Bartholomae: Inventing the University

In his article, Bartholomae explains how first-year college students attempt to get a feel for the various languages of academia in their writing. He claims that in order to do this, students must imagine an academic audience and "mimick" the language as they begin to learn how to use it.

Ah, the old "fake it 'til you make it" strategy. I remember it well. I was intensely nervous when I got my first essay assignment my first semester at college. I began the paper at least a week before it was due, and I specifically remember spending hours on it, contemplating every word of every sentence in my attempt to elevate my writing to this academic level that I had in my head. It seemed forced and out of place for me to be writing from this place because I couldn't quite grasp the discourse yet, but I had read enough academic writing to understand that this was how I was supposed to write.Needless to say, I butchered my first few attempts at imitating academic discourse.

I'd like to say (or at least, I certainly hope) that my writing has gotten exponentially better since freshman year, and I think it can be attributed to the "fake it 'til you make it" stradegy. The act of imagining an educated, university audience reminded me somewhat of Ong's stance on fictionalizing an audience while you write, but with several key differences. While Ong seemed to be trying to take pressure off the writer by advising that he or she write with the idea that the reader is already adapted to their specific writing style, Bartholomae seems to demand that writers imagine an audience that most likely knows more about the subject than the writer, which I think is a pretty intimidating place to be writing from.

Still, I like the conclusion that Bartholomae come to in the end, how it is better to be writing from a place of creativity, even if it is "muddier and more confusing prose," than to attempt to write a quick and efficient paper, devoid of creative thought. Sometimes, one must lose oneself in compicated thoughts before they can find the right way to express them.