Graduation Date
Fall 2011
Document Type
Project
Program
Other
Program
Master of Arts Degree with a major in English, emphasis in Teaching of Writing
Committee Chair Name
x
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Contact Zones, Cartesian-Newtonian Thinking, Ecocomposition, Genre Analysis, Systems Thinking, Transition Moments
Abstract
Western culture is limited by a Cartesian-Newtonian way of thinking, the sense of self as separate from the rest of the world. This mindset prohibits our perception of the interrelatedness of ourselves and the world and, thereby, frustrates efforts to create a "sustainable human future." Ecocompositionists seek to counter this Western propensity. Despite their efforts, however, students may still come out of ecocomposition classes harboring the same notions of themselves as separate from the rest of the world, retaining their conceptions of themselves as somehow removed from the environmental crises we face today. This project analyzes the scholarship on certain practices designed to give students experience in considering writing in ways that promote thinking beyond the Cartesian-Newtonian mindset. That scholarship focuses on three practices in particular. One practice draws from both Bakhtinian perspectives and Michael Murphy's methods of teaching organization and involves students closely examining their own texts. (Re)focusing students' attention on transition moments in their texts promotes a return both to a moment of intense thought in their writing as well as to a situation requiring their (re )consideration of how their ideas are related. Another practice adopts Robert P. Yagelski's concept of writing as "a way of being" and involves students indulging in writing for its own sake, without regard for a product. Yagelski suggests that when we practice writing as a way of being, our "consciousness and the world ... become one." Concentrating on process rather than merely product reinforces the interconnectedness of writer and world. However, such a view of writing should complement, rather than supplant, other equally advantageous views of writing (e.g. social constructivist, poststructuralist, etc.) A final practice involves engaging students in genre analysis, affording them opportunities to consider the networks of relationships impacting (and, indeed, constituting) generic forms. Through genre analysis, students become aware of the primacy of interrelationships and may extend this concept to their own lives.
Recommended Citation
Prangley, Mary Sue, "Changing the Way We Think in the Ecocomposition Class: A Move Toward A Sustainable Human Future" (2011). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2630.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2630