Chapter 17: Developing Style
The authors of Language Network approach the topic of style from many different perspectives.
Lesson 1: Elements of Style
The authors of Language Network use this lesson as a way to introduce students to the terms that will give them access to the somewhat abstract discussion about writing style. Theorist David Bartholomae says that students need to invent the university, or learn to speak the language of the discourse that they are attempting to be part of in order to join in on the conversation (1985). Therefore, Bartholomae would support the design of this introductory lesson wholeheartedly because it first introduces all the ideas that will be discussed over the next five lessons in the chapter and because it then provides students with a way of familiarizing themselves with the terms that that they may not have been familiar with before, but need to know to be able to gain any understanding from the discussion of style.
Recognizing Style
The authors give a metaphoric introduction to their definition of the word style:
"When people say that you have style, they mean that you show personality and imagination in what you do. Style in writing is much the same. The word style refers to the way something is written, rather than what it is about."
The authors then provide two excerpts with questions to prompt students to analyze their style:
"What feelings did each passage evoke in you as you read it?
How would you compare the lengths of the sentences used by the two writers?
How are the writers' sentence structures different?
How do the writers' choices of words differ?
Which passage seems more straightforward? more poetic?
Your answers to these questions will suggest some of the qualities that characterize each writer's style"
Describing Style
The authors provide the students with a list of terms that are used in talking about style:
Standard English
Level of language
Word choice
Imagery and figurative language
Tone
Sentence structure.
The author then prompts students to rewrite a passage and change its style, but this lesson is about recognizing and describing style not how to create style, so the task might be slightly inappropriate for the lesson but would be very valuable if used as a chapter pretest.
The authors of Language Network use this lesson as a way to introduce students to the terms that will give them access to the somewhat abstract discussion about writing style. Theorist David Bartholomae says that students need to invent the university, or learn to speak the language of the discourse that they are attempting to be part of in order to join in on the conversation (1985). Therefore, Bartholomae would support the design of this introductory lesson wholeheartedly because it first introduces all the ideas that will be discussed over the next five lessons in the chapter and because it then provides students with a way of familiarizing themselves with the terms that that they may not have been familiar with before, but need to know to be able to gain any understanding from the discussion of style.
Recognizing Style
The authors give a metaphoric introduction to their definition of the word style:
"When people say that you have style, they mean that you show personality and imagination in what you do. Style in writing is much the same. The word style refers to the way something is written, rather than what it is about."
The authors then provide two excerpts with questions to prompt students to analyze their style:
"What feelings did each passage evoke in you as you read it?
How would you compare the lengths of the sentences used by the two writers?
How are the writers' sentence structures different?
How do the writers' choices of words differ?
Which passage seems more straightforward? more poetic?
Your answers to these questions will suggest some of the qualities that characterize each writer's style"
Describing Style
The authors provide the students with a list of terms that are used in talking about style:
Standard English
Level of language
Word choice
Imagery and figurative language
Tone
Sentence structure.
The author then prompts students to rewrite a passage and change its style, but this lesson is about recognizing and describing style not how to create style, so the task might be slightly inappropriate for the lesson but would be very valuable if used as a chapter pretest.
Lesson 2: Levels of Language
Formal and Informal Language
The authors of Language Natwork introduce this lesson with a cartoon that shows the difference between formal and informal language in speech. They then illustrate these differences in writing using a "professional model" and a "student model." Student models have been common throughout the text, but the example of the professional perspective, a New York Times editorial, is appropriate to contrast with the student models in order to communicate to students that there are different circumstances when each type of speech or writing is appropriate. The theorists Wheeler and Swords would take this lesson and run with it. It is an incredible opportunity to address codeswitching, or the translation of the informal home language to the formal Standard English that students are expected to use in their academic writing experiences, and in this way, overcome cultural barriers and differences in a way that does not offend the student. The note at the bottom of the page is slightly insensitive though: the authors say: "You need to use formal language and standard English to make a good impression in schoolwork, interviews, and business letters." Being that straightforward about it might lead to disaster. Wheeler and Swords' would suggest that using their metaphor of formal and informal clothing as a comparison for formal and informal language and then letting students come to their own conclusions might be a better approach.
Varieties of Informal Language
This part of the lesson explains the different varieties of informal language: idioms, dialect, jargon, and slang. Bartholomae might suggest that a resourceful teacher would have their students flip back a page when discussing jargon, because the charted vocabulary lesson on the page before introduces them to the jargon necessary to participate in the conversation about writing style. Wheeler and Swords would support spending a little time on this because it lets students know that their home languages are valued. Furthermore, they would support the use of the exercise that wraps up the lesson: "Write five slang expressions and five idioms, then trade papers with a partner and translate your partner's expressions into expressions that would be appropriate to use in a composition." This is the same kind of exercise that Swords incorporated into her classroom, except she took it to a more personal level. Because the authors of Language Network have no way of predicting what cultural circumstances will exist in the classes of the teachers who choose their book as a primary resource, they have to assume that students may not necessarily have other cultural backgrounds to draw upon. Because of this, using slang and idioms instead of dialects to contrast and translate with standard English is more appropriate for a printed textbook that is available to the public.
