New Ideas for Inquiry Project Proposal

I have decided to scrap my last proposal because my idea was too vague and I couldn't really decide on which direction to take things...

Instead, I think I would like to focus on how gender affects composition. I did some work on Google and found an interesting article by Dr. Sherrie L. Graden, a professor at the University of Mississippi- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3651/is_199401/ai_n8715387

Dr. Graden writes about her personal experiences in the classroom with male and female writers. In her experience, she finds that "many women have been socialized to speak and write in alternative discourse styles--to converse through connection and consensus and to incorporate emotive processes into our discourses." However, she feels the university alienates these women because it privileges forms of discourse that are largely androcentric. As theorist Carol Gilligan believes, many women have been socialized to speak and write in alternative discourse styles--to converse through connection and consensus and to incorporate emotive processes into discourses (In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, 1982).

I want to take a look at some of the scholars mentioned in the article- Nadya Aisenberg and Mona Harrington (Women in Academe: Outsiders in a Sacred Grove, 1988), Cinthia Gannett (Gender and the Journal: Diaries and Academic Discourse, 1992), Susan Meisenhelder ("Redefining 'Powerful' Writing: Toward a Feminist Theory of Composition" in Journal of Thought, Fall 1985), and Elizabeth Strater (Academic Literacies, 1991) -- all of these articles focus on how the university can alienate women.

Dr. Graden argues that women are often less comfortable than men with the rational argumentation privileged by the academy. Interesting- I don't really fall into this category (I prefer clear and concise assignments as opposed to creative ones).

Still, I think this is fascinating. I will try to take a closer look at the articles on this subject and I promise I will post a new Inquiry Project Proposal and annotated bibliography sometime later this evening.

Slow process, but I think I'm finally getting there.