Sara P. Alvarez
"'Cuando Escribo: When I Write'
On Dynamic Practices of Composition"

TEXT-ONLY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

[music]

[title]

Sara: Okay, should we read it one more time?

Male voice: Alright.

Sara: Alright. We're actually on the second paragraph.

[text on screen: UofL Student Assembly Against Discrimination]

Male voice: Alright this is what you wrote.

[video of text on screen and webcam view of Sara working]

Sara: Whoops, oh, yeah, that was a draft.

Sara: So... as we move forward with our vision, we must be strategic about the rhetoric and our language... Yeah, that's right... we engage in... wait, that sounds awkward, hold on... we must be strategic in the language choices we... make?

Sara: Cuando escribo, when I write, I consider the conversations that surround me. That I have become a part of. I observe, listen, investigate, and share. Observo, escucho, investigo, y comparto. For instance, as I work on the research statement on the screen I look for sample statements and consider how scholar-composers position their interests and research. I specifically  seek models in my areas of interest. I investigate the language these scholars employ and look for their most recent texts to carefully note the concepts and verbs that work.

I like and use strong verbs, though I possibly benefit the most from the arguments that emerge from community conversations. The footage shown at the beginning of this video is an attempt to demonstrate how community-based meetings help me think through my scholarly identity.

These collaborations allow me as a composer to strategize between my linguistic repertoires. They encourage me to dynamically move between multiple contexts and situate my arguments.

[footage of Sara walking outside]

However, walks to school are also instrumental.

[text on screen: UofL Student Assembly Against Discrimination]

Sara: Okay, should we read it one more time?

Male voice: Uhm...

Sara: We're on the second paragraph.

Male voice: This is what you wrote...

Sara: Cuando escribo, when I write, I listen to podcasts that inform and inspire me to do the work I do. I work to incorporate feedback I've received from colleagues and mentors and to bridge my community and academic worlds. I make notes for myself so I can listen to friends and teachers in the community and come back to my piece to answer those questions.

[video of text on screen and webcam view of Sara working]

I then get ready to share my piece and prepare to follow this process again. I observe, listen, investigate, and share. Observo, escucho, investigo, y comparto.

[text on screen: UofL Fighting for Immigrant Rights and Equality Assembly Against Discrimination]

Sara: Cuando escribo, when I write, with my communities, my writing practices become escribimos. We write, and we semiotically engage each other beyond and between our intersecting literacy practices. My composing process becomes a reflection of our collaboration.

[thank you and acknowledgements on screen]