Moffett asks us to take an experience and think about it. He then asks us to take that same experience and to think about it in a different way. This different way of looking at our experience could look like a different relationship to time. Maybe before, the experience was happening in the past, but now, in our new perspective, it is happening in the present. Perhaps we spin this same experience again and we are now a different character observing the experience, maybe we are participating in the experience. Then Moffett asks us to ask some more questions. Who are we telling our experience to? Why are we telling this particular audience our experience?
Moffett wants us to be able to stretch an experience and be able to make it tangible to others through different predictable forms and structures. Becoming well versed in many different forms and structures of writing, enables us to reach a greater audience, and enables us to portray our intent most effectively. This exposure doesn’t happen overnight. Different constructs can have huge impact on why we write what we write, or how we write it.
Moffett’s article is shaping my teaching philosophy into an inquisitive study of the teaching world around me. I want to see this approach in action and aspire to have his research and theory supporting not only my demo-workshop, but also my classroom and how I approach writing instruction for the rest of my teaching career.
You've done a pretty good job summarizing Moffett, but I think we'd like to see more specific applications to your potential classroom.
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