Connecting bell hooks' Observations to Your Research


hooks reference
Relevance to you as a writer: In your experience…
Relevance to your 
research site
(p. 177) Class in the classroom: class is ignored in the classroom …has class been ignored, either in your personal experience or in your classroom experiences? Are class differences ignored in the workplace? Or do people acknowledge them any ways?
(177) Democracy: hooks says we think, perhaps wrongly, that the classroom is an equal, “democratic space” … have classrooms been a democratic space?  Aside from the teacher having power, have certain groups of students had power over others by being able to participate more easily in the style of classroom discussion? Is the workplace a democratic space?  Aside from bosses or managers who tell others what to do, do the modes of communication privilege those from some backgrounds more than those from other backgrounds?
(177) Class background: hooks describes her “non-materially privileged background” … is your background “nonmaterially privileged”?  Does your background have any relevance to the way you perform various writing tasks? Is your writer from a nonmaterially privileged background?  Does the background of your contacts have any relevance to the way he or she performs various writing tasks?
(178) Decorum: hooks says that class is more than merely finances; it's also a matter of decorum … where have you seen value placed on decorum? Is there a high value placed at your worksite on decorum, either in proper modes of writing, dress, environment, or language?
(179) Social censorship: hooks on the censoring process that reinforces these values … have you experienced such censoring processes in your life or in your education? Are these values enforced at the worksite your are observing?
(181) Adaptation: hooks on the difficulties that students from non-materially privileged backgrounds have adapting, and how they do so …do you feel you have ever had to adapt in this way? Do you see evidence that your writer has had to adapt in this way?
(185) Finding a voice: hooks writes about the efforts of those who have been silenced to  “come to voice” … do you feel that you have had trouble “coming to voice” in this sense, either in the classroom or as a writer? … do you feel that your writer in the wild has had similar difficulties?

 

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