Try or try not. There is no do.
Some more thoughts on nothing in particular. Mostly as a way to avoid doing my 7010 writing.
Am I the only one who feels that Adorno/Horkheimer are sadists par excellence? And before you ask, I did trying saying "yes" to the text before resorting to more colorful language.
Anyhoo. . .
The English word essay is derived from a couple of sources, from what the OED tells me. These are the two in particular that may be of note to us based on our recurrent discussion about the merits of the 5P theme and whether an essay has to have a thesis statement, although I think we’ve all pretty much answered those questions anyway (few to the former, not always to the latter).
- The action or process of trying or testing
- A composition of moderate length on any particular subject, or branch of a subject; originally implying want of finish, ‘an irregular undigested piece’, but now said of a composition more or less elaborate in style, though limited in range.
The second definition is taken from Montaigne’s Essais, the French word seems to possess something similar to the definition 1. I just want to point out that, even though we’ve been reading so much about the traditional comp pedagogy that taught process, theses, and neat conclusions, the original sense of the word "essay" had very little to do with any of that, it would appear. The pedagogical model that we may want to think basing our comp instruction around is one that acknowledges the essay’s history (and its future as well). Composing an essay is to set into writing the traces of the author’s trying or testing of an idea. . .an attempt (with no guarantee of success) to digest all your given object may offer.
Or at least, this is what an essay could be, if we could get past the idea that it must have a thesis/etc.
I also want to point out, apropos of nothing in particular, that since reading McGann’s piece in 7010, I’ve been acutely aware of my own radial reading practices. Not so much in the sense of looking up things in Atlases, per se, but noting in Adorno/Horkheimer places where they suggest Derrida, or noting in Derrida instances that make me note "Spellmeyer/Batholomae" in the margin.
We’ve mentioned in class the use of hypertext in composition pedagogy, but I wonder if there isn’t a connection to be drawn between radial reading and hypertext. In some ways, hypertext could be seen as the fulfillment of radreading, since it achieves the same function without as violent a break in the reading process. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions on where to read about hypertext as a reading theory in addition to a writing one. I doubt I’m breaking new ground with this association, but I’d like to see if there’s anything available on this topic.
As a further note. . .I guess I’m a little surprised that so few of our readings thus far have had much commentary abut reading practices. [Granted, I haven’t started the reading for this week. Not that we have class this week, though.] It seems to me that, especially for our purposes, good writing (or at least, better writing) begins with better reading. Hmm. . .
