Raise or Raze?

If you were given a list of different tensions around the issue of teaching writing each paired up with a contradictory notion (ex: confronts the reader-informs and convinces the reader; has dispassionate voice-has engaged, involved voice) and you were asked to pick a pair that you really had a hard time deciding on, which ones do you think you would select?  I think the pair of ideas that I find most perplexing to select a side decisively would have to be “Is best judged by reader / is best judged by writer.” For me it really depends on the context of the situation. For example, as a teacher who must judge a student’s writing, it is best to select “best judged by the reader.” Students work hard on their writings and they all expect their instructor to spend time and energy reading and providing feedback on the writing. It’s an expected part of the classroom culture. It also provides a certain motivation and incentive for the student; if they know that the teacher is going to grade the writing, they will work hard on it. The student will want to please the teacher and write a worthy essay.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is the idea that the writer is the best judge of their own writing. If a writer produces a piece of writing, they know it best and will be best able to determine if it is a good piece of writing or not. The writer is the one who knows the purpose, the intended audience, and the point that they are trying to make. If they are the judge of the writing, they will be better able to edit, revise, and improve their writing. Sometimes students feel judged and give up because they don’t feel that they are a good writer if they have to turn in a writing to be graded. I’ve seen students not even try – not even turn an essay in because they feel they will just get a poor grade – so if they don’t turn it in they are just beating the teacher to the poor grade. If they were to judge their own work, they wouldn’t have to worry about this.