What is expressivism? James Kinneavy, in Expressive Discourse, wrote, “Expressive components enter into all discourse, but in some discourse they become the dominating components,” (372). Seems fair enough, right? We write something and in some capacity, whether we intend it or not, our “author’s” voice comes out, right? Right. We see it all the time when we read so this seems like a pretty solid statement. Kinneavy listed the expressivist writing examples of diaries, suicide notes, and certain book reviews and discussed them all as having elements of expressive discourse. Beyond this list, I would add that some of the more prominent genres where we can see this “blatant” author is in newspaper articles (specifically editorials and opinion pieces), in blogs (yes, even this one!), social networking sites, and online fan-bases. This is obviously not an extensive list but you get the idea.
We can obviously see the author when reading any of the above examples. I would argue then that everything we write has an element of expressivism. When we write, we shine through our words as the author. Yet expressivism has received a lot of grief in the academic field. Why? Well, for starters, there does not seem to be a real definition or solid underlying idea for expressivism. Beyond expression as an integral part of communication, there does not appear to be a solid basis for this line of inquiry. Indeed, “it is easy to take the expressive component of language for granted precisely because it is so fundamental,” (Kinneavy 373). So what are we to do with this contested means of understanding?
I propose that we learn from what expressivism has to offer and apply some of its more important elements to writing instruction. Many contemporary classrooms are experiencing a shift towards understanding of audience. It makes sense in so many ways, yet I think we are missing a piece of this puzzle by not including more study on the author.
Towards the end of his introduction, Kinneavy proposed a definition of style as “the symptom of true expression” (382). I believe this really gets at the heart of how we need to view the author and audience in the classroom. So many students come to us, the teachers, as some sort of master of writing knowledge, when in all actuality we are on the same path as our students...we just happen to be a little farther down the way. They come to us looking to learn how to write effectively. How are we supposed to accomplish this monumental task in a semester or two? It simply cannot be done...period.
What a depressing task then to be a writing teacher. We are given a mission that we cannot complete and have no hopes of ever completing. I propose that our task is not quite as hopeless as it might first appear to be. Expressivism has to be a means of reaching out and developing their ability to create meaning for their audience whatever the rhetorical situation. Many people come to the table with the idea that writing is a “discovery” experience and somehow through practice and instruction they will find some magical method for writing that will always succeed. In their article “The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem,” Linda Flower and John Hayes combat this misinterpretation of the writing experience and claim that it “obscures the fact that writers don’t find meanings, they make them,” (467). With this view in mind, we can constructively move ahead to developing effective strategies to help students become more aware of rhetorical moves they can make to become better writers. By giving them the tools of understanding “rhetorical situation” and “goals” (Flower and Hayes 470) we can better prepare them to overcome the stumbling blocks of new writing scenarios and unfamiliar genres.
Those tools allow writers to reach their audience. But wait! What does audience have to do with the whole expressivist view and self? I think that we need to have a clear understanding of who we are as writers to effectively communicate to a wider audience. Writing activities that practice different rhetorical moves are helpful in grasping how to reach an audience. More personal writing assignments will grow a sense of self, or at least begin to untangle a sense of self from some of the rules that have been forced on many students from earlier writing instruction. Knowing how we write and our style (Kinneavy 382) are crucial for clear writing.
By merely imitating an academic style of some long dead scholar that we don’t even understand, we create a false self that does not understand our thoughts and what we need to communicate to our audience. Now that being said, I think there are some benefits to studying how others approach any given writing task. In his review “Some Thoughts on Expressive Discourse: A Review Essay,” Peter Elbow concluded that “students need to understand the centrality of the notion of discourses in writing: that there are different kinds of discourse, that none are inherently right or wrong, superior or inferior, but that some are better or worse for certain audiences and purposes,” (942).
We can study how others address their audience, what types of rhetorical moves are expected or necessary, what type of language and syntax are used, as well as what kinds of information can be shared within a given genre. There are many different benefits of studying writing and imitating how others have accomplished writing but truly good writers emerge from the chaos when they have “discovered” their own voice and are aware of how they write in relation to others. They know how to reach their audience and express their ideas effectively and grow in the ongoing conversation.
We as teachers need to instruct our students in ways that will grow their voices and develop their styles. Writing exercises that emphasize reflection can help them gain insight. Varied readings and directed analysis of genre and prominent writers within genres could also be a valuable tool in developing better writers. It is hard to say what we need to do to accomplish this task of teaching writing. I propose that we need to work together to create a more effective and lasting curriculum that builds writers from the mess of imitation and develops their sense of self in connection with community while giving them the necessary tools to effectively express their ideas to one another.
Works Cited
Elbow, Peter. "Some Thoughts on Expressive Discourse: A Review Essay."The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. 933-942. Print.
Flower, Linda and John Hayes. "The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem." The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. 467-478. Print.
Kinneavy, James. "Expressive Discourse."The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. 372-386. Print.
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