ABSTRACT
The precarious position my freshman composition students occupy produces questions like the ones above. Teetering on the academic ledge, they are trying to create a concreteness, a certainty, to discourse, as if it can be defined, explained, and performed in one fell swoop. I am certain that most teachers of composition and literature (and other disciplines as well) have heard these questions or similar ones. And, though we know better than to play into their hands, the lure often proves too seductive. Our “natural” reaction is to say yes or no and give advice; or perhaps we stop to ask the student, “Well, what do you want to say?” and then proceed to help them say it. After all, that is our job.
