to choose or not to choose: a question of topic

This semester, I decided to teach the memoir second -- needless to say, I am currently in the midst of all things memoir! Taking a page from the discussion of "playing it safe" with academic writing, I'm wondering about the idea of student-chosen topics and its possible negative effects in the composition classroom.


Though it's a bit cold to refer to our students' personal experiences as "general," I think we can all agree that there are some "safe" topics in academic writing. In this particular blog, I'll use the word "safe" to refer to those topics which are perhaps typical, easily accessible, etc., which don't necessarily require deeper thought in terms of topic choice. In my experience with the memoir, for example, it's often safer to pick a serious topic than a humorous one. Why do our students shy away from humor? In my class, I assign two pieces by David Sedaris as reading during the memoir unit ("Cyclops" from our text and a handout of "Turbulence"). These pieces are overtly humorous! I even show a clip from the film "American Splendor," a darkly humorous reflective, memoir-driven film about the non-fiction underground comic writer Harvey Pekar. YET, in all except one of my conferences with students about their memoir topics, I find that their chosen topics remain "safe" (read: serious).


Donald M. Murray, in his essay "Teach Writing as a Process Not Product," lists the implications of "environments in which our students can experience the writing process for themselves" (5). Implication No. 2 reads, "The student finds his own subject" (5). I think that most of us take this approach with our students when it comes to the memoir, the I-Search, and the position paper (and even some in the textual analysis). Though I tend to agree with Murray in his support of this process-driven environment (drafting, students' work as texts, etc.), I think that the implications of student-chosen topics can be, in fact, negative.


In allowing my students to choose their own topics, I find most opt for the "safe" choice. In addition, I find that instead of directing my students to topics in a positive way -- suggesting or assigning my students specific, thoughtfully chosen topics I know will challenge them as writers -- I often find myself "vetoing" specific topics, utilizing don't-ever-write-about-these-topics-ever lists from previous graduate assistants which in fact negate student ideas. In doing so, I feel like I'm creating a false environment of choice: "Choose whatever topic you want, but don't you ever write about abortion! That's a big no-no!"


I wonder if rather than substracting ideas before students have even begun to brainstorm, I could instead provide a limited list of specific, thoughtfully chosen, challenging "un-safe" topics from which they could choose. This way, I could encourage the un-safe while still giving my students some power over their topics. I'm actually finding myself doing this while teaching the memoir. In one activity, I encourage students to choose one "big" moment (family death, car acccident, etc.) and one "ordinary" moment and to freewrite about both. I then subtly challenge them to choose the "ordinary" moment from which they can create an "extraordinary" memoir. One student who chose this ordinary moment is writing about how embarassed she was to use crutches after an accident, and how stumbling around on crutches made her realize something about herself and issues like control and dependency.


As I approach the position paper, I'm thinking about replacing my list of "vetos" with a prepapred, thoughtful, challenging and un-safe list from which they can choose their topic. And in my opinion, an un-safe topic is the first step to un-safe writing. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes ...