(Re)Writing Communities and Identities

Guide to the reviewed opening

The introduction presents writing as a way to express ideas, work through problems, communicate, and respond to peers. It connects those activities with questions about how identities are formed and represented. A writing classroom is itself a community in which different experiences and assumptions meet.

The title’s emphasis on reconsideration matters. Readers are invited to examine familiar views in the light of new information and to listen seriously to people who disagree with them. The introduction distinguishes considering another perspective from being required to adopt it. Later writing tasks provide different forms for that inquiry, but their model essays have not been reviewed here.

How to study this book

Keep a journal that separates an author’s claim from your initial response. Before disagreeing, restate the claim in terms the author would recognize. Identify the evidence or experience shaping your reaction.

For an assignment, record the audience and purpose before drafting. During revision, check whether examples support the point you want to make about a community or identity. Ask a peer where more context is needed, and revise organization before concentrating on sentence-level edits.

Questions for reflection

• How can writing develop a thought rather than only report it?
• What distinguishes considering a perspective from accepting it?
• Which assumptions might a reader bring to your account of a community?

The study suggestions and questions are independent Academic Master editorial material.