Theory + Practical Use= Light-Bulb Moment

I have always wondered; no matter the class subject, how the theory I am learning can be used in the world practically. Putting theory into action is built into our class by design, providing a way to not only act as an apprenticeship to teaching and benefit 130 students with our learned theory. For instance on Wednesday my mentor Hailey began work-shopping with the students in class. The students scheduled to workshop their paper we not present, so two of the students volunteered to go into their place. The first student began feeling out the language of what he saw as English Department Academic Terminology, immediately my thoughts went to “Inventing a University” by David Bartholomae. Allowing the student to continue explaining himself, we learned he was having the most difficulty creating his initial thesis and his first thought was of his instructor’s expectations for the paper stressing the thesis. Bartholomae stated in his article, when addressing the reader “If my students are going to write for me by knowing who I am…it means knowing what I know; it means having the knowledge of a professor of English” (pg. 9). The student in my case was showing the stress of knowing his instructor; who already knows more about the subject of his paper is going to teach, the reading of his paper would include critique of the facts themselves. After my Mentor’s suggestions and her asking the others in the group for suggestions I was asked to contribute. Armed with Bartholomae’s article in my head (Theory from class), I first addressed the pressure of “Audience awareness,” as Bartholomae suggested I told him about “Describing a baseball to a Martian.” The explanation would do two things for them 1). He/she would be able to get rid of the pressure of the instructor’s read 2). Allow them to write in a manner of teaching the Martian, essentially putting them in a place described by the article, “To imagine the needs and goals of the reader…” (pg.10). I also shared a lesson I learned from my Rhetoric instructor Chris Fosen, the lesson was how to approach a paper in a more unconventional manner, but results in the same academic paper requirement.

1. Think about your message to the reader
2. With your message in mind construct the “Conclusion paragraph.”
3. Go back and start writing your support paragraphs.
4. Using these paragraphs form the body of the Thesis paragraph.
5. Last thing read through and form your thesis statement.

This has been a life saver for me in construction of my papers and has met with approval of my instructors. The student took the information and at that moment began to start writing, while the other student began her workshop paper. The end of class he had formed a template for his comparison paper. The dynamic of my Mentor’s workshop is a great example of how workshops should work and helped me take theory and use it in this setting for practical application of that theory.