I believe Anne Ruggles Gere's argument in "Whose Voice Is It Anyway?", is that as long as the relationship is there between the author and the reader (or the speaker and the listener, etc.), the receiver of the story can retell it in the originator's place. Gere has spent much of her adult life speaking on behalf of her mother living with dementia, and her adopted daughter living with fetal alcohol syndrome, and therefore recognizes the importance of speaking for those who can't for themselves. Gere discusses writing and reading as being something that can be done together, whether that's the act of workshopping, co-authoring, or even forming words for another person. I think her experience with her family makes her argument compelling, in addition to her personal anecdote regarding cheerleading. The personal element, or in other words, putting her argument/ideas into practice in everyday life, validates her argument.
What I would like the class to focus on for discussion would be the conflict between retelling one's story for them, and allowing the originator to tell it themselves. By learning to be a part of a collective voice, are we losing the authenticity of the individual? Gere brings up the line from Their Eyes Were Watching God, and though Janie from the story was willing to allow Phoeby to give voice to her story, do we lose a critical opportunity to hear Janie's story how Janie would tell it?
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