The Discourse of Academics which was written by, Mike Rose in 1944, is a journal questioning how we can reasonably bridge the language gap between the scholars and the non-scholars or just inexperienced in the realm of scholars. I myself have never encountered a problem that could correlate with his experience but completely see the problem he is referring to. He suggests early on that it is a matter of vocabulary but quickly argues this point by saying that the idea of this would be a lazy way to say they're fixing a much more complex problem. He then goes on to talk about how all students basically live or die by their opportunity to partake in the growing of their scholarly abilities. Because with out this opportunity they lose out on the opportunity to "gain access to further conceptual tools and resources," (Mike Rose 138). And with out this opportunity they will be excluded from many discussions that will help them develop into a part of the academic community.
He then talks about how we can break down the social barriers that could possibly threaten the integrity of a freshman student, saying that they need more time to receive the techniques of scholarly writing. They need to be able to discuss all their new learning's and how they are interrupted by previously taught bad habits. And just being able to discuss problems with like minded classmates. With these solutions that could easily be implemented into any college it seems ridiculous that they aren't today.
I would be very interested in hearing how you reacted to this piece. Did you find yourself agreeing with Rose? Does your experience support or refute his personal experience which he talks about in his essay? Also, would there be other ways students can be introduced into the language of academics other than what Rose lists?
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