About blogging
Defining the undefinable ...
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The blog is a relatively new type of text, and it is evident that there are no formal rules for blogs - as yet, at least, and since blogs
are as anarchic as the rest of the internet, perhaps never! We are left, then, with the 'blog' as a text type which is as nebulous as
the 'article' - a type of writing which varies as widely as the differences of author, content and audience.
However, teachers need to know what guidelines to suggest to their students, and examiners need to know what indicates a
'good' blog, so we need to try to define the blog in some ways, however loose and vague. This page provides examples of four
different approaches (or types of discourse, if you like), and mentions a couple more.
The samples are extracted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013), a novel which follows the progress of a
young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who migrates to the US. Like so many immigrants, she has a hard time at first, and this is made
particularly difficult because she is black, not just a foreign outsider. She really begins to establish herself when she starts to
write a blog about 'Curious Observations by a Non-American Black on the Subject of Blackness in America', as she quirkily
entitles it. Posts from the blog are sprinkled throughout the novel, forming a kind of commentary on the events.
Here the samples are used to consider directly the form of the blog text type, and the worksheet tasks aim to develop and
practise analysis of the different approaches: what they are used for and for what sort of effects.
The same set of samples is used in the page Race relations in order to focus on the content: the significant issues concerning
race and racism. The two pages should be seen as symbiotic.
Handout
Raceblog samples
The samples
I provide some notes to inform the analysis and discussion of each sample. Note that ...
1. The samples were chosen, and arranged, to demonstrate length (from shortest to longest). Real blogs do not have to
be of any length, and many tend to be short - but for Paper 2 purposes we are really thinking around the 400 words mark.
2. Emphasise that the samples are not there to be imitated - what's important is to grasp the different types of approach
that can be used. Accordingly, in each case, I provide notes about the Key idea (i.e. the central message that is to be
conveyed), and the Approach (i.e. the imaginative technique used to convey that message). Clearly, good writing comes
from the effective combination of these two elements, and students should get used to the idea of thinking in these terms.
3. The Approaches defined here do not have to be discrete, only used in separate texts - many good pieces of writing may
use two or more of these techniques, collaged together. We are not discussing rigid formulaic rules here, but rather
techniques of imaginative agility in order to communicate effectively.
#A The imaginative twist
Blogs may arise out of exercising the imagination - through achieving an unusual vision of some image or concept. This may be
witty or provocative or satirical or fantasty for the sheer fun of fantasy.
The title proposes an improbable job title, and most of the text simply explains why such a job might be of use. This is not a
serious proposition, but it addresses a serious issue through imaginative extension of consequences. This is further developed
through the suggestion to scrap the term 'racist', and replace it with the medical-sounding term 'Racial Disorder Syndrome'. The
basic approach here is that of satiric exaggeration - the unlikeliness of the proposals signals irony.
Key idea - It's hard to decide clearly what 'racism' means, and so who is 'racist'
Approach - Extending the logic to find an (amusing? entertaining?) solution ... so, we appoint someone official to do the
deciding, and/or we find a new word for 'racist' !
#B The fresh insight
A blog may be stimulated by suddenly understanding how to formulate a common idea or issue in a new way. The basic issue is
the question of how one might classify Barack Obama, and the blog's stance is that (i) although "racism is absurd", it's "how you
look" that matters in this society, and so (ii) it is impossible to classify him as anything but 'black'. The key to this perception is
the imagined scene of Obama answering a census worker that he's "kind of white" ... "Sure you are, she'll say". The significance
of reviewing this way of classifying people is to illustrate deep-seated assumptions that fuel perceptions about people of different
race, and very particularly people who are black.
Key idea - In consciousness of race, the appearance of being black (mainly, facial) over-rules every other way of
evaluating a person. This is "absurd", but it's how it is.
