I know the two articles read were mostly about how writing and reading is affected by authority, however I wanted to talk about the different types of writing the articles brought up. “Reading and Writing without Authority” by Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler showcase Roger and Janet. Roger who is literate in the ethics community and can easily jump into the topic versus Janet who is brand new to the community and is just starting to understand the topic. These two are very different from Alan from “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces” by Elizabeth Wardle. Alan isn’t trying to be in the community. He knows the topic but doesn’t want to join in the conversation. These three show the different ways to write something. Being fully involved, just starting out, and not wanting to be involved. You are tasked with writing an essay. You can be like Roger and put yourself into the essay, making it have a lot of emotion and adding to the conversation in your own unique way. The essay could be in Janet’s style, where you don’t really know how to put yourself in the essay so it’s very factual and dry. If you are bold enough, you can write the essay like Alan. The topic will be there, but you will stubbornly include your own language. Meaning you will not be adding to the conversation at hand. Roger and Alan both know what they are talking about, the difference is Roger’s style connects to the community still while Alan’s style is on its own.
I never realized that, based on your comfort level, you can write in a different style. That you can have a different identity based on how much you know a topic. What I mean is, I never thought about how awful my writing can look in another context. I mainly write for English based classes, not science or history. I consider myself decent at writing, I still have a lot to learn but I can manage just fine. My younger sister is in her first year of college. She asked me to look over an essay for her. I thought it was because I was more experienced in college, but it was because I am an English major. She asks my older sister, who was a genetic major, about help with science work. This is all to help prove that my writing is good, when it is in an English setting not a science setting. I write like Roger when it comes to English, but like Janet when it comes to other topics. You don’t really realize that sort of thing till it is pointed out to you. I made a lot of comments on my sister’s paper, saying how I would write this section or transition to the next paragraph and so on. It was like the peer reviews we do in Dr. Friend’s class, only I never did it outside of his class. I also had a bunch of time to dive deep into her essay, tell her that she needed to separate a paragraph at a certain part, and she told me she didn’t know where to separate the paragraph. That was a shock to me, as it was so clear when it switched to a different topic. However, I am able to point stuff out like that thanks to all my writing in English knowledge. If I were to write a lab report, I would be so confused and not be able to get into the same sort of flow I get into when writing for English. It is easy to forget that you can be a Janet in different situations, or that you were once at Janet’s position. It is nice to remember all that though, for when you get to Roger’s position you feel accomplished even if you have more to learn. Since being a Roger means you are starting to understand the community you want to be a part of and can put yourself into the conversation.
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