When the First Voice You Hear is Not Your Own
I found Royster's article to be a bit confusing. I thought that the article was more about communication than writing. She thinks that people writing about people within a certain community or the community as whole could be a problem. This does not just exist between boarders or countries but in races and religion. Royster's three scenes seems to work together to try to show that we need better our communication in order to be understood in other communities. She says that there is a possibility to make a universal discourse but I think that she is trying to say that people are poor communicators in general. People are more concerned with talking and not listening. As I said before I didn't understand this article to it's fullest, but this is what I gathered form the article.
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I wanted to revise my response to your earlier posting, Crystal.
Thanks for letting us hear your voice today. Later, when I thought of your response to Royster, I was reminded of that the experience of "confusion" may also signify a feeling of frustration or vulnerability.
In the story you voiced today, you openly confronted a discourse that offended and silenced you and those you love. Giving voice to that experience affirms (with Royster and Audre Lorde) that "despite whatever frustration and vulnerability I might feel, despite my fear that no one is listening to me or is curious enough to understand my voice, it is still better to speak."
If we don't speak, if we remain silent, we may remain stuck in confusion, unable to articulate the difference between our own views and experiences and what's being said in class readings and discussion. Today, you modeled the courage to turn "confusion" into clarity--even anger and justified outrage.
When you feel confused in the future, when you have questions, re-read the article or section, and highlight sentences or paragraphs that don't make sense to you, in light of your experience, values, and set of personal meanings. If you remain confused, articulate your specific questions, and invite a response from your classmates or instructor. Is your confusion, or better, your desire for clarification well-spoken, as it was today? Does your "talking back" demonstrate respect for the writer's efforts as well as your own potential and your identity as a reader and writer?
I ask no more from you, from myself, and from others in this class--and no less. I too will strive "to be awake, awake and listening, awake and operating deliberately on codes of better conduct in the interest of keeping our boundaries fluid" (Royster 622).
Thanks, Crystal, for the wake-up call!
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