COMPOSITION STUDIES BY DIANE K. OLSON, PHD, WRITING, TEACHING AND CRITICISM

ACADEMIC WRITING CAN BE OPPRESSIVE TO STUDENTS WITH ITS ARTIFICIAL REQUIREMENTS, SO WE NEED TO CREATE COMPOSITION COURSES THAT ALLOW STUDENTS TO BE A CREATIVE AS POSSIBLE WITH THEIR WRITINGS AND THEIR LEARNING.  TOO OFTEN, ACADEMIC WRITING DOES NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO EXPRESS THEIR RELATIONSHIPS AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE MATERIALS THAT THEY ARE WRITING ABOUT IN A CREATIVE MANNER.  SO, WE NEED TO CREATE COMPOSITION COURSES THAT ALLOW STUDENTS TO RE-ENVISION AND RE-IMAGINE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO THE CONTENTS OF THEIR OTHER COURSES.  ACADEMIC WRITING IS TOO OFTEN ANTITHETICAL TO THE CREATIVE IMPULSES OF STUDENTS IN THEIR WRITINGS, AND THUS THEY EXPERIENCE RESISTANCES TO THE LITERACY DEMANDS OF ACADEMIC WRITING BECAUSE ACADEMIC WRITING IS NOT ORGANIC AND NATURAL IN THE LEARNING PROCESSES OF STUDENTS. INSTEAD OF THINKING OF COMPOSITION STUDIES AS IN SERVICE TO THE ARTIFICIAL DEMANDS OF ACADEMIC WRITING, WE NEED TO IMAGINE COMPOSITION STUDIES AND OUR COURSES AS RE-ENVISIONING WHAT WRITING CAN DO IN THE OTHER DISCIPLINES WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY AND IN THE LARGER WORLD BEYOND OUR CLASSROOMS.