I read David Bartholomae's essay Against the Grain. I think that I can learn a lot
from his writing. The way he described his writing as "against the grain" makes a lot of
Bartholomae writes that, in his view, writing is not so much prewritng, writing,
and revision as it is tradition, imitation, interference, and resistance. The tradition comes
from books you read and the teachers before you, that influence you indirectly, without
you even realizing it. But the same time, he proposes to interfere with your method of
writing, to go against how it comes out naturally when you write. His proposal allows
one to somewhat break free and to get a new prospective on their work. It allows you to
carry on the traditions from the many before you, and allows you to develop within that
Personally, I think that Bartholomae's views and observations are extremely
insightful. After reading this essay, I have a new outlook on writing. Now, writing
seems to come easier and with less difficult than before. But, in contrast, is the need to
go against this naturalness. In this way, I will be fighting the ways of others before me,
and start to take on a style of my own.
In his essay, Bartholomae discusses how when he writes, it is a constant effort
to write against all of the authors and teachers that have influenced his writing. He also
tells of how it is a constant effort to write against the natural flow, and how he sets up
barriers for himself. Revising is painful process, and it is the most difficult for him even
now. To go against his natural way of writing is difficult, but in the end, produces much
Writing, for me, is a painful process too. I think that I also set up barriers for
myself; I try to beclear and concise, to know what i mean. I revise a little bit, here and
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