Journalism, Poetry, Stand-Up Comedy, and Academic Literacy: Mapping the Interplay of Curricular and Extracurricular Literate Activities

Abstract

In an effort to live up to Elaine Richardson's dictum that educators and researchers must address total linguistic, cultural, and historical background of the learner (19), basic writing scholarship has addressed a wealth of competencies that basic writers bring with them to the university. The literate lives they lead beyond the academy, however, have received relatively little attention in terms of theory, research, and practice. In an article that draws upon text collection, interviews, and participant observations from a longitudinal ethnographic case study of one basic writer's non-school and school literate activities, I examine the synergies between this student's extracurricular journalism, poetry, and stand-up comedy and his literate activity for two undergradu- ate courses. Arguing that the writer's school tasks are profoundly shaped by an extensive network of non-school practices, artifacts, and activities, I contend that we need to situ- ate the full range of basic writers' literate engagements into our research and teaching.