Notes on a Narrative

So, what is happening with regard to writing in the years leading up to Murray's arrival at UNH--draw on Kate's work, also on course descriptions/catalogues and info about the FYW program and what was going on in the field of composition during these years (probably post-war years)?

Then, Murray's arrival in 1963 and the field's emergence...

Writing at UNH, 1944-1963

1963-1971

Murray's Teams:

Team 1: Carnicelli, Fisher
Team 2: Newkirk, et al

Laying in bed this morning thinking about this project...interesting the way I am able to or just do close off my thinking about this work for certain periods and then open it up when I am able. The end of the term is drawing near and I anticipate time in the next 5-6 weeks and then in the next 4 months or so, in fact, most of Jan-August 2013, when I'll be able to focus my energies on this project. I feel myself moving towards being able to write, whereas up to this point, I was very much in data collection mode. And I am sure I am still in data collection mode, but that there is less data, now to collect, and the chance to begin shaping the data into a narrative. The data I will need to collect may become more targeted, perhaps.

In any event, what I was thinking about as I was laying in bed this morning was a story like this: first, a story about the UNH English Department during the post-War years, leading up to Murray's arrival. I think I have several data sources here:

1. Catalogues
2. Yearly reports from Dean to President
3. Books on UNH history
4. Books on history of English, generally, during the post-War years
5. Information about Freshmen English during these years
6. Kate Tirabassi's dissertation
7. Books on composition or the teaching of writing during the post-war years
8. The papers that Murray left with Jeff, from his college years (45-48?).

So, I think there is a story here to tell--what kind of place was the English Department at UNH during these years? Was it typical of other English Departments of that era--say 1944-1963--that may be as good a date range as any. What kinds of courses were being offered during this period? What was going on with writing or with writing instruction during this period? What about the extra-curriculum? What kind of experience did Murray have at UNH during this period and can his written work be said to be representative, in some way? And what about UNH, the institution, itself? What was the institution going through during these years, how was it transitioning--this is the larger backdrop for the story.

So, this is one story, the story of UNH and English and writing leading up the time when Don arrived.

Another story is Don's story, or his early story. Coming to UNH for basic training...or maybe further back from that. What about his life story from an early age? Are there sources there? And what about leading up to the time when he joined the faculty at UNH in 1963? Sure:

1. His autobiography (books).
2. The article he participating in with regard to the challenges students face.
3. His Boston Globe columns--many of which are autobiographical--it would be a pleasure to read these through the lens of autobiography.
4. Transcripts of Don talking about his early life.
5. Papers from his time at UNH that Jeff could share.
6. His journalism--a sampling or give a sense of his journalistic career.

I still like the idea of Donald Murray's literacy narrative. I think that that will have resonance--if I can demonstrate that a) his personal story of literacy acquisition wasn't ever officially told, b) that it's worth telling, c) that it informs our work or jives with the evolving ethos of the field.

Next comes a story about the years 1963-and here I don't really have a date, but I feel like I need one, a year in the early 1970s that I can draw as a kind of line in the sand. It would be interesting to perhaps think about two things:

1. What was going on in composition, the field, between 1963-the early 1970s? What is the backdrop against which Don's story is set?
2. What about UNH? What was going on with the teaching of writing at UNH during this time?
3. What were the things that Don was setting in motion during this time? I have evidence of his involvement in the freshmen english course. I have evidence of his involvement in or movement towards becoming a kind of writing consultant...taking his message to a larger audience. There is the significance of his monograph, in 1968, A Writer Teaches Writing and there is the his first publications in scholarly manuscripts. (also interesting to note his earliest professional scholarly publication, which was literary analysis). Important to chronicle the early years and then the period of transition in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

Important dates in early 1970s:

1971: Janet Emig, The Composing Processes of 12th Graders
1972: Teach Process Not Product

So the question is what landmark to identify for the early 1970s. I have a nice moment, 1963, which is rich in significance for both composition and Murray, with which to start a section. I need a moment with which to conclude this section. And what is this section? It seems to me it would chronicle Murray's arrival and then his efforts to collaborate to stir change at UNH during his early years. I might think about the end date of this project as 1986, when he retired. This makes sense. So, it feels to me like there were two periods of work at UNH:

1963-1975 or so--arrival of Newkirk, close of Westbrook/Fisher & Carnicelli collaborations, Don's Directorship of the Freshmen English program.
1975-1986: What's this period? A period of consolidation and growth and really an amazing period, right? Don is writing a lot, he's chair for a little while, he and Tom and Don Graves (perhaps this is another thing to think about, Graves arrived in 1973 and started the Writing Process Lab in 1976)

So there are ways of thinking about what I want to talk about when I write these two chapters:

1. Collaborators--who were his teams during these periods?
2. Publications--what was he writing and how was this evolving.
3. Projects--specifically, what was he doing at UNH or otherwise during these two periods--what initiatives was he involved with and/or spearheading?