Peer Review

This week I reviewed many of the Extended Analysis projects created by other students in class, but chose to review Amelia’s podcast recordings about the composition theorist, James Berlin. The first of three podcasts does a wonderful job of providing a historical background on Berlin, while the next two recordings discuss the details of his works.

While I might naturally assume that his Bachelor of Arts major was English, I caught myself wondering if it might actually be in psychology or sociology instead. So, my first suggestion would be to mention this in the recording. There were several quotes that I rewound and played back until I could get them written down – the first being, “Berlin saw the English curriculum as a key vehicle for accomplishing the goal of a democratic America in which citizens participate in civic affairs.” It seems as though Berlin gave credit to participation through written dialogue and felt that it counted as a strong voice in society.

One of the more thought-provoking messages from Amelia was Berlin’s idea that “We are teaching writing as a way of ordering the world and making sense of it.” This speaks to principles of cognition through an etymological lens. Amelia also notes that Berlin claimed that “theories of teaching composition are rooted in the ways we have been taught or have chosen to see the world and to comprehend reality.” This, along with Berlin’s idea of “socially-constructed nature of knowledge” fully acknowledges his social constructivist theory of knowledge.

Berlin’s theories are well covered in the discussions covering his articles, chapters, and books. Addressing composition, Amelia notes, “Berlin envisioned an English curriculum fully expanded…one that would unfailingly foster a more open-minded attention to an increased range of topics genres, contexts and perspectives.” She continues claiming that his integrity and dedication to the field of composition impressed his colleagues. After his unexpected death, a contemporary wrote of Berlin, “[He] made the field alive and important in ways that no one else had before” and “explained why the writing of history is not mere recitation of facts, but controls how we understand the present.”

The only other critique that I would suggest is that there are a few instances where the background music overpowers the narration. (See 1:38 on Part 2), but other than this Amelia does a great job on this difficult task – Kudos!