the dark, all typical sophomore-arrogance aside. Shots in the dark are my favorite though; so challenging and exhilarating, especially when you succeed. Tra la la, it's crunching time.