Bella

Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 Word Count: 2621 Source Formatting: MLA

Dance Like Nobodys Watching (But if People are Watching Make Sure Your Dance Can Speak to Them)
Mental Conditioning All gymnasts absolutely detest conditioning. In the gymnastics world, it is universally scorned by gymnasts and valued by coaches. It is probably the farthest thing from fun that exists in the entire athletic world. It is painful, difficult, and requires gymnasts to push their bodies to the limit. It is, to be quite frank, absolutely miserable. 1 However, conditioning is a vital part of training, and it teaches young gymnasts the value and necessity of hard work. There are some gymnasts who understand the importance of conditioning and give it the attention and precision that it deserves despite its unpleasantness. On the other hand, there are gymnasts who only condition because the

1 Its the middle of my summer vacation and I can barely breath as I hear the strained breath of my teammates next to me as we struggle through a conditioning set. I leave sweat marks on every surface that I touch. Every word that comes out of my coachs mouth makes me cringe because all I want to do is stop. I do not, by any means, trust my muscles to support my body but I have to keep working anyways. With dread, I consider the endeavor of peeling my aching body out of bed the following morning. I present to you, reader, a glimpse at conditioning.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 coach said so. 2 Gymnasts with this mindset typically do not improve because they are not working in order to improve their own skills; they are working to appease the coach.3 The same goes for homework. It is universally scorned by students and valued by teachers. Although homework has a negative connotation in the mind of most students, it is a vital part of the learning process. It requires students to work hard, but should yield positive academic outcomes in return for the time put in to complete it thoroughly. Like conditioning, homework assignments and other types of schoolwork both in and out of the classroom are intended to be completed for the benefit of the student, not for the appeasement of the teacher. However, in todays school system, many students only complete homework in order to get the grade. Deviating from the Standard The idea of studying simply to succeed in the system that governs higher education manifests itself in use of the English language in schools. Enter Standard Written English (SWE). This term is utilized by David Foster Wallace in his essay Authority and American Usage and it refers to an English dialect and its accepted conventions, sentence structure, grammar rules and vocabulary. SWE encourages 2 No gymnast likes to hear her coach utter the words Ok, ladies, its time for conditioning. Yet, some are accepting of their responsibility and suffer through the hard work, while others go to great lengths to get out of conditioning (this usually involves an incapacitating headache that lasts only the duration of conditioning, or something else of the sort.) 3 I had a coach who would often advise, Go ahead and slack off during conditioning. It doesnt matter to me. If you cheat you are only cheating yourself. These words have really stuck with me over the years and have been applicable not only in the gym, but in the classroom as well. They taught me to do conditioning, homework, and other work of the like for my own benefit.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 students to act like the gymnasts who only do conditioning when the coach is watching. There are a variety of English dialects and a dialect of English is learned and used either because its your native vernacular or because its the dialect of a group by which you wish to be accepted (Wallace). Standard Written English is the conventional English dialect in the academic world, and as students in an academic setting this is the dialect that we naturally revert to when we are asked to write because we want to be accepted by superiors and peers. Over the course of my education it became more and more evident that there is a certain manner in which I am supposed to write in order to be accepted and deemed adequate in the academic world. I was taught that there is a standard form for writing a paper, and a standard use of language and syntax that should be used to portray my ideas.4 Risk taking was, in fact, scary for me because I did not want to fail. In a competitive academic setting, failure is not an option and when breaking convention made room for potential failure, I stuck to what I was taught because I knew it would secure an adequate grade. 5 In an article from his blog in The American Scholar entitled The Disadvantages of an Elite Education, author John Deresiewicz explains that intellectual growth and academic success involves being passionate about ideas- and not
4 Every time I sit down to write, the same dry, academic voice ends up flowing from my

brain to the paper, which made it particularly difficult to write about concepts that were not straightforward and clean-cut like my writing style. The same goes for the format of writing. I remember being particularly intrigued, surprised and excited when I realized that my critique on Wuthering Heights could have more than five paragraphs.
5