Formal and Informal Language
The authors of Language Natwork introduce this lesson with a cartoon that shows the difference between formal and informal language in speech. They then illustrate these differences in writing using a "professional model" and a "student model." Student models have been common throughout the text, but the example of the professional perspective, a New York Times editorial, is appropriate to contrast with the student models in order to communicate to students that there are different circumstances when each type of speech or writing is appropriate. The theorists Wheeler and Swords would take this lesson and run with it. It is an incredible opportunity to address codeswitching, or the translation of the informal home language to the formal Standard English that students are expected to use in their academic writing experiences, and in this way, overcome cultural barriers and differences in a way that does not offend the student. The note at the bottom of the page is slightly insensitive though: the authors say: "You need to use formal language and standard English to make a good impression in schoolwork, interviews, and business letters." Being that straightforward about it might lead to disaster. Wheeler and Swords' would suggest that using their metaphor of formal and informal clothing as a comparison for formal and informal language and then letting students come to their own conclusions might be a better approach.
Varieties of Informal Language
This part of the lesson explains the different varieties of informal language: idioms, dialect, jargon, and slang. Bartholomae might suggest that a resourceful teacher would have their students flip back a page when discussing jargon, because the charted vocabulary lesson on the page before introduces them to the jargon necessary to participate in the conversation about writing style. Wheeler and Swords would support spending a little time on this because it lets students know that their home languages are valued. Furthermore, they would support the use of the exercise that wraps up the lesson: "Write five slang expressions and five idioms, then trade papers with a partner and translate your partner's expressions into expressions that would be appropriate to use in a composition." This is the same kind of exercise that Swords incorporated into her classroom, except she took it to a more personal level. Because the authors of Language Network have no way of predicting what cultural circumstances will exist in the classes of the teachers who choose their book as a primary resource, they have to assume that students may not necessarily have other cultural backgrounds to draw upon. Because of this, using slang and idioms instead of dialects to contrast and translate with standard English is more appropriate for a printed textbook that is available to the public.
Lesson 6: Developing Your Own Voice
The authors of Language Natwork wrap up the chapter on style with this lesson on how to develop your own voice. It starts out with a definition for voice as "the personal style of a writer," and then explains that voice is developed over time, with experience and practice. This lesson employs the theory of Peter Elbow, in his essay A Method For Teaching Writing (1968). Voice was one of the most important aspects of his expressivist theory. By using examples to illustrate different voices like this lesson does in the first section, "recognizing a voice," it exposes students to different voices that they can imitate. Elbow would probably argue that the excerpts that the authors of Language Network offer are too short for students to be able to get to know the writer and therefor make mimicking their voice very difficult. As a result, Elbow would expect the teacher to find secondary sources to use as examples of voices, he might even suggest that students bring in their favorite book to be analyzed for its author's voice.
Recognizing a Writers Voice
The authors of Language Network prompt the student to read two descriptions on the same topic and analyze for word choice, tone, sentence structures, and use or absence of figurative language. The practice exercise that follows the models has the student refer back to all the other models in this chapter and practice describing the voice of other writers.
Recognizing Your Own Voice
The authors of Language Network offer students a checklist to help them evaluate how well their voice "comes through" in their writing. The checklist includes the question: "Are you writing honestly?" Elbow would say that this is a valuable question to ask onesself because an honest voice is what a writer should try to achieve if they are trying to persuade a reader in any way. The authors then provide a practice exercise that asks students to utilize the checklist and apply it to a piece of writing that they have done in the past as another exercise in the text. The authors use exercises like this quite commonly from the looks of it, and that suggests that portfolio evaluations are a good possibility in the class since students will have to keep track of all the writing that they do anyway so that they can add to or reassess it time and time again. This might pose a challenge to the teacher, who will need to provide students with a convenient way of organizing their writing so that it is easy to file away and easy to find again quickly.
The authors of Language Natwork wrap up the chapter on style with this lesson on how to develop your own voice. It starts out with a definition for voice as "the personal style of a writer," and then explains that voice is developed over time, with experience and practice. This lesson employs the theory of Peter Elbow, in his essay A Method For Teaching Writing (1968). Voice was one of the most important aspects of his expressivist theory. By using examples to illustrate different voices like this lesson does in the first section, "recognizing a voice," it exposes students to different voices that they can imitate. Elbow would probably argue that the excerpts that the authors of Language Network offer are too short for students to be able to get to know the writer and therefor make mimicking their voice very difficult. As a result, Elbow would expect the teacher to find secondary sources to use as examples of voices, he might even suggest that students bring in their favorite book to be analyzed for its author's voice.
Recognizing a Writers Voice
The authors of Language Network prompt the student to read two descriptions on the same topic and analyze for word choice, tone, sentence structures, and use or absence of figurative language. The practice exercise that follows the models has the student refer back to all the other models in this chapter and practice describing the voice of other writers.
Recognizing Your Own Voice
The authors of Language Network offer students a checklist to help them evaluate how well their voice "comes through" in their writing. The checklist includes the question: "Are you writing honestly?" Elbow would say that this is a valuable question to ask onesself because an honest voice is what a writer should try to achieve if they are trying to persuade a reader in any way. The authors then provide a practice exercise that asks students to utilize the checklist and apply it to a piece of writing that they have done in the past as another exercise in the text. The authors use exercises like this quite commonly from the looks of it, and that suggests that portfolio evaluations are a good possibility in the class since students will have to keep track of all the writing that they do anyway so that they can add to or reassess it time and time again. This might pose a challenge to the teacher, who will need to provide students with a convenient way of organizing their writing so that it is easy to file away and easy to find again quickly.