Cinnabar and Alabaster

passages
55. "in english studies, the single-authored text is foundational. when co-authoring takes place, it may be suspect or limited to devalued genres like textbook writing. additionally, until recently, our theories of texts did not take into account the intertexual influences of other texts or the broader social contexts of all authoring"; additionally: "what seems at stake for most of us in the humanities is evaluation, the need to measure and rank our members through their writing" & we run into struggles when "we try to award merit to two different authors" for one piece. nevertheless, says wendy, "i believe in collaborative projects...because they allow students to pool their strengths whereas individual projects so often highlight students' individual weaknesses."
56. the logistics aren't hard: "if i want to keep track of student effort, i don't have to be suspicious of pam and monifa, for i can ask that each keep a process journal, or write a summary essay reporting on their learning." an important issue to consider: "collaborative writing takes different time committments....[it] will demand better planning and less procrastinating. the smaller the work group--pairs or triads--the easier the work is to schedule and accomplish"--& "learning- and work-styles come strongly into play"; "for out of class co-authored projects i have learned to let students self-select partners who are more like them, particularly in terms of work habits."
57. & students' writing experimentally means genres are experimental & grading is experimental too.
62. net result: "in the last year, i've found that instead of asking why they are being asked to co-author in the writing classroom, students...tend to ask why they haven't been doing this all along."