Approach - To illustrate and expand, take a famous person (i.e. Obama), and imagine reactions in certain situations
(census question, police profile)
#C The considered theory
Less usually, we may write a blog to summarise a carefully worked-out argument or thesis. This text is based on an alreadyprepared list of 'US tribalisms' - even though the main emphasis is very much on the tribalism of race (fifteen out of the twenty
three lines, in fact). The statements made are fairly commonplace, and would probably be accepted by all of the 'tribes of
opinion' mentioned. The point of the piece is to provide an overview, a clear, almost anthropological survey of major social
structures - although, clearly, on the issue of race, the author takes a definite stance questioning the dubious value of the "ladder
of racial hierarchy". The very simple, 'child's guide to', approach is treated lightly, even ironically (c.f. "First, class. Pretty easy.
Rich folk and poor folk.")
Key idea - US society is strongly divided into social sub-groups (or 'tribes'), according to four significant issues (listed)
Approach - (i) propose the idea of American 'tribalism' (slightly mischievously, since 'tribes' are to do with primitive
peoples, like blacks, aren't they?); (ii) summarise the (fairly indisputable) evidence for each, but concentrate on the race
issue, with (iii) a bit of personal experience to reinforce
#D The extended meditation
One of the most common types of blog is the one that rambles around a subject, noting down ideas as they occur. This sample
reads as spontaneous composition. Firstly, there is the informal direct address to the reader: this instils a sense of the freeassociation aspect of conversation. Then, there are the regular asides in brackets, memories that have just occurred to the writer
(e.g. the 'watermelon' memory in lines 13-15). Finally, there is the 'list structure' of the guidelines of what to do and not do: there
does not seem to be any particular order to these points, jumping from a black cashier, to an Ivy League college, to eating in a
restaurant.
It is in the very nature of blogs to be spontaneous - you can sit at a keyboard, follow your spontaneous thoughts, hit 'Enter', and
your writing is published globally. However ... stress to your students that, for the purpose of writing English B Paper 2 exams,
they must use paragraphs and cohesive devices (such as 'secondly', 'above all', 'finally' and so on). Whether or not real blogs
refuse these kind of structural devices doesn't matter - the examiners want to see that (i) there is a structure, and (ii) that the
student knows how to signal structure. (And no apologies for that - the fact that many blogs are poorly structured doesn't mean
to say that blogs should be unstructured. Structure does help clarity, and clarity helps communication.)
Key idea - Whether or not a Non-American Black feels 'black' or not, there is strong social pressure for any black person
to take sides in the racial issue, by responding 'correctly' in common situations
Approach - Address the audience (Non-American Blacks) directly, giving advice, and listing what to do in as many
different situations as you can think of ... keeping it light and quick, and being both serious and ironic at the same time
The worksheet
The questions are intended to guide thoughtful analysis of the techniques used in the samples. In order to answer, students
should skim through the samples, in order to compare and contrast focusing on the specific technical approach mentioned in
each question. There are no definitive 'right answers', but I would argue that the following choices are the most likely (after all, I
wrote the questions in order to elicit those answers !) If students come up with other answers, fine - so long as they argue their
case effectively.
Which sample ...
... has the most surprising, unlikely title ?
Sample ...A....
... best shows the structure of the ideas presented ?
Sample ...C...
... is based on direct address to the reader ?
Sample ..D....
... summarises theories, and then tests them by an imagined scene ?
Sample ...B...
... uses the format of guidelines to explain the writer's point of view ?
Sample ..D...
... has the most abrupt, punchy conclusion ?
Sample ..B...
... appears to be ironic, and is not meant to be taken at face-value ?
Sample ...A...
... uses direct personal experience of the author ?
Sample ..C....
... bases the viewpoint on a very wide range of different situations and references
Sample ...D...
Other blog types
There are two other common blog types not covered by these samples :
the anecdote ... simply put, 'something that happened to you that makes you think' - and that you therefore want to share with
your readers. An example of this from my own blog on this site is Life's a beach 2, which is available as a handout, and also
touches on the issue of race as well.
the vivid description ... again, based on personal experience, but more a description of what the senses perceive in a moment,
rather than a story with a point. The script used in the page Bullfight afternoon is not a blog, but is an example of that kind of
evocative description.
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