Bartholomae and Inventing the University

Solsen Bartholomae Summary

As a Professor of English and former Director of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh, David Bartholomae is an expert in the field of composition. Inventing the university is a means overcome any discourse between the writer and the audience. As students learn to write, they begin with a particular topic. If that topic is unfamiliar to them, they must research in order to learn the language that topic would use in order to gain understanding from the reader as to what is written. There are various methods to invent the university according to this essay from Bartholomae.

Learning to speak the language is a way to ease the discourse between an inexperienced writer and academic professionals at the university. Whether it is a subject matter such as Economics or Mathematics, one would need to understand the basic vocabulary in that particular field or subject, and appropriate arguments and know how to evaluate any statements made by the writer. Some students may pretend to know the language using words or phrases that may not seem appropriate, and would be obvious to those more experienced in that subject matter. This type of assumption to speak the language can be considered carry off the bluff, as if they writer is full of knowledge on the main points or ideas.

In his method of collecting various sampling for both experienced and inexperienced writers, Bartholomae discovered some keen similarities yet obvious differences between the two. He noted that while they both show discourse on the range of topics, they both may not have understood the audience as well as they should have. Although with the experienced writers, he did acknowledge that they did profess a privileged style of writing for which they became the subject matter expert or drew in the audience to perceive such. There is an importance to connect the two worlds of both the reader and the writer for the message to be concise of the message and for it to be understood as it was intended.

As the student writer becomes more experienced, they will be able to take on more technical discussions or presentation of the concepts used in his or her writing. A commonplace is where alike members have similar interpretations based on their shared or similar experiences which causes their understanding. This is advantageous in writing because the writer can enforce the material in which they are writing about as it could possibly relate to their intended audience. Finding a commonplace would provide the most basic point of reference which could explain the general nature and specifics to more experienced writers.

The major difference between expert writers and the novice would be that an expert is more adept to convert their writing with similarities the reader can relate to and interpret responses. Manipulation of the audience and writing from a position of privileged discourse is a skill learned with experience, for which expert writers have and students set to achieve. Setting the foundation of commonplaces and attempting more scholarly projects will enhance a student’s ability in becoming more expert of a writer.