Brodkey's "On the Subject of Class and Gender in 'The Literacy Letters'"

I chose to read this essay, hoping that it would relate well to my topic. While it does look at the issue of voice, it really looks at it more from a teacher's perspective. Brodkey discusses the anger students must feel when they think a writing assignment has limitless possibilities, but the evaluation notes only value their limitations. While I could identify with this idea, it is not exactly what I had in mind for where I wanted to go with my research. Still, I guess this is an example of asking a writer to conform, and therefore limiting the voice they are trying to develop. According to Brodkey, "each institutionalized discourse privileges some people and not others by generating uneven and unequal subject positions as various as stereotypes and agents" (679). The idea that some people are given more privilege in discourse was interesting to explore, yet somewhat confusing. Still, I agree that some people are more privileged in their subject position, depending on the topic at hand.

Brodkey looked at several examples of classroom situations and student/teacher relationships. I didn't really get as much from those as I had hoped. I want to discuss how students develop their own voice, the problems they face, and what happens when they must assume a voice that is not their own, as many classroom situations will ask you to do. Brodkey explored the extent of classism, racism, and sexism that schools legitimate while asserting that they are trying to eliminate it.

One thing I think will relate to my topic, is the idea that the ideology that class, race, and gender differences are present in American society and the assertion that they are absent in the classroom is being challenged.

Overall, I hope to get a variety of sources which explore this idea so that I can synthesize them and come to my own conclusions based upon the mixture of arguments that I am able to find about how voice is formed, developed, and even possibly mimicked. I think that we have already read a few essays that might prove more helpful than this one that I chose to read. Particularly, I want to take another look at Bartholomae and Royster in this context.