African American Rhetoric(s): Interdisciplinary Perspectives

7. Modeling Orality: African American Rhetorical Practices and the Teaching of Writing

136 Lena Ampadu 136 7 Modeling Orality: African American Rhetorical Practices and the Teaching of Writing Lena Ampadu ENGLISH TEACHERS HAVE LONG BEEN ENGAGED IN THE SEARCH to find effective ways to improve their students’ writing ability. From examining method to curriculum to the students themselves, they have grappled with this lingering pedagogical challenge (Bartholomae, 1987; Smit, 1994; Winterowd, 1994). My study responded anew to this effort to address this longstanding problem by focusing on improving students’ writing using imitation of African American texts as linguistic models. What students imitated, however, were oral practices in writing, which many believe hinder the development of effective prose style or prevent students from being in control of their writing (Cook-Gumperz, 1993; Kolln, 1991). However, others highly value oral practices used in writing and maintain that it is natural for inexperienced writers to rely on the discourse rules with which they are familiar (those that have a basis in speech) to produce a piece of written discourse (Robinson, 1983; Welch, 1990). One language researcher, in fact, believes that the use of speech in writing may be “a positive and even rich contribution to the writing and social development of a writer” (Horowitz, 1995). Another popular composition researcher, Peter Elbow (1985), maintains that the best writing has voice or the life and rhythms of speech, and unless students are actively trained to translate speech into writing, they will write prose that is “dead, limp, and nominalized” (p. 291). Like Elbow, linguist Akua Duku Anokye (1997), strongly endorses the belief that oral language has qualities that can enhance writing (pp. 229–231). She argues that African Americans come from a lineage that values the oral Modeling Orality 137 tradition, evidence of which can be found among the values and linguistic practices of West African peoples (230). My study takes its inspiration from the kind of attitude that both Elbow and Anokye have professed. This chapter examines the effects of using African American oral texts in teaching inexperienced writers to improve their persuasive writing style. This goal is in keeping with the objective of this volume in that it promotes texts, often overlooked as exemplars of literacy, as models for student writing. The view that I expound upon is that incorporating repetition schemes that are speechlike strategies into the persuasive writing assignments of college students facilitates their efforts at developing a clear, elegant writing style. Students, therefore, participated in an instructional unit in which they imitated repetition (anaphora, antithesis , parallelism, and chiasmus) to determine the effects of this imitation on their persuasive writing style. The primary question that formed the backdrop of this research follows: How does college students’ participation in an instructional unit emphasizing the imitation of repetition (anaphora, antithesis, chiasmus, and parallelism) in selected African American texts shape the students’ choices of repetition schemes in persuasive writing style in an introductory African American literature class? Few studies exist that focus on the oral dimensions of language as they affect the teaching of writing to college students. Additionally, African American rhetorical practices have not been highlighted to teach literacy and writing skills to college students who are of varied racial/ethnic backgrounds. Most studies have focused mainly on the effect of such texts on only African American students (Balester, 1993; Fox, 1994; Lee, 1993; Redd, 1995). This study adds to the existing research investigating the role of the interrelationship between orally based and written language practices in writing (Chafe, 1993; Horowitz, 1995). Thus, it will explore the dynamic relationship between orality and literacy (Ong, 1982). Finally, it will add to the body of research and scholarship melding Western classical rhetoric and African American rhetoric to teach writing (Logan, 1996; Moss, 1994; Redd, 1995). Why Use African American Texts as Models? Many style textbooks often quote examples from American speeches to illustrate effective repetition, with some of the most frequent examples being famous lines from speeches by John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln (Corbett & Connors, 1998). What is not always noted is that African American texts are exemplars of audience-involving texts, which 138 Lena Ampadu include highly orally based forms, such as letters and speeches. Moreover , many prominent African American writers and orators have been influenced by the oral tradition, an important dimension of African American rhetoric, rooted in the culture of African Americans (Abrahams , 1976; Asante, 1987; Smitherman, 1977/1986). Beginning with Maria Stewart’s groundbreaking “Lecture Delivered at the Franklin Hall...