Although Donald Murray died several years ago, his essays on writing give me a glimpse of who he was in life, as would be expected of someone who wrote the piece “All Writing Is Autobiography” (1994). Here is one way Murray explains autobiography in this essay: “I have my own peculiar way of looking at the word and my own way of using language to communicate what I see.”Sometimes students struggle to create their autobiography, to reveal themselves as distinct, interesting beings in their writing. They certainly have a unique way of seeing the world, but the process of writing in and for the classroom can be intimidating and prohibitive. Their voices can seem forced and artificial. Their paragraphs can seem empty and their perspectives unimportant. It is difficult to get students to practice process writing or discover ideas through writing assignments. However, there are less intimidating avenues for writing. And the accessibility and lack of formality of these avenues seem to encourage more writing. These avenues that I am suggesting are driven by technology – texting, chatting, tweeting, blogging, and more I am probably not aware of yet. Could new technologies, dare I say even texting, help students become better writers? I certainly don’t have the answer to this question, but I am willing to explore the possibility.
Teachers and tutors remind students that the only way to discover oneself as a writer is to write and write often. The more students write, the closer they become to the products and the richer the products can become. And brace yourselves grammarians (me included), technology might be beneficial to this process. We lovers of beautifully balanced sentences packed with correct spellings, subject-verb agreement, and a nice full stop wonder when our world will be totally corrupted by text language and snide tweets. However, perhaps these newer forms feed the needs of new generations. Can’t language be alive and changing as well as respectful of tradition? As one who teaches Standard American English to college-level writers, I am at a crossroads. Though I cringe at some of the spelling variations found in text messaging and ultimately sneaking into the research paper, I do see the value in people using written communication more. Perhaps these outlets allow writers to discover their writing and define themselves as writers. Not only could these writers become more comfortable with the written word, they could also become more interesting on paper.
These new technologies do not need to replace more formal and traditional types of writing but rather exist along with them. Students can use technology to write more and create that autobiography that is strewn about from the blog post to the final written exam. The teens of today, Kaplan’s future, have already established an online writing presence. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project ,
• 64% of online teens ages 12-17 have participated in one or more . . .content-creating activities on the internet…
• 39% of online teens share their own artistic creations online, such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos…
• 33% create or work on webpages or blogs for others...
• 28% have created their own online journal or blog…
• 55% of online teens ages 12-17 have created a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace. (Lenart, Madden, Macgill, & Smith, 2007, p. 2)
Our future students are becoming more comfortable and prolific as writers through nontraditional platforms. They do have a voice and an autobiography to share with the world. Murray would be proud, I think.
As our students learn to write using sarcasm in their latest Facebook posts, tweeting about a class experience, and blogging about their daily struggles, I could continue to cringe at the destruction of English language standards. I am learning instead, however, to remember that ultimately they are creating a specific text for a specific audience. They are learning more about themselves. They are sharing their autobiography with a wide and varied audience. And who knows, maybe they are learning to become better writers after all.
Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Macgill, A.R., & Smith, A.
(December 19, 2007). Teens and social media: The use
of social media gains a greater foothold in teen life as they
embrace the conversational nature of interactive online
media. Washington, D.C.: Pew Internet & American
Life Project.
Murray, D. (1994). All writing is autobiography. In S. Perl (Ed.),
Landmark Essays on Writing Process (pp. 207-216. Davis,
CA: Hermagoras Press. (Reprinted from College Composition
and Communication, February 1991, National Council of Teachers
of English.
[This article was originally published in our July, 2009 issue.]
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