In “Modeling a Writer’s Identity,” Brooke argues that students learn about writing through imitating other people, not through imitating texts. When imitation works, he claims, it’s becuase of the identity of the writers being imitated, not because of the forms of writing (23). It is more beneficial, therefore, to focus on writing purpose, exploration, and communication in the class then it is to focus on forms or the reading process (37). “Being a writer,” he writes, “involves taking a stance towards experience, towards reading, towards writing. It involves taking a particular identity, a way of being a certain person in a social world.[…] A writer’s identity, I would argue, is what composition courses should be fostering” (38).
Brooke, Robert. “Modeling a Writer’s Identity: Reading and Imitation in the Writing Classroom.” CCC 39.1 (February 1988): 23-41.
Great – I copied this into our notes page. I want to add someting once my mind gets clearer.