Free Write #1
How does race (as a concept, an issue, or a part of your identity) affect your writing?
I honestly have never thought about race as being a factor that affects my writing. Actually, I think that this is the first time that I have been asked to write about that topic. Most of the writing I have done (in high school and college) has been academic research papers, where you are not allowed to use “I” and “you” in the writing. That makes it hard to talk about personal experiences if you have to write about a topic like this one (for example, I would be more familiar writing about how racial identity is a factor to another person’s writing by researching the topic). Also, I think that it can be a touchy subject that many teachers would rather not address in class or through assignments. Race probably has affected my writing process in this way because I have not been asked to talk about that before (about myself) and I guess that since I have never really thought about it, that is the way it has affected me differently (most likely) than someone of another race.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Hi Ashley,
I like what you had to say here about race and its affect on your writing. You said that it was the first time you’ve been asked to write about this topic, which is interesting and definitely something I could relate to. It puts into perspective the idea that as the “elitist” race - white, upper middle class - we’ve never really considered how that affects our own writing. In the end, you say it is a potentially touchy subject to bring up in class, and I agree. Race has always been considered somewhat controversial. I was wondering though, if you were given the opportunity to further elaborate this topic and to write about how your race has an effect on your writing socially, culturally, personally, etc, what would you say or argue in your paper?
Very interesting post! Thanks for letting me read it:) - Lauren O.