PDF – Correcting the Politically Incorrect: A Writing Tutor Dilemma
The Dangling Modifier Volume 19 | Number 1 Fall 2012
Correcting the Politically Incorrect: A Writing Tutor Dilemma
Audrey Williams
During my training as a writing fellow at the University of Iowa, much time was spent anticipating and addressing certain concerns we fellows would face. My instructors and peers discussed the balance between higher order concerns (e.g. argument strength, organization) and lower order concerns (e.g. grammar, spelling). We developed strategies to negotiate that liminal space between peer and professor. As we began understanding the basics of tutoring, we addressed more difficult subjects, like the unique situations of non-traditional students, such as those with learning disabilities or those for whom English is a second language. Throughout my three years of tutoring, these lessons have proved invaluable. However, in my last two semesters of tutoring, I have begun to recognize a concern never addressed during my training: the problem of racial and gender stereotypes within the papers of my tutees.
As a writing fellow, I work closely with one course each semester. I interact not only with the students but also with the professor. This kind of relationship allows me to get close to the subject matter of the course. During my fellowing experience, I have had the opportunity to work with two courses that often involved discussions of “sensitive” subject matter: a course on global human rights and a course on the film and literature of the Wild West. In both cases, the professors were enthusiastic and often sought to bring issues of social justice into the limelight by encouraging students to write about the dynamics of race and gender.
While most of my students engaged enthusiastically with these discussions, I inevitably received a few papers whose arguments rested upon gender or racial stereotypes. I will use my most recent experience with the Wild West course as an example. In one paper prompt, the professor encouraged her students to explore arguments addressing the conceptualization of femininity and masculinity in the Wild West. In one case, a student wrote in his paper that suicide was a “feminine” concept. I was unsure how to approach this statement: on a personal level I felt the argument was sexist, but on the level of a writing fellow, I was just as worried that my own perceptions might blind me as much as the student’s own perceptions had shaped his argument. Another paper prompt asked the students to address the racial dynamics of the Wild West. In many cases Native Americans were referred to as “Indians” and even more so as “savages.” I was at a loss of how to address these arguments. Eventually, I decided that the best way to address these concerns would be to frame them within a discussion about argument construction. Because these papers included analysis of literature and films, the students had to stay true to that source material—even if it was biased. I urged the students to keep their arguments about race and gender within the context of these sources. It was rather clear to me that many of the students made use of the word “savages” only to illustrate the use of that word within the source material. Addressing the “femininity” of suicide was more difficult. I realized that my greatest concern about the argument was that it hadn’t been backed by evidence. I encouraged the student to help the reader understand that he wasn’t making an argument about the conceptualization of suicide within modern society but instead about its conceptualization within The Last of the Mohicans.
After these discussions with my students, it became clear that many misunderstandings were problems of argument articulation. However, because many courses veer into sensitive discussions on race, gender, and culture, it is important for writing tutors to discuss how to address arguments that propagate stereotypes. The most important discussion will involve determining the writing tutor’s role in educating students on issues of social justice—if the tutor has a role to play at all.
Should writing tutors themselves undergo social justice and diversity training? It certainly might not be a bad idea. As my experiences demonstrate, stereotypes may sneak into papers dealing with sensitive subject matter. In addition, tutors often interact with students from different cultures and thus different writing traditions. In a globalized world, it is becoming more and more necessary for professionals of all types to receive training that accounts for the sensitivities of culture, gender, and race. A successful tutor should be equipped with the tools to address sensitive and even personal arguments involving these issues.