Preparing for the Annotated Bib

With the due date for my Annotated Bib upon me, this blog will focus on thoughts running through my head about the articles I have read so far on the writing center field:

History on the Cheap (Christopher Hanlon)

Hanlon's article made me think that I had never before not been given a prompt and made to write on that said prompt. Then again, this is exactly what has been asked in Multigenre Research and Writing. No one has been given a prompt and we are searching for historical significance. Hanlon has some powerful quotes and makes one think of the innovation of his idea. This is also the second time I have encountered this term (historicist) so I will need to do more research on it.

Writing Clinic & Writing Lab (Robert H. Moore)

The article was unexpected the portrayal of the center as a remedial "fix-it" shop. It is important to remember the context it was written in and the distinction made between clinic and lab. These aspects will be important for the SWCA for me to find out how the assc. fits into the context. Is Moore's history a part of the SWCA history? Interesting side notes were his writing of places charging a service fee; also his emphasis on the role of faculty.

Early Writing Centers (Peter Carino)

Carino's article was enlightening and informational for the (possible) history of writing centers. He traces writing centers in several forms throughout the 20th century. I especially liked his use of "diachronic" v. "synchronic"; his breakdown will prove useful for research on the SWCA's own evolutionary history. Throughout his historical trail one can see branches of the field forming; the writing center themes change and shift. Three sub fields that will be applicable to the SWCA's evolutionary history will be the questions on clientele, staff and institutional identity. 

Writing Centers: A Long View (Judith Summerfield)

Summerfield's article offers a personal account on the field of writing centers in the 70s and 80s. Her initial description of the writing center goes along with the concept presented in The Idea of a Writing Center. Unfortunately, it is her own enthusiasm that brings about her ousting from the writing center. Thus, the personal history that Summerfield weaves is perhaps a microcosm of the writing center field in the 70s and 80s. If Summerfield is correct in her representation, the decade before the inception of the SWCA was a flowering of writing center idealism. In the oncoming decade, the tides had shifted; the same decade that was the SWCA's first decade. Drawing from such conclusions, one must question the challenges that were faced by the SWCA, how they interacted with the evolving field of writing centers and how the 80s decade may have had any influence on subsequent periods.

The Idea of a Writing Center (Stephen M. North)

As much as the author did not want to "sound" militant or appear defeatist, he sure came across that way, thus making the article was especially useful. Specific areas will have to be the origins of the themes of writing centers, how they relate (or don't) to the campus and the mentality of that time. For instance, he specifically mentions how writing centers are work that may be unfundable, research inhibiting and professional liability. Much of this has changed (I believe), so this will be a large aspect of the evolutionary history. In the perspective of the SWCA, I will have to research how the association fit into North's ideas.

Revisiting "The Idea of a Writing Center" (Stephen M. North)

Without a doubt, this article is written in a completely different style than his previous one. He seems more open-minded to the idea of change and his amendments propose a radical shift. These articles are creating a timeline for me and present what was going on at the time with writing centers ideas. These ideas have been a little hard to grasp, and will require diligence to understand them completely. Especially challenging was the idea of a writing center as a consciousness with that of conscience. I will have to research this fully and perhaps ask the director at my university what it all means. Equally important will be my task of bringing this subject matter to the SWCA and how it all relates. His first article was in '84, then '94; it may be helpful to find current writings and research how he himself has evolved.

Collaboration, Control and the Idea of a Writing Center (Andrea Lunsford)

Lunsford's article continues the debate into the theoretical foundations of what a writing center should be. In this essay, she debates the theory of collaboration and if it can be applied to the writing center. Lunsford's research suggest the challenges are worth it and can come to fruition through the creation of a third writing center idealism. With such a collaborative stage set, the possibilities are endless, particularly the focusing on changing the status-quo. Such a theory based article will be applicable to the SWCA's own proposition on theory. Throughout its 30-year-history, the SWCA has to have had its own practices, ideas, theories - all these and more will have to be contextualized through the articles that were being written in the same period.

So there you have it! The ramblings of a over-worked, sleep-deprived and under-the-weather student who still has at least 10 articles to continue reading. I think these are very substantial and will prove to be the bulk of my annotated bib. Until then, I'm sure I will be agonizing and analyzing every aspect of the assignment!