Andre Duong

ENGL1A
Micheal Lasley
September 26, 2016
CRL4
Its Time for Class: Toward a More Complex Pedagogy of Narrative
In Amy E. Robillards essay, Its Time for Class: Toward a More Complex Pedagogy of
Narrative, she discusses an array of concepts that include the differences between the middle
class and the working class, the contrast in the awareness of time between the working class and
upper class, and the essential connection between personal narrative and analysis in composition.
Robillard wants us to understand that working class student struggles with the connection
between his or her difficult past and his or her present life; it becomes extremely essential that
we recognize the way students reflect on the experiences that have made them who they are to
better understand literature.
Robillard begins her essay by noting the relationship between socioeconomic status and
time, which inherently affects composition. Robillard emphasizes her belief when she states, I
want to establish that there are different ways of conceiving of time and that these different ways
of conceiving time are class-based. That they are class-based effects composition because
composition as a middle-class enterprise assumes that all students understand and value the
middle-class delayed gratification... (75). When Robillard states this, she wants us to
understand that students from the working class may struggle with composition compared to
their middle-class equivalents as they have been accustomed to the idea of instant gratification

where the results of their efforts are compensated immediately. This development occurs as the
working class cannot wait for a delayed reward as economic burdens such as bills hold a
higher sense of importance. On the other hand, for the middle class, working and waiting for a
greater reward is usual. The struggle working class families have with time can parallel the
struggles working class students have with their compositional skills as they inherently lean
towards dipping into and out of college, pulling from it what they see as current needs rather
than ideals accepted by the academy and college curriculum.
The concept that different social classes perceive time differently introduces Robillards
second idea that the current academic curriculum may be designed to better serve traditional,
middle-class students than working class students. Robillard states that As long as we continue
to marginalize the possibilities for working class students to develop an understanding of why
things happen, their consequences, their material results in the present (76). As the academy
continues to devalue the importance of narrative, the academy will inherently deny working class
students the chance to develop a class consciousness. Doing so would only guarantee a
continued negative perception of the middle class by the working class.
Thirdly, Robillard argues that personal narrative should hold an important place in the
academy and can be very valuable for students. Robillard states the significance of narrative and
writes, ...narrative provides shape, order, coherence to events beyond our control. Narrative is
more than a simple chronological rendering of events. Narratives... give shape to the forward
movement of time, suggesting reasons why things happen, showing their consequences, (76).
Robillard argues that, despite the little respect the academy gives, narrative can complement
argumentative writing and draw readers into a specific piece, making them want to continue

reading. As personal narrative allows for a connection between a writers present and future, it
allows for better insight, analysis, and an overall better product.
Quotations
1) I will propose that, as writing teachers, we make more explicit in our classrooms the
ways that narrative and the more privileged genres of analysis and argument interanimate
one another (77).
2) We dont affirm a students inability to buy a computer or textbooks in the same way
that we affirm the students street slang as a creative, oppositional use of language (88)
3) We have to pay attention to the present-time effects of the stories we tell about our
pasts. The point lies in interpretation. We understand our present by interpreting our past,
analyzing its details and selecting the plot line (84).