Blog post Week 8 - Case Study Comparison

Lorraine's case study covers only a single project, while the Fan case study is a more comprehensive look at his issues and the approaches taken to address them. I think the former approach is easier to engage with for a few reasons. With a single example the author (Brian Goebbe) implies a larger trend in the student's progress without the audience having to keep track of what information is important. We can assume the problems Lorraine faced with the selected excerpt from the lunch room are the same problems she faced in her other projects. With Fan, his problems are difficult to connect with the actual projects he is working on. 

The part of the Lorraine case study that bothered me most was how Goebbe writes her. The author describes Lorraine's approach to writing in terms of her background. I think this makes for a more interesting story, but at the same time it demeans Lorraine. For example, Goebbe characterizes the student's attachment to academic writing as a desire to belong in White society. It almost feels like the case study is treating the student as a character, rather than as another person. The unease I get from Lorraine's case study makes me wonder what responsibilities to my student I have when writing my own. It almost reminds me of how Lorraine was nervous to use herself as a character in her non-fiction, but here my fear is writing about other people. 

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