Assumptions

(Source: Smith, C. K. (1974). Styles and structures: alternative approaches to college writing. New York: Norton. pgs. 271-288)

I) Definition

* An assumption can be defined as a stated or unstated, conscious or unconscious attitude that someone takes for granted. Assumptions tend to govern our writing and thinking behavior.

Example: "I will write to you later". Among other things, this statement assumes that "you" and "I" will exist at a later time.

* Assumptions pervade all disciplines and all types of knowledge.

*At one time, science operated under the assumption that science is the absolute truth about nature. This assumption has been replaced by the assumption that science provides only a model of nature--science is the creation of imaginative models that are continually being tested and that always run the risk of being superseded.

II) Assumptions, counterexamples, implications and communication

* Human communication often breaks down because people persist in opinion conflict when the underlying difficulty is really a difference in basic assumptions.

Example:

Frank: That atheist John Wilson can't be a true conscientious objector to war, and I say he's just another draft dodger.

Joe: John is not a draft dodger.

*The assumptions at work here concern what constitutes a conscientious objector.

*Once we are aware of the assumptions, it is possible to look for counterexamples to those assumptions which can help us argue against an opinion. A counterexample is any concrete thing or situation that does not fit an assumption.

*Can you think of a counterexample to the belief that no atheist can be a conscientious objector?

* One or more implications are predictable from each opinion we write.

*Assumptions are prior to and determine opinions or assertions, whereas implications are the possible consequences that follow from an assertion.

Example: Which implications for literacy programs can most likely be projected from the following statement:

By 1995 the majority of students in our classrooms are going to be from diverse (possibly conflicting) cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds who have had little experience with traditional Anglo-Saxon conceptions of literacy and education.

III) How assumptions govern writing

* An important goal in learning about assumptions is to become more aware of the unstated and often unconscious thought processes that underlie all writing, including our own.

* It is important to keep in mind that when you abstract an assumption, you are always making a hypothesis; as such, claims regarding assumptions underlying a statement or position are always open to challenge.

Examples: abstract the assumption (or assumptions) governing each of the following opinions.

1) Some people can write and others can't and that's all there is to it.

2) I'm going into science, so how do you expect me to come up with all those deep inner meanings in a poem?

3) Teacher to student: You are a very good writer--you never have any spelling or punctuation errors in your papers.

IV) Social and cultural construction of assumptions

* Looking directly at the abstract assumptions that govern our own thinking and writing is very difficult because, for the most part, we did not consciously choose our own assumptions from a wide range of alternatives. Parents, friends, and teachers, as well as the books we read and movies we watch, influence the formation of our assumptions.

* Shared assumptions in any one generation or era or subculture are not really infinite, but tend to be rather limited and limiting to a writer.

V) Exercise

* Refer to Scribner's presentation of the 3 metaphors for literacy: literacy as power, literacy as adaptation, and literacy as a state of grace. Identify an assumption governing a curriculum which adopts the:

1) literacy as power metaphor over literacy as a state of grace;

2) literacy as a state of grace metaphor over literacy as adaptation;

3) literacy as adaptation metaphor over literacy as a state of grace.

* After identifying the assumptions, identify a counterexample for each assumption which you have identified as governing the three scenarios.

* Finally, identify an implication which would follow from each of these three curriculum choices.