Another Trauma Narrative: Bits Flashback for May 8

On Saturday, Black College Wire posted an article on a composition assignment that had consequences the teacher never expected. The teacher, Lisa Carl, asked students to write “either a first-person autobiographical account of a significant event in their lives or an analysis of a graphic novel or anthropological classic.”

In response, student Jessica Martin wrote the essay “I had an affair with my high school teacher,” which was later published in the N.C. Central University’s newspaper, the Campus Echo, as part of an annual collection of first-person narratives. The student’s account has resulted in campus scrutiny of her decision to write the essay and the newspaper’s decision to publish it—as well as the arrest of the high school teacher she wrote about.

As I read about the aftermath of the essay’s publication, I thought immediately of Holly Pappas’s Trauma Narrative post last month and how pertinent all the questions she raises are in this situation. It’s worth rereading Holly’s piece and thinking about how it applies and the new questions that it raises.

While you’re looking at past entries, also check out these Bedford Bits posts from last week:

• How do computers change composition instruction? Holly Pappas looks forward to a Change of Venue that means more time in the computer classroom.
• Andrea Lunsford does some Thinking About Writing Assignments and shares the guidelines she uses as she designs writing activities for the students.
• Jack Solomon extends the study of popular culture, especially with regard to what makes popular culture popular or entertaining, to the realm of high literary culture in Literature and Entertainment.
• Barclay Barrios explains his shift from a policy of no-cell phone use to one of responsible use of portable technology in Cell Phones in the Classroom.
• Steve Bernhardt discusses how important writing is to the kinds of learning we all value: higher-order, integrative, and reflective in Engaging Writing.
• Traci Gardner explains how to use polls to spark discussion and reach students in Using Facebook Questions with Students.
• High School Bits blogger MG Gannon shares her AP/SAT exam review: a synthesis activity on Osama bin Laden’s Death and Issues Surrounding Terrorism.
• Have great assignments or student essays to share? Blogger Jay Dolmage is Looking for Essays and Assignments and paying up to $100 for works chosen for publication.

A Few Extra Links

• The May Teaching Carnival has a collection of academic blog posts on subjects like on rhetoric, racism, Twitter, and student loans.
• Sign up for email updates about what we do for teachers and request our free professional resources today.
• Ever wish you could influence what you want to see in a textbook? Submit your idea in the Idea Survey.
• What can you learn about teaching if you return to the role of student? One teacher goes From Professor Back to Student, With Complaint.
• Don’t print out peer review worksheets anymore! Profhacker explains how to Use Google Docs Forms to Run a Peer-Review Writing Workshop.

Let us know what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your response will help shape upcoming posts.

[Photo: Keyboard by cheetah100, on Flickr]