A Case Study in Meaning-making in a University-level Expressive Writing Clas

In this dissertation, I address this concern and extend the literature on writing-reading connections by examining literacy in an expressivist classroom. The study sought to answer three questions: 1) What is each student's understanding of reading, writing, and editing before, during, and after taking Expressive Writing? 2) How does each student conceptualize the roles of reader, writer, and editor, and how do these concepts change over the life of the course? 3) What are the characteristics of each student's writing at the beginning, middle, and end of the course? To answer these questions, I observed a section of Expressive Writing at the University of Toronto Mississauga, wrote a series of case studies detailing the experiences of three students, and analyzed writing students produced for the course. The study showed that Expressive Writing connects reading and writing through editing. The course taught students editorial technique and strategy, and by learning how to edit, students learned new ways of reading, writing, and discussing a text. My observations indicate that the course influenced the students' writing by compelling them to write for an actual rather than imagined audience and to alter (or edit) their texts to appeal to their audience. By the end of the term, the students I observed worked with editors to produce "clear" prose that "connected" readers to the writer. The students saw the editor as essential in helping them to relate to their readers. This dissertation provides support for the argument that reading and writing are inextricably connected, with editing and the role of the editor as the connective tissue. Educators must teach reading and writing together, as two parts of single communication circuit.