Authority is a factor of life that, for the vast majority of young people — kids and early entry college students alike — is not even remotely considered. Articles we read this week touched base on authority as it relates to writing and those skillsets that demonstrate it, and adversely, those that depict the opposite of authority. The article focusing mainly on this is titled, “Reading and Writing Without Authority” by Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler. A second reading we dissected this week offered a different viewpoint of a real-life example of how arrogance can easily cloud itself behind the guise of authority, of which an article authored by the revered Elizabeth Wardle is titled, “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.”
In my opinion, the article written by Wardle best describes why authority is the last thing on a lot of people’s minds — especially young people like myself. Alan, through Wardle’s narrative, went down a self-destructive path when he became deeply enmeshed with his lifestyle and his style of writing, in particular, and wouldn’t allow room to be seen as an equal capable of learning beyond his abilities. Wardle even cautions in this account that “…his method of resistance did not enable Alan to complete his own work successfully, nor did it lead the humanities department to include him as a human member of their community.” As shown with this part of Wardle’s text, Alan essentially alienated himself from his colleagues, believing authority was to be given to him with virtually no regard to anyone else’s contributions that propel them farther into the workforce.
Alan is a wonderful example of what most 19 to 20 year olds do not strive to become. It is arguably the intelligence of this age group that allows them the awareness that this mentality doesn’t get any one person far in the workforce, and in an even broader light, in life. All people of this age group scramble to get out of the chokeholds of society. If a person directly under this age group was to disrespect elders, parents, teachers and so forth, that authoritative dynamic is forced upon them swiftly and without any regard to how they may later need to exert healthy levels of their own authority.
Nowhere is the struggle of authority more apparent than Penrose and Geisler’s more cut and dry version of authority and where its importance lies in the brains of real individuals. At times, such as now while I write a blog post, I find myself exerting authority on what words sound intelligent and what sells my position on authority. Other times, such as when I lean on support systems for advice, I understand my authoritative presence is lesser. In fact, by needing that advice and seeking it out from older relatives or older immediate family, I actively lessen it myself. This is the struggle with high school and other grades below it. Taught from the moment one can expect to read and write that there’s some underlying narrative has done its damage in our brains.
I’m lost without prompts and what position I need to take to not ruffle the wrong feathers or be told I interpreted something the wrong way. Even going back grades from high school, a simple “what did you do this weekend” to a kindergartener keeps them on a prompt. At a young age like 5 or 6, what choice do you have but to follow that or fear getting shamed, in trouble, made fun of? It is actively harmful, leading the door open for vulnerable ages to be ostracized ten times easier. Reading both analyses made me internalized just how trapped I’ve been all my life.
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