Discovery Draft on Pratts Researched Writing - Essay Example

Discovery Draft on Pratt’s Researched Writing Contact zones are not in terms of segregation or some of apartheid, but through a multiple presences and interaction of people that amounts to exchange of cultural practices. Contact zones indeed aids in enabling Pratt to explain varied conversational relationships that are present in any societal setting both in the past and the present. She does so through different pieces that serves as examples that demonstrate how a contact zone works. In response to Pratt’s “The Arts of the contact Zone," Patricia Bizzell and Richard E Miller had different opinions on the issue. Each of the writer had an outstanding rhetoric aim presented to the audience. Bizzell had this rhetoric aim of guiding the audience to perform an action by using the Pratt’s concept of contact zones. My next paper will be about the Rhetoric aim presented either by Patricia Bizzell or Richard E Miller or both of them. The paper’s aim is to help the audience make judgments of the words by either Patricia or Richard and perform certain actions as per the rhetoric aim. In my case, am going to focus on Patricia Bezzell Rhetoric aim of guiding the audience to perform certain actions basing my argument on Pratt’s concept of contact zones. Am expecting various challenges in writing this paper. This is just a discovery draft of the anticipated paper. In his attempt to guide the audience actions, Bezzell is concerned with some issues his main claim being that literature should be incorporated into old English. For instance, she cannot understand why the old English can still be found in the new publications, “The persistence of the old basic structure can be seen even in an impressive new collection published by the Modern Language Association with the avowed intention of fostering innovation”(Bezzell 164).Why does she have to question herself? This leaves a question in the audience mind. What are her considerations? Bizzell compares and contrasts different writers regarding the issue of old and new literature, For instance, she compares Greenblatt and Gunn’s “Redrawing the boundaries” and Elbow’s “What is English." The two have contrasting but Bizzell notices one similarity; they have left out the issue of English studies. It is very evident that Bezzell want this discipline to be included in the old English studies. Maybe there is a reason behind that. In fact, she wants the discipline to be included in all the faculty disciplines (Bizzell 165). Contact zones indeed aids in enabling Pratt to explain varied conversational relationships that are present in any societal setting both in the past and the present. She does so through different pieces that serve as examples that demonstrate how a contact zone works. For instance, Gueman Poma’s letter to King Philip III of Spain that was never read until so many years later is one example. She expounds on the different literate arts that constitute the contact zone: mediation, auto-ethnography, and transculturation (p.497). The pictures are a portrayal of the injustice of Spain that contact zone. Pratt also evaluates the structure of the community through an academic perspective. Use of examples to explain the essence of the contact zone in her essay is explicit and the place it occurs in people’s cultures. She provides different examples through her explanation about ‘Contact and Community’ through a description of people’s interactions and the norms that become part of the transcultural setting. The rules that constitute the setting can succeed or fail in producing ‘an orderly, coherent exchange’ (p. 494) He essay was an initial lecture in which she described the concept of a contact zone. She is explicit about contact zone in her own terms that demonstrate relationships. Bizzell continues to stress her point when she is worried by Elbow words. Elbow words state that the conference members exclude English studies from their conference discussion. Why does Bizzell have to wonder? While she struggles to solve the problem of accepting literature study, Bizzell acknowledges Pratt’s statement of contact zones by stating that if people experienced problems in the contact zones, then we can also face similar challenges which should not hinder us from accepting the new literature. Pratt’s statement of the contact zones is as follows; “That the most revealing speech situation for understanding language was one involving a gathering of people each of whom spoke two languages’ and understood a third and held only one language in common with any of the others” This means that we can only learn about another culture if we only interact with it and learn from it and supports Bizzell call for a new system into the old system. According to Pratt(492),some of the contact zone arts include autoethnography,transculturation,critique,collaboration,bilingualism,mediation,parody,denunciation,imaginary dialogue, vernacular expression. According to Bezzell, all these arts should be incorporated into English classes. In her word she says that imitating the rhetorical arts of the contact zone is a good way (pg. 168), for instance, a student should not study English and literature as two different subjects but should study them as one combined subject. Despite Bizzell stressing on the importance accepting the new system, she indicates some challenges, for instance, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of one culture by another. The misunderstanding can sometimes serve as a contact zone or completely divert the course of events as the two societies interact. This is a perfect case of a situation where the intended and natural course of a particular cultural clash does not take place It is obvious from the dialogue presented above that we should accept the new literature into our English studies, which will help us relate well with other cultures. By doing so, I believe we will make the world a better environment where cultures can mingle freely. Pratt talks about a letter that was found in Copenhagen written by Guaman Poma. It was never read because the society was considered to be illiterate. This how she lays the basis her argument about literacy and the society. This is where she will talk about Guaman Poma’s chronicles in an ethnographic context and transculturation. His idea of contact zone and expounds on it in relation to the present day. This is where the list of the ‘Arts of the contact Zone’ with its pros and coins are introduced. Works cited Bartholomae, David and Anthony. Ways of Reading: An Anthology, 9th edition, 2011.Print. Bizzell, Patricia. “Contact Zones” and English Studies, College English Vol. 56, No. 2. (Feb., 1994), pp. 163-169.online retrieved May 30th from, http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-0994%28199402%2956%3A2%3C163%3A%22ZAES%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I Miller, Richard E. “Fault lines in the contact Zone.”College English; Apr 1994; 56, 4; pg. 389.Print. "Technical Writing: Module Name: Page Title." Technical Writing: Module Name: Page Title. N.P., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. . Read More