Following the five-paragraph essay format where each paragraph consists of three pieces of evidence and adequate explanation was not particularly fulfilling, challenging, or, in some cases, appropriate once I became more of an advanced student. It did, however, get me the grade I wanted if I did it right. It wasnt until the very end of my high school career that I learned to break the mold of your typical essay. Deviating from the standard helped me to produce some of my best writing by the time I was a senior.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 just for the duration of a semester, for the sake of pleasing the teacher, or for the sake of getting a good grade (Deresiewicz) .6 Far too much of my academic career was spent blindly following directions and using standard language in my writing in order to meet the norm and receive a check mark in the grade book. I was recently asked to stray from convention by composing a rant.7 For someone who simply feels strongly about a topic and has a fair grip on the English language, writing a rant should be a fairly challenging, yet still manageable, task. For me, however, writing a rant that was even remotely reminiscent of a rant felt like trying to comprehend someone with a thick foreign accent. It took a significant amount of thought, and even research, to stifle my academic voice and allow my rant voice to flourish. Strict SWE was simply not the proper dialect for rant-writing. I had been conditioned to write in a specific academic voice when completing assignments for class, and the necessity that I felt to remain adamantly loyal to all SWE conventions hindered my ability to express a wide range of emotion. My education up to that point hadnt really prepared me to write in any dialect but the standard dialect. The insistence of the usage of SWE restricts growth when it comes to writing and 6 During all steps of learning a new skill in gymnastics (from doing basic drills and motions on the floor, to trying the skill on the high bar for the first time) I understood the end result and took care to complete each step properly. I was constantly passionate about what I was doing and worked hard for my own future benefit. I didnt do it for my coach, I did it for me. When composing a paper, on the other hand, steps were completed simply to be handed in as assignments. From prewriting to the final draft I did not always see the significance of being meticulous and thoughtful throughout the entire process in order to achieve the best final result. 7 The language of which, must differ greatly from the language of your standard literary critique or research paper

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 expressing ideas. Students miss out on the chance to be innovative in their writing because they are afraid to fail at satisfying the requirements of SWE, in turn failing to please the teacher or educational system. Consider Wallace, a highly innovative and effective writer. He writes: But many of these solecisms require at least a couple extra nanoseconds of cognitive effort, a kind of rapid sift-and-discard process, before the recipient gets it. Extra work. It's debatable just how much extra work, but it seems indisputable that we put some extra neural burden on the recipient when we fail to follow certain conventions. W/r/t confusing-clauses like the above, it simply seems more "considerate" to follow the rules of correct SWE ... just as it's more considerate" to de-slob your home before entertaining guests or to brush your teeth before picking up a date. (Wallace 638) Based on his eloquent vocabulary and meaty sentence structure, it is evident that Wallace has a strong grasp on SWE to say the least. However, he also breaks convention in his writing and this is what makes his writing effective and readable. It is important to first obtain a solid handle on the language before a person can begin to take risks,8 however once this grasp is established it is important to stray from the rules in order to grow in your writing as well as properly address your audience and convey your ideas. 9 He uses

