Post 4

According to Porter, the harm in imaging writing "as individual, as isolated, and as heroic" is that it is not a realistic view.  He says that there is really no such thing as a writer who is original, has a personal voice, is exercising a free, creative will, and whose writing comes from within.  This becomes "the" picture and then students easily start to overlook the vital facets of discourse production.  Some other problems that this can cause is the important questions of "To what extent is the writer's product part of a larger community?" and "How is the writing influenced by discourse communities?" are overlooked by the students.  Bartholomae says that the student should not be struggling to to bring out what is within, but they need to carry out the ritual activities that grant them entrance into the closed society of writing.  Students are too focused on being original that they do not see what writing really is and what it is based on.  When students are taught to bring out what is within, undermining our own efforts is risked.  What students need to be learning and focused on is to write for the discourse communities they choose.  Many students are stuck in what Joseph Williams calls "pre-socialized cognitive states."  This means they cannot produce competent discourse because they are not fully immersed in their discourse community.  If being taught what Barthalomae suggests, students may feel more at ease when writing and have a new outlook on it.