The key terms/concepts I picked out in this introductory chapter regarding a conception of "healing" would include trauma, re-externalization, survival by way of telling stories, importance of community, and normalcy. The opening chapter discussed trauma—what it is, examples of such, who experiences, etc. The authors specifically discussed how trauma comes from a gap in normalcy, and the survivor of trauma feels different and isolated, and can therefore be reluctant to seek help from the community. The community, in this sense, is very important to this person's healing process, as whether they accept the person's experiences or not directly affects these feelings of isolation. The chapter also discussed Dori Laub's idea of re-externalization (p. 6), which is a result of the traumatic event's lack of linear normalcy. Re-externalization is when someone brings the moment outside of his or herself (i.e. in writing) in order to reassert their dominance and control, furthering healing. This, then, leads to the idea that we need to tell our stories in order to survive.
Regarding the discourse of writing and healing, the authors greatly emphasized self vs. society, therapy vs. writing, and informed practice. Teachers and professors of writing are required to make a decision on the subject of how to handle personal writing of this sort. The authors emphasize that this type of writing will not cease to exist in the classroom, therefore it is important to decide how one will approach it. The idea of therapy vs. writing is introduced by teachers and professors trying to walk the fine line of promoting healing in this way without providing therapy. This balance is an informed practice. "Informed practice leads us to value both the writing and the writer, the individual and the community, the public and the private, to see ourselves in the work of those with whom we write and to see them in what we do and who we are" (p. 16-17).
Though I find much of the work to be very interesting, when prompted with this question my first thoughts are that of the opening. The story describing the demographics of the authors' first students and how their life experiences prompted writing that was highly discouraged as a culture. I think it is very important to recognize that those with different identities (whether race, class, ability, gender, sexual orientation, location, etc.) will be faced with different traumas, yet all will go through a somewhat similar process of healing. It is also very interesting to me, as someone who greatly advocates for sharing stories as a means of healing, that students of this time were denied the chance to open up about their lives, further isolating them. In my mind, a writer opening up and sharing an experience is one of the beauties of this field.
I think, as a class, we should discuss the conflict that arises between the passages on and around page 12 regarding Bartholomae's and Freud's resistance, to that of Allen's discoveries mentioned on page 18 regarding the way in which this writing improves students' abilities across disciplines.
