While reading Parmasad, I thought about tone and voice. Many of
the students I tutor value what they call "objective writing", and
many pride themselves on the ability to write for a nameless audience. I tell
these same students that even though it's academic writing, it's still writing,
and writing should never be boring (a.k.a. voiceless). Good intentions aside,
writing to the god of the nameless usually leads to a nameless tone in the
writing, and there's no "there" there.
In writing a scholarly personal narrative (or a SPN), one injects
personal experience into a larger academic conversation. Thus, to
"signify" in a SPN, a writer need not adhere to an autobiographical
format, because focusing on specific moments in time as they relate to bigger
issues can be just as impactful, (Nash 30). Parmasad displays the effectiveness
of SPNs when writing of the cultural disconnect she experienced while growing
up as an Indian in Trinidad. Putting moments of her life under the microscope,
Parmasad analyzes the importance of writing: "this remarkable exclusion,
this invisibility, this feeling of voicelessness filled me with a maddening
need to use my writing not as a shield but as a weapon to contest the
historical marginalization of a whole people and the negation of my
experiences" (135). From her viewpoint, writing is a tool to challenge the
cultural limits and bring others to a higher level of understanding.
In my estimation, an SPN is essential to academia because a
properly executed SPN will delve into the "raw marrow" of the
writer's life, while bringing the validity of the experience to the forefront
of a larger framework, (Nash 26). Developing confidence in writing often goes
hand in hand with constructing a narrative, as writers glean key concepts
after a re-telling of their experiences. Writing narratives can never be counterproductive,
as I'm of the mindset that every high school student should write an SPN, and
then again as an undergrad, and then again
times again. Much like Nash's idolization of Kimble, the fugitive who
reinvents his story in weekly episodic arcs, all writers should endeavor to
find their ever-evolving voice to establish meaning (34-35).
Art can be lost if it cannot be understood. An important aspect in
writing involves connections and how they're made. To sustain a connection, the
language must be effective, and what better use of language as a learning tool utilizing your
own voice? As an undergrad, many students are required to write a narrative
essay, with no research or larger connection necessary. In contrast, writing an
SPN is similar to cutting out a part of oneself, laying it across a table, and
magnifying the meaning to fit a larger context. Both types of writing have a
purpose, but at differing points in an academic career, an SPN is more purposeful. In fact, several drafts into
either, new voice and meaning can be found..
Works Cited
Nash, J, Robert. "What is scholarly personal narrative
writing?" Liberating
Scholarly Writing. New York:
Teachers College Press, 2004. Web.
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