Facing the Sky: Composing through Trauma in Word and Image

by Roy F. Fox

LAUER SERIES IN RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION, Edited by Thomas Rickert, Jennifer Bay, Catherine Hobbs, & Patricia Sullivan | At forty-one, Lucy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Kate lost her husband in a freak accident. These women-practical, intelligent, perceptive-were also language experts who had devoted their lives to the study and teaching of reading and writing. When these traumas shattered their normal lives, they turned to writing. Through extensive interviews, correspondence, and close analysis of their public and personal writing, Roy F. Fox details why and how writing helped these people make sense of their physical and emotional upheavals, exploring such issues as their motivation, fluency, awareness of audience, rhetorical decision-making, focused collaborations, and uses of secondary source material. | PRAISE FOR FACING THE "Fox is both anthropologist and theorist. Reading FACING THE SKY gives us remarkable perspective-and in the end distance­-on how writers have used symbolic systems to deal with pain. Yet all the while he is opening windows that cannot but lead us to experience some of the pain that his subjects write about." -PETER ELBOW (from the Foreword) | "FACING THE SKY . . . breaks new ground and sows an abundance of seeds for a transformative pedagogy with the power to heal fractured souls in broken times. This book is not only for those in power--teachers, clinicians, politicians-but especially for those who have little or none-a book for NOW that unites theory and practice in a kind of prayer for our times." -SUSAN HUDSON | "Teachers of writing are bound to bump into student trauma before the first semester ends. When expressive writing is on the table, students soon wander into memory. Many will encounter scar tissue and open wounds from their past. Roy F. Fox . . . has written a valuable therapeutic prescription for composing through trauma. FACING THE SKY offers a solid writing protocol grounded in narrative therapy and expressive therapies (art, writing, journaling). The approach he suggests is supported by contemporary neuroscience, which helps us understand that the brain heals when offered the right opportunities." -SUSAN REULING FURNESS, M.Ed, LCPC, LMFT, PTR | ROY F. FOX serves as Professor of English Education and former Chair of the Department of Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum at the University of Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including Images in Language, Media, & Mind, Harvesting How TV Commercials Control Kids, Case Studies in Teacher Renewal, and Three American Voices.

314 pages, Hardcover

Published December 10, 2015

Reviews

[Rebecca Dierking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fox writes with discernment and sensitivity about people using writing to deal with the traumas in their lives. First, as an educator, he saw students use typical writing assignments and upend them for their own needs. He then crafted a course that helps literacy professionals and others to learn more about writing to heal and to try out the practice themselves. This book looks at some of those stories. He begins by exploring what it means to write to heal, its characteristics and benefits. Then, he examines individual stories—Claire who had suppressed a childhood molestation memory, Lucy who at 42 was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Khanh who dealt with the death from cancer of a beloved friend back home in Vietnam, Melvin who confronted the severe abuse inflicted on him as a child by his mother, and Kate who lost her husband in a motor vehicle accident. Each of these stories, and several others, illustrates the intimate and individualist way people may approach writing to heal. Kate, for instance, had kept a journal for most of her life, so turning to writing was a natural inclination in dealing with her grief, whereas Claire was not able to confront her issue within the time frame of the course and instead wrote a manuscript well after the course completed. Throughout his discussion, Fox provides educators and writers alike with strategies to both compose writing to heal and respond to such writing. I initiates a standard for future “transformative pedagogy” texts.

[M.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Fox has not only listened to those who survived trauma, but has offered a supportive path for writing through that trauma. His book is a guide to those of us who have survived the unthinkable and for those who may be in a position to guide others. Knowing Roy Fox professionally ensures my endorsement of his research, his writing, and the sensitivity with which he has approached this very personal, very sensitive topic.