Voice's Point of View

Jacquelene Jones Royster's essay "When the First Voice you Hear Is Not Your Own" is her own personal account of how careful one needs to be when entering "cross-boundary discourse". Cross-boundary-discourse can happen in a variety of ways; from subject matter to racial. She marks on both. Those who can do so successfully are named "hybrid people". She marks that a subjects position, or "voice", is detramental to the interpretation of the written work or speach. Even so with one's analytical lens on and even walking in the composers thought process, she still reminds it is still a limited lens.

Royster's "scenes", her personal account, warn about speaking for Others and she does not partake in tresspass vission. Tresspass vision (616) comes from a side of intellect and not personal history, which may lead to the devalue of ones opinion. Roysters engages on works from African American Woman in hopes that in doing so it will create a rite of passage to credibilty (617). This also marks why she believes--and I agree-- that it is not good enough to to just write, but to speak what is written. To speak aloud also means to be open to misinterpreted--or to have your well thought out words bruised by interpretation as she puts it. However, it keeps the lines of communication open and gives way to learning from one another. I think Bruffee would agree with Royster and vice versa, in that dialogue both about and for comoposition is key to effective comunication.

Royster also brings this into the classroom. She notes one also must be wary of "spirit murder" (621) in that when someone is talking or writing about someothing moving to them to be careful to nurture the student to keep sharing and not close up. I agree that opening and connecting with the students is key to keeping them engaged both in and out of the classroom.

Happy will the day be that essays like this no longer need to be written, but only archived as a growing point. Although Royster gives credit that the world "of rhetoric and composition has blossomed on diversified"(621) I feel the Arts are still behind. Yes they are better, but I agree that much more dialogue and documentation is needed for all groups of people that have been minimalized; aka the glass ceiling for all women.

This is a blog I could write forever, so if this sparks any inquiry please respond.