DW3a

I chose to write about the essay “Students’ Right to Possibility: Basic Writing and African American Rhetoric by Keith Gilyard and Elain Richardson. This essay talks about students having the right to their own language. They explain how people discourage African American Vernacular English in schools because school districts are trying to prepare minority students for success in the market place. But the authors believe that there are many people in the market place that have advertised hip-hop and used other black dialect and have become very successful. A study was performed to try to answer a few questions about AAVE.

The study recruited students through advertisements to participate in a class that studies the student’s ways of writing. The course was taught over several semesters using the same materials and research procedures. It involved writings of students from two different major universities. The study focused on discourse and rhetorical analyses of an out of class essay. The students were given writing instructions using African-centered materials and stimuli. The students were given two weeks to write their papers and they were also given in class and out of class time to work on them. The main focus of the study was for African American students to identify themselves as being situated within African American Vernacular discourse. This class taught students that the most important thing about writing is about making your argument clear and stating your position. Students said they learned a better understanding of the importance of their own language and culture. They also feel more comfortable when writing because they feel they have better control over when and how to use black discourse. Students were taught how to write depending on the audience they are trying to present to.

This essay is trying to say that it is important for students to use their own language. Students should be able to use their own language and use Standard English when necessary. The essay clearly states its argument in the first few paragraphs and states other sides of the argument, such as students should be using Standard English in order to become successful in our economy. Throughout the essay the writing doesn’t seem to keep focus on its standpoint. The authors explain the study and provide specific examples of students writing and student’s comments but they do not state what exactly they found from doing the study. I think that this study is a good way to research the topic and that it can be very beneficial to the field.