I forgot to post last week...

I forgot to post last week, but as I read the prompt just a moment ago, I just couldn't let the topic fall by the wayside without blogging.

I think that voice that resonates does not have to compete with "academic voice" and can very well enhance it. The fact is, while it does not HAVE to compete with it, it often does. Because it's not something that can be imitated or easily manipulated, one cannot always write with resonance, which is especially true in academic writing.

It's hard to pinpoint how to write with resonance, but when it occurs, it's unmistakeable. So often I find myself reading articles that, despite being filled with complex information or theories and despite being written by someone obviously intelligent, leave no imprint in my mind (unless of course I know that talking about the article will be a necessity in class, in which case, I must force myself to truly comprehend what's being written in spite of myself). Part of why it's hard to teach writing with resonance is because it often stems from when people write about something they are passionate about. And how would one teach that?

Perhaps that's what makes Elbow so approachable in his writing. As Dr. Rickly admitted to us in class, he truly is as nice as he seems and truly cares about education not as a concept or theory but as it affects real people. Whether that can be said for every educational theorist, I'm not quite convinced.