The Discourse of Whiteness in the Evolution of One African-American Student's Writing.

Catherine Prendergast challenges compositionists to investigate how privileging whiteness perpetuates racism in the classroom. In response to Prendergast's challenge, this paper examines the "white ground" of composition classes by complying with Ian Marshall and Wendy Ryan's suggestion to "look closely at how the "politics of language" maintains the "monologue of whiteness." The paper traces the evolution of one African American student's writing as she struggles to assimilate the dominant discourse to illustrate how "whiteness" is both privileged and reified in the composition classroom. Many studies analyze "whiteness" as it relates to "blackness," and that is the approach taken in the paper. In the paper, the writings of Kyle, a red-haired white fraternity boy of Irish descent, provide a "whiteness transparency" through which the academic experiences of Rowena, a black female from a working class background, can be viewed. (Cites 23 works. Examples of both students' writing are attached.) (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. The Discourse of Whiteness in the Evolution of One African-American Student's Writing.