Standards without Sacrifice: The Case for Authentic Writing

Abstract

D uring my second year of teaching Senior Composition, Teresa was my most challenging student. We were nearing midterm, and it was time for Teresa to decide on her research paper topic. Teresa listened to her headphones with her forehead resting defiantly on her desk while guided the rest of the class through an invention activity. Teresa had a reputation for not doing much work, which she had not proven wrong thus far in my class, so wasn't expecting much for her paper. The paper expectations were clear: The topics the students selected had to be researchable, the students needed to use primary and secondary sources, and the students were going to present their research in front of an audience of their peers. The next day, when students were supposed to have generated a list of possible topics based on the previous day's invention activity, Teresa had nothing. Again, Teresa rested on her desk, but this time her head occasionally perked up as she caught tidbits of the students' conversations. They were discussing issues such as teenage pregnancy, violent video games, guns in schools, prayer in school-issues many high school students are thinking about and can easily research. By the end of class, Teresa's head was up, and she was listening as one student talked about a recent experience he had had with the police in a neighboring town. They stopped him for rolling through a stop sign, which he swore he did not do. He said, I think they profiled me. He was an African American male driving his father's 1999 Lincoln LS in a wealthy, suburban community. As she listened to the conversation, Teresa became more and more interested. She chimed in with her own stories about the police mistreating minorities in her neighborhood. She asked me, Can write about police brutality in Indianapolis? was a bit flabbergasted that she wanted to write anything at all, but said quickly, Sure. One of the most disinterested students have