bval1988

Bartholomae Response

      When I first read Bartholomae's essay "Writing with Teachers", I found myself agreeing with nearly everything he has said. For example, he states, "I want to argue that academic writing is the real work of the academy...To say this another way, there is no writing that is writing without teachers" (63). Up until this point, I have always argued that this is the way that writing should be taught. It makes sense because, after all, aren't teachers the ones we learn from? How else would we know what a comma splice is or how dependent and independent clauses work? Throughout my entire time as a student, I have always had the guidance and help of teachers.

       However, now that I know the rules of grammar and how to play with words, I am not so sure I agree ENTIRELY with Bartholomae. Now, I almost don't even want to let a teacher workshop my papers. For example, in the beginning of the semester, my teacher asked the class what aspects of writing we don't like. I immediately said workshops because I feel like I don't need the guidance of a teacher anymore. I feel like Bartholomae's ideas about teachers in classrooms is quite valid, until a point. After a student learns all the rules and everything there is to know about writing, a teacher should let a student use the rules that they have learned at their own discretion.