8 Just as it is important to learn a backward roll on the floor before you can learn how to do a stand back flip up on the high beam 9 Once youve got the basic back flip down, you can add your own personal flare. Maybe put a dance move before it, or add a twist in the middle of it.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 fragments such as Extra work. 10 and he makes up words like de-slob. Many students, in their attempts to be accepted, miss out on the chance to add depth and personality to their writing the way Wallace does when he strays from convention. Choreographing a Paper Students get used to using SWE because it is the dialect that is pleasing to most educators and accepted in an academic setting. What I, and many other students, failed to understand is that the dialect you choose to use depends, of course, on whom youre addressing (Wallace 644).11 When students place too much importance on sticking to the conventions of SWE in order to succeed, they are missing out on the chance to innovate or explore different dialects. When we speak we can easily switch back and forth between dialects, and many of us, whether we are aware of it or not, are fluent in a variety of English dialects (Wallace). SWE is just that: written. If students would cling less tightly to SWE and incorporate other dialects into their writing, they would learn to speak to a larger variety of audiences. Making a floor routine is a lot like writing a paper. Your tumbling passes are like your pieces of evidence. It takes a great deal of practice and training to perfect a new tumbling pass and put it into your routine just as it takes a lot of thought and research to 10 Extra work. is not a sentence, but it still has literary value. Similarly, that dance move before your back flip does not have any technical importance or earn you any points, but it still adds artistry to your routine and is an important aspect of the entire exercise. 11 A gymnast isnt going to do conditioning to strength the muscles needed for a particular skill on beam when she is trying to learn something new on bars. The technique you attempt to perfect, or the dialect you attempt to utilize, depends on the outcome youre looking to achieve or the audience youre looking to appeal to.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 obtain a relevant piece of evidence and put it into your paper. It is imperative that you fulfill all of your tumbling requirements to get a good score, and it is imperative that you include adequate evidence in order to get a good grade. Your evidence says I have a powerful argument to make and heres how Im going to prove it while your tumbling passes say Im a powerful athlete and heres how Im going to prove it. Floor routines also require dance. There isnt much variety when it comes to the technique of a tumbling pass, but possibilities when it comes to dance are practically illimitable. Dance is personal. Dance allows the audience to take a deeper look at who you are when you are performing. It gives you a voice even though you are unable to speak literally. Just as you are given the opportunity to express yourself through dance in your routine, you are given an opportunity to express yourself though writing in a paper. Your sentences in between your pieces of evidence are your very own and you have a plethora of different voices, dialects and techniques from which to choose. Depending on how you want your audience to perceive you, you can choreograph your dance in a certain manner, and depending on how you want your readers to perceive your argument in a paper, you can craft your writing in a certain manner. It is necessary to have the basics of dance and gymnastics technique before you can develop your own style and learn to express different emotions and voices through your dance. If all gymnasts stuck to conventional dance in their routines, they would certainly be able to put together a good routine, but it would lack individuality and artistry. All routines would look the same. The judge looks for artistry and without deviating from conventional dance technique, artistry is more difficult to portray.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 Sometimes if you try a new type of dance youll mess up. Youre probably going to look foolish now and again. You may or may not please the judge. But if youre afraid to make a mistake youll never be able to explore different styles and succeed at pinpointing the meaning of artistry which is a vital part of a good floor routine. The same goes for writing. It is necessary to have basic knowledge of SWE, but it is also vital to move past the basics and experiment with different styles if you would like to succeed. In trying a new writing style, you may not succeed, and you may not provide what the teacher or reader is looking for but it is a vital part of finding your voice, being able to write in different dialects, and communicate effectively through writing. Depending on what type of emotion youd like to portray to your audience through dance, you should dance with a different style, and depending on what type of voice you would like to portray to your readers you should write in a different dialect. As Wallace portrays through his work, SWE is an important dialect, but it is not omnipotent. Students should not be afraid to stray from SWE, just as gymnasts should not be afraid to stray from basic ballet. As stated by Deresiewicz, it is not beneficial write (or do any other type of school work for that matter) just to please the teacher. It is important to obtain a vast array of knowledge so you can converse with a vast array of people.12 Expanding upon the standard is not only helps to speak to different audiences, but it allows for students, athletes and people from all walks to life to innovate, learn and communicate more effectively. 12 Through speech, writing, or even dance.

Bella Chiaravallotti Musselman ENGL111 Project 1 2/6/13 Works Cited Wallace, David Foster. Authority and American Usage. In D. Bartholomae and A Petrosky, eds., Ways of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Deresiewicz, William. "The Disadvantages of an Elite Education." The American Scholar (2008): n. pag. Web. 31 Jan. 2013. <http://theamericanscholar.org/thedisadvantages-of-an-elite-education/>. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Cecilia Musselman, Kristen Starheim, Pankhuri Singhal Ashley Allerheiligen, Adriana Cuspinera Boyer, and Justin Crisafulli for their useful comments and valuable input.