Description
Book SynopsisLooks at many instances of writing as punishment, including forced tattooing, drunk shaming, court-ordered letters of apology, and social media shaming, with the aim of bringing understanding and recognition to the coupling of literacy and subjection.
Trade ReviewAsking, at core, if our writing inside and outside the classroom must advance erudition,
Writing as Punishment chronicles how that script has been perverted to argue that 'writing is a viable tool for disciplining, controlling, brainwashing, shaming, demeaning, subjugating, and humiliating others.' This book more than proves its points. The writing is fantastically crisp; the thesis sound (and soundly provocative). However queasy-making, Schaffner's individual case studies are each perfectly selected. His conclusions are, to say the least, wickedly inspired."" - Scott Herring, author of
The Hoarders: Material Deviance in Modern American Culture""This book's focus on the 'darker' side of writing is as intriguing as it is illuminating. Accessibly written and powerfully argued, Schaffner's book finds that the beliefs that underlie generative approaches to writing are the very ones that underlie its use of writing as punishment."" - Debra Hawhee, author of
Rhetoric in Tooth and Claw: Animals, Language, SensationTable of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. ""I Will Not Chew Gum in Class"": Punishing Children with Writing
- Chapter 2. Shame Parades
- Chapter 3. Writing on the Wasted
- Chapter 4. Forced Tattooing
- Chapter 5. Writing, Self-Reflection, and Justice
- Conclusion: Seeing Writing in a Dim Light
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
