Gamache/ Kavadlo Essay Response

The readings for today’s class are Gamache’s essay “Zen and the Art of the Writing Tutorial” and Kavadlo’s “Preach What You Practice: Zen, Paradox, and a Few Kind Words for Writing Center Tutors”.

1. When Gamache uses the phrase “right mind”, he is referring to the idea of looking first, inwardly, at the deeper philosophical issues that underly a problem or experience before attempting to engage with it. By doing this, you can then come up with a stronger, more effective “right action” for a tutoring session or writing project.
2. Gamache emphasizes that there is a huge difference between giving a student what they need and giving a student what they want. A student wants a full revision of a paper, or proofreading, or some other form of assistance that will help them avoid doing the work fully and on their own. However, Gamache always tries to give the students what they need which is to learn how to do these things on their own.
3. Kavadlo’s main concern with Gamache’s article is the idea of self-examination, and the idea that it could lead to self doubt or self-consciousness on the part of the individual who is being introspective. She claims that critical self-examination is meant to be more focused on reflexivity and awareness, while self-doubt leads to embarrassment and reticence.
4. Kavadlo refers to writing as a “practice”, which means that it often requires time and frequent occurrence in order to get better at it. In other words, the more you write, the better you get at it.
5. I think that, looking at my experiences with meditation this semester, it can be really helpful to look inward because I think it makes me a better writer. If I’m looking inward, I can assess my problems, skills, and other things and channel it into improving my writing.