Response #7

Sean Demme

9.14.2012

English 1510

Peter Elbow

IWA: Peter Elbows Voice in Writing Again: Embracing Contraries was about the battle between voice and argument in today’s writing world. He argues that voice is present everywhere and is hard to ignore but also that argument is equally important. This pieces contradictorily points out the contradiction between the importance of voice and argument in a piece of writing.

               Elbow’s writing, like I mentioned earlier is contradicting in nature. He is basically trying to play both sides of the field; no, perhaps three sides of a two-sided field. First he says voice is most important. Next he says that argument is important. Then, LATER, goes on to say that you can’t meet somewhere in the middle because it’s like giving up in the answer. He confuses me.

                Lastly I responded poorly to this article by Elbow. It was dry, and I didn’t know quite what he was trying to get at the whole time. Even worse – it sounded like Peter Elbow did really know what he was trying to get at. As the reader, when I read something where a writer says one thing and does another it makes me feel almost cheated; like the way Peter goes on and on about voice – and manages to write a piece so dry. This was not my favorite by any means.

GRR:

#1  On Social media sites, I think, is when the individual’s voice comes out the most. At least, for me when I use Facebook or Twitter I have no thoughts about voice – it just comes out as my voice. It’s the tone rather that changes in a Facebook status or Tweet. Say I win the lottery, I’d tweet, “Hells yes. Just won the lottery. #ImTheGreatestEver.” But say I was to lose my grandma to cancer the tone would change to much more serious. I think in a world so surrounded by technology – the one thing that makes us different is ourselves – and we can emphasize that with voice.

QDJ

                #1 I would define voice as the way you take information and present it in the way that you would say it to your audience if you were to give a presentation of it. I think Peter Elbow has the right idea of WHAT voice is and I agree with him. Elbow doesn’t quite know WHERE voice belongs, though.

                #2 Infographics online are voiceless – there is no need for voice there. The agenda of the Inforgraphic is to inform   - that is ALL – there is no need for voice. It’s like printing with a colored printer to a group of people who are colorblind. Also, I think Peter Elbow is wrong in saying that we should ignore voice when learning to write - that is so wrong. Voice, when writing for academic reasons must be there.  It’s what makes Jimmy’s report different from James’. There are simply too many writers to not have our own voices.

AEI

                #1 Sincerity is what you use to apologize to somebody – it means meaning what you are saying or doing. Resonance is something that I had to look up – I don’t know what that means. If I had to guess I would say it means, “The quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating.” (Webster’s), or something like that. I think That Peter Elbow is making it way to complicated.

Connecting: I don’t think Allen fights with voice at all. Allen, clearly, knows how to use her own voice – in fact, she could probably teach Elbow a few things. After Reading Elbows argument I would say he know close to nothing about voice and how to use it.