The Myth of the Student Hero and the “Dreaded Lit Review”

Paraphrasing

Nowhere is the student more clearly confronted with their own limitations than when faced with the task of paraphrasing, or, "rewording," academic writing into their own words. Often the task of paraphrasing includes the use of a particular set of rules for how to “cite” the academic texts. In my class, students use the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. As the following representations suggest, the use of APA is a problem for students.

In Willow Wittliff’s comic, the use of "the dreaded APA format" is frustrating, raising additional questions about how the student should handle academic texts. The labeling of APA as "dreaded" raises the idea that this type of writing somehow possesses its own sinister divinity, at once awesome and awful. Thus Willow looks for divine guidance ("Oh dear lord… APA") while feeling shamed by her lack of knowledge about how to do APA, and thus heaps profanities on herself ("shit" and "crap").

Similarly, Claire Dobyn’s comic acknowledges the difficulty of writing APA citations, which she represents as "kicking [her] ass." The idea that both APA and the "lit review" are entities with whom the student battles is very clear ("This lit review is shitting on you right now when it should be the other way around"). In representing the battle between the "lit review" and herself, Claire faces herself in her mirror, pointing an accusing finger at herself, knowing she needs to motivate herself. The metaphor of being "shit on" expresses ideas about power relationships. Who is shitting on whom? 

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