"Not only does language provide the means through which we make sense of a very large part of our environment, but it also provides us with the means to express our sense of that environment for others. Writing allows us to externalize our relation with that environment, and to communicate it to a potentially large, disparate and distant audience. Language gives us the means to put our conceptions to others; to imagine other ways of being; and to make these public, and the subject of debate."
This seemed to be a wonderful basis for my exploration of using writing as a means for LGBTQ teens and young adults to express themselves for therapeutic purposes. Especially since it is a way in which to be able to make sense of the world and tell their individual stories, as Kress points out in the later chapters. We must understand the importance that interest plays in the development of language since "we see the world from our own place, and that place differs from that of our neighbour" ( p. 90). LGBTQ writers can share their experiences in order to make meaning as they see it.
I read with interest his idea that "what people do with literacy is closely linked to an explanation of what it is 'made of' and how this mode of representation actually works; or, conversely, to explain what is or what is not really possible with this medium, and in this mode" (p. 112). It seemed to suggest that we need to continually think about literacy in new ways and I think using writing as healing needs to be explored further. I'm interested in using writing in various forms with this population and for different purposes within the therapy realm. I can see wonderful opportunities for using narratives, poetry, diaries and blogs, in both paper/pen and online. The excitement grows.
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