Mike Rose By Any Other Name

Mike Rose's article "The Language of Exclusion" (586-604) included in the Norton Anthology will become part of the framework for my final paper. If you haven't taken the opportunity to read this fascinating essay, I encourage you to at least read the first few pages. Why? Because Rose provides a historical grounding which leads to understanding how composition pedagogy evolved. As I struggle with my own pedagogy statement, I value Rose's information. And, because he was erroneously "named" a remedial student, (CompBiblio 241) I trust his analysis that writing shouldn't be "defined by abilities one can quantify and connect as opposed to the dynamism and organic vitality one associates with thought" (Norton 592).
I see a connection to Peter Elbow's argument that until the academy views composition students differently and "makes them feel like writers, and avoid setting things up to make them feel like academics" ("Being a Writer" 499) there will be scant success in those classrooms.
In Bartholomae's counter argument which focuses on authorship and the individual's right to claim that right based on personal experience, Bartholomae questions the authorial validity of his female student who writes of her parents' divorce without the sounding board of scholarship "How and what might it mean to talk back to (or talk with) Adrienne Rich about family life?" ("Cross Talk" 484). Interesting discourse when you place Foucault's article, "What Is an Author?" into the mix.
Would Foucault see this girl as an author? Probably not, because she has little value in the larger voice of the discourse community. After all, "What are the modes of existence of this discourse?" (Author 120).
Heiddiger allows that "language [is] audible utterance of inner emotions" (Language 193). It seems to me that Elbow applies that concept to writing when he defends the female student writing about her parents' divorce. Elbow argues he would never claim the girl's experiences aren't her own but by providing feedback would allow her to make a stronger case for her experiences, which in effect is the foundation of all academic writing.
Rose could certainly jump into this discussion as an academic; and as a student whose academic experience was based on Mike Rose by any other name.