Implicit response : instructor values and social class in the literacy narrative assignment.

Abstract

MPLICIT RESPONSE IN THE LITERACY NARRATIVE ASSIGNMENT: INSTRUCTOR VALUES AND SOCIAL CLASS Kara Poe Alexander May 13, 2006 My dissertation examines instructor responses to a popular personal writing assignment, the literacy narrative. Previous studies have shown this assignment to be popular with instructors because of the reflection it is thought to generate; however, nobody has yet looked at what instructors really mean by reflection. This study investigates what features of student texts instructors recognize as reflection. I collected literacy narratives and demographic questionnaires from students and surveys, assignments, think-alouds, and follow-up interviews from instructors. Personal writing, and the literacy narrative assignment in particular, can best be taught by highlighting the rhetorical capabilities of this genre. The results of the thinkalouds show that instructors most often consider analytical moves, such as cause-effect and evaluation, as reflection. This emphasis on cause-effect and evaluation arguments demonstrates that the focus of instructor assignments on description and other narrative elements is perhaps misdirected. Two other features also carried cultural capital with instructors but to a lesser extent than argumentative moves: literary elements, including vivid description and metaphoric language, and appeals to shared values. Instructors were more likely to flesh out the connections for students when value-appeals were present,