Extra Curricular Literacies
Writing outside formal academic discourse is a way for community to form and to address the issues of that world. The article shows how people find a sense of identity through writing. In workshops they read each others material, encourage each other to write and are interested in reading other people’s story. While encouraging the individual to write, something they may not have thought about as much, they also help look at the craft of writing as they take it seriously. With people caring to voice their opinions and their audience, it brings a perception that writing can affect people’s lives in a positive way as the article talks about different workshops meeting in regular places (kitchens, living rooms, community centers, churches, etc…) to discuss opinions, something the writers themselves never fathomed would be worth showing to others while at the same time acknowledging outside perverse conditions such as drugs, alcoholism, or poverty.
One thing to notice is that the writing outside in these workshops is mostly rejected when looked at through an academic eye, yet this is a group that becomes united and changes the material world around them through their writing. While the goal is for the written word to have an impact, the academia norm wouldn’t have students making unification as this. It is only outside where unity and audience brings connection to the writer and community that one can be a writer. If your work isn’t shown to anyone, you are not a writer. There is no transfer of thought and the discourse is lost as if taken by wind. It is not about publishing for academic reasons but rather using writing to influence and aid other writing, as well as thought of others, that is the key goal.
One thing to notice is that the writing outside in these workshops is mostly rejected when looked at through an academic eye, yet this is a group that becomes united and changes the material world around them through their writing. While the goal is for the written word to have an impact, the academia norm wouldn’t have students making unification as this. It is only outside where unity and audience brings connection to the writer and community that one can be a writer. If your work isn’t shown to anyone, you are not a writer. There is no transfer of thought and the discourse is lost as if taken by wind. It is not about publishing for academic reasons but rather using writing to influence and aid other writing, as well as thought of others, that is the key goal.