At this point, a particular sentence in the Eubanks & Schaeffer article is looking as though it will be the catalyst of my paper. On page 374, E&S make their provocative declaration, "If academic writing is bullshit, then bullshit is what we teach." I had an adverse reaction to this sentence the first time I read the article, and Bartholomae's article really helped to substantiate the problem I have with the idea.

Bartholomae's piece described students' various reactions to the standards and problems that are set before them when it comes to academic writing. The standards are very elusive, and may even take shape largely in the students' own minds—which is to say, students aren't necessarily taught to bullshit, but perhaps they rise to the occasion and bullshit of their own accord. I found Bartholomae's view very constructive, that student "bullshitting" indicates initiative within the student to pull him/herself "up," into "the conversation." He discusses what a terrific and even unfair struggle it is. However, I find myself fascinated with this particular "personal responsibility" students are given within their own educations. I keep likening the process, in my mind, to learning to walk. Babies who are learning to walk certainly have a silly 'interpretation' of the act, but it is an essential part of their development. Children are applauded as they make their wobbly way to legitimate "walking," and nobody seems to think they should be confined to their parents' arms until they "are first instructed how to walk properly," and then be allowed to attempt the feat—it is acceptable that they just learn as they go. My gut feeling is that there is a lot of value in a student's individual development of his or her own academic voice, and I look forward to exploring this further.

I also want to add that I am not an education major, and this course has been my first exposure to any philosophical thought behind teaching. Therefore, this paper is going to be written by someone who doesn't have visions of actual students in her near future, and will probably handle "the student" as more as an "idea" than as a potential reality. (Which is to say, I am excited to explore these ideas, but I have a feeling that when I look back on this is a couple years, I'm going to find a couple of missteps in my thought patterns that make me cringe! That is normally the route things go when I first begin exploring new concepts...)