Mellix and Creating a Public Voice

"Writing and rewriting , practicing, experimenting, I came to comprehend more fully the generative power of language. I discovered...that through writing one can continually bring new selves into being, with new responsibilities and difficutlries, but also with new possibiliteis. Remarkable power, indeed. I write and continuously give birth to myself" (Mellix 67).


Look at the first two words in this quote--writing and rewriting--it suggests to me a continual process. And maybe that's what Mellix (see pic) is suggesting when she uses the metaphor of "giving birth to myself." How can writing help you "give birth" to yourself?

Mike made an interesting comment in class when we were discussing the idea of a "text"--he said it has to do someting with imagery. What kinds of images take shape when we encounter texts? And what is languages role in creating these images? If you look closely, do you notice that word "image" has a relationship to the word "imagination"?

I hope all the groups were able to share something interesting about Mellix's "From Outside, In." We'll talk more on Thursday about the piece. Sean made some interesting observations to me about the title--he characterized it as from the outside, looking in. How does this title fit with the essay? And be thinking about the elements of discourse competence we were looking at in our groups:

- sensitivity to context
- attentinos to shared knowledge, purpose and ways within a discourse community
- a sense of the different expectations of different discourse communities
- flexible undersadnign of appropriate langauge and style
- willingness to take risks and try new ways of saying something, in speaking or writing

I have put a list of these in the Media Room for quick reference. Tanya, Will and Vita focused on the Mellix's interaction with the police officer Toby as an example of senstivity to context:

"As a child I felt this same doubleness in uptown Greeleyville where the whites lived. "Ain't that a pretty dress you're waering!" Toby, the town policeman, said to me one day when I was fifteen. "Thank you very much," I replied, my voice barely audible in my own ears. The words felt wrong in my mouth, rigid, foreign (Mellix 61).

There choice of quote demonstrates well sensitivity to context--maybe even over sensitivity to context. We then began to think about times when we have actual physical struggles with saying words--can you think of an example in your own life? We brought up the example of being in Court and what happens to your voice there.

The important thing to notice about these elements is how you use them everyday--do you think you could give an example in your everyday life of each of these elements--a time when you were sensitive to context? Or maybe a time when you took a risk with language--said something in class, or to a friend that at first seemed hard to utter?

By the way, the pictures look great--you are handsome bunch. Thank you for being such good sports. Don't forget, class will be meeting in the UL of the Healey Library in either the Green or Gold computer lab. Please bring a soft copy (on disk or in your email) of your Personal Biography and Assignment 6 (Reading History).