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Using Orality to Improve Student Writing BearWorks MSU Graduate Theses Fall 2019 Using Orality to Improve Student Writing B. Webster Freeman Missouri State University, [email protected] As with any intellectual project, the content and views expressed in this thesis may be considered objectionable by some readers. However, this student-scholar’s work has been judged to have academic value by the student’s thesis committee members trained in the discipline. The content and views expressed in this thesis are those of the student-scholar and are not endorsed by Missouri State University, its Graduate College, or its employees. Follow this and additional works at: https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses Part of the Other Rhetoric and Composition Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Freeman, B. Webster, "Using Orality to Improve Student Writing" (2019). MSU Graduate Theses. 3447. https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3447 This article or document was made available through BearWorks, the institutional repository of Missouri State University. The work contained in it may be protected by copyright and require permission of the copyright holder for reuse or redistribution. For more information, please contact [email protected]. USING ORALITY TO IMPROVE STUDENT WRITING A Master’s Thesis Presented to The Graduate College of Missouri State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts, English By B. Webster Freeman December 2019 Copyright 2019 by B. Webster Freeman ii USING ORALITY TO IMPROVE STUDENT WRITING English Missouri State University, December 2019 Master of Arts B. Webster Freeman ABSTRACT The connections between orality and writing date to the ancient rhetoricians and continue to influence the way we write and are written every day; however, overtly connecting the two in the composition classroom is often overlooked and often underutilized by modern composition teachers. What the ancient rhetoricians did, though, was directly opposed to what we do. They used writing to improve orality whereas I advocate the use of orality to improve writing. We need to help students understand that the writer and reader collaborate to make the performance. A typical session with me as tutor involves my reading aloud or performing the student’s essay. By helping our students become storytellers, we are helping them become performers, and in turn better writers. This thesis will trace how orality has informed literacy, and thus writing, from ancient Greece to present day, making connections to Havelock, Ong, Elbow, Writing Center theory and concluding with practical application in the classroom that can begin at the elementary level and carried on through the college composition classroom. KEYWORDS: orality, literacy, freshman writing, composition theory, Ong, writing center theory iii USING ORALITY TO IMPROVE STUDENT WRITING By B. Webster Freeman A Master’s Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College Of Missouri State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts, English December 2019 Approved: Margaret Weaver, Ph.D., Thesis Committee Chair Lanette Cadle, Ph.D., Committee Member Yili Shi, Ph.D., Committee Member Julie Masterson, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College In the interest of academic freedom and the principle of free speech, approval of this thesis indicates the format is acceptable and meets the academic criteria for the discipline as determined by the faculty that constitute the thesis committee. The content and views expressed in this thesis are those of the student-scholar and are not endorsed by Missouri State University, its Graduate College, or its employees. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the following people for their support during the course of my graduate studies. Dr. Margaret Weaver, who mentored through three false starts. The fourth time was a charm. Dr. Lanette Cadle, who provided valuable insights, and Dr. Yili Shi, whose class on Dialects and Sociolinguistics help shape my theory. I dedicate this thesis to my wife, Adina Freeman, for always encouraging me and reading drafts, and to my daughters, Isabella and Ava, to remind them to never give up. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Page 1 Orality and Literacy for the Ancient Rhetoricians Page 6 Tangent 1—Don’t Write Like You Talk Page 12 Havelock and Ong on the Evolution of Orality to Literacy Page 15 Tangent 2—Embracing the Scenic Route Page 23 Modern Rhetorical and Writing Center Theories—From Inner to Page 27 Outer and Writer-Centered to Reader-Centered Tangent 3—Talking to Myself When I Write Page 38 Application—Taking Theory to Practice Page 40 Narrative Essays Page 42 Analytical Paper Page 45 Rogerian Argument Page 46 Classical Argument Page 47 Research Paper Page 48 In Conclusion… Page 53 Works Cited Page 55 Appendices Page 57 Appendix A: Narrative Essay Page 57 Appendix B: Analytical Essay Page 59 Appendix C: Rogerian Argument Page 60 Appendix D: Classical Argument Page 61 Appendix E: Research Paper Page 63 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Family Circus Page 25 vii INTRODUCTION Somewhere along the line in my writing experiences orality became very important. I have grown up as a writer writing what a professor of mine calls “self-indulgent, exploratory essays”– basically telling stories. Around my sophomore year in high school, I discovered the Lewis Grizzard books my parents had around the house, and my interest in reading grew as I began to identify with the personal and humorous stories Grizzard told. I emulated his storytelling style and tone in my writing, something I am cautious to admit in academic settings. I discovered the art of storytelling and gradually I’ve tried to blend that art (though I doubt I’ve achieved the level of art yet) with the writing I have done since. Orality has become an important part of my writing process. I read this aloud as I wrote it, as I do most pieces. The reason orality has become so important to my writing process is the audience reaction. I try to approach every piece I write as if I were telling a story, because no matter how hard I try, when I read I hear the little voice inside my head say each word, and as I write, I try very hard to make your little voice sound just like mine. In my mind, this makes reading the same collaborative act that storytelling is. I’m not present to read the expression on your face and respond accordingly, but if I use my imagination and if I close my eyes tight enough and wish hard enough, I can see you reading my paper–and liking it. The connections between orality and writing date to the ancient rhetoricians and continue to influence the way we write and are written every day; however, overtly connecting the two in the composition classroom is often overlooked and often underutilized by modern composition teachers. Granted, classrooms use peer response, but often in only one stage of the writing process. Orality, though, is present at every stage as is demonstrated in other English classes 1 such as Creative Writing workshops, upper-division writing courses and, of course, sessions in the Writing Center. What the ancient rhetoricians did, though, was directly opposed to what we do. They used writing to improve orality whereas I advocate the use of orality to improve writing. In a sense, we have come full circle from what they did. Many things prompted this reversal, but in part, I think it has to do with the importance of a secondary orality that has developed in our culture. Now, with very few exceptions, we see Composition far removed from Speech and Communication, even though rhetoric is taught in both departments. With such a history, it is easy to see why today’s composition teachers don’t connect orality and writing. The two were never overtly connected for current generations of teachers because they have been disconnected for years. We have to go back generations before the two are overtly connected, but we see hints of the lost orality of composition, a pangea broken off from the main continent, in many of our students’ essays. Phrases like, “In conclusion...”, “this paper will focus on these three things...”, and the five-paragraph essay, are all crossovers from speech class. Our students unconsciously see the connection, but unfortunately, bring the least important traits. For example, I recently worked with a student on his conclusion which started “in conclusion.” He thought that’s how you were supposed to begin a conclusion. He didn’t realize that the audience knew when he was ending his paper without him telling us, whereas, in a speech, we rarely get to follow along with the text, and we need those markers to signal change. As students of Composition and Rhetoric, we all realize that as rhetoric developed in ancient times, it developed orally. No matter which way we look at writing, be it narrative or argumentative, we can see that orality has always played an important role. After all, we learn to 2 speak well before we learn to write and we use written grammar’s terms to define our speech from the beginning. Using grammar terms to explain speech shows how closely connected the two are. Also, as I quote sources in this paper, I don’t say so and so “wrote,” I say so and so “stated” or “said.” In the previous sentence, I didn’t say I wrote, I said “say.” (Confused?) I am often told around the Thanksgiving dinner table about the first “sentence” that I spoke, though I have never heard mentioned the first sentence that I wrote. One could easily say that the first sentence I spoke was also the first sentence I wrote, and for the purposes of this essay, I concur.
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