In my ENC 1101 classes on Wednesday, I played a clip of the Monty Python Flying Circus “Argument Clinic” sketch for my students. In this clip, a man (Michael Palin) pays to take part in a really good argument from another man (John Cleese). Cleese spends the entire argument simply contradicting whatever Palin says, and Palin gets annoyed. “This isn’t an argument” he claims huffily. “An argument’s not the same as contradiction,” he continues, insisting instead that “an argument’s a collective series of statements to establish a definite proposition.” Finally, he claims that “argument’s an intellectual process.” I was reminded of this sketch as I read Don Murray’s article.
“Writing is a demanding, intellectual process,” Murray says, by way of countering the more established view that writing is a product. Whereas Cleese’s character wants the “five-minute argument” to remain merely contradictory, a product that in its simplest terms covers all the bases for disagreement, Palin’s character wants something meatier. He wants a considered, reasoned, and intellectual argument. Murray goes on to say that the way to obtain better work from our own students (the good argument that Palin so desires) is to shut up and let them write. Merely “giving an assignment [that] tells him [sic] what to say and how to say it” robs the student of the opportunity to think critically about her work (3).
I think this seems at first to be a more balanced view on how to approach writing. This view doesn’t rely on discussion, or lecturing, but instead says that only by doing will the students grow. What Palin really wants is for Cleese to listen to what he’s saying and respond in a thoughtful manner. Simply saying “No it isn’t” won’t further the conversation. Of course, this view also expects something of the teacher. She can’t simply say “write” and trust that the students will do so in a truly engaged way. We must, Murray says, learn to be “quiet, to listen, and to respond” (3). In this view, only through this respectful treatment of the student’s abilities, with attention to where the student is and where she could go, will we be able to receive stronger writing.