Brainstorming for end-of-semester paper

I want to write about the place of sound/aurality in the basic writing classroom. I will use info from the Selfe piece, and I will use my own experience with the audio comments in CCDE 110 (survey response).

I want to investigate the use of voice – real voice – in the basic writing class. If diversity is truly to be acknowledged, one must investigate the ways in which diversity is performed/demonstrated. One way is certainly through voice. Typically we think of voice as what? Style, mood, genre, tone, vocab choice. We allow “stars” to enact whatever voice they want – stars like bell hooks, Adrianne Rich, so forth. They have permission, or take it, to demonstrate voice through words, grammar, syntax, font, type face, etc.

How do we encourage/allow basic writers to enact their own voice? Much discussion about standard dialects of English verses non-standard – terms are troubling. As a result, like Selfe says, there is often “deafening silence” in basic writing classes. They have been pushed out of mainstream academy and so when we invite them to participate, they are hesitant – naturally.

Our (comp teachers) voice is also silenced in some ways. Yes, we speak at students, but do we have conversations with them? My using the audio comments feels more like I’m having a conversation with the text/with the students than when I offer written comments. They seemed confused by the audio comments – not what they expected – but eventually warmed up to it.

What about podcasts? Would that also be inviting sound back into the classroom? Could a student truly find his/her voice by producing an mp3 argument instead of a word-processed argument? Maybe they aren’t podcasts really – but audio files instead of text files. How would that affect the composing process? I feel like I’ve got to try this out. It’s different from a speech in that there is no audience when recorded – or at least an audience isn’t necessary. The student has voice as another rhetorical device at her disposal. How will it affect revision? I’m also curious about the practical elements…

Alright, so what information can I look for that will help me sort through these ideas and formulate an argument?

Selfe, C. The Movement of Air, The Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing. ( has this been officially published somewhere?)

http://www.users.muohio.edu/sommerjd/files/Taped_Response.pdfAudio-Taped Response and the Two-Year Campus Writing Classroom: The
Two-Sided Desk, the “Guy with the Ax”, and the Chirping Birds
Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 31 (No. 1), 25-39.
by Cheryl Mellen and Jeff Sommers

Spoken Response: Space, Time, and Movies of the Mind.” Jeff Sommers. Writing with Elbow. Eds. Pat Belanoff, Marcia Dickson, Sheryl I. Fontaine, Charles Moran. Logan, Utah: Utah State Press, 2002.

http://www.users.muohio.edu/sommerjd/ (website)

http://www.write101.com/lethamfind.htm (traditional definition of “voice”)

http://hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/wc1-6.html -- gotta use this one – wow, what a definition!