In Cindy Johanek’s Composing Research: A Contextualist Paradigm for Rhetoric and Composition I was interested in the article Numbers, Narratives, and He vs. She Issues of Audience in Composition Research. When I was reading the article, I just kept thinking comfort. I felt as though I could relate to this article in a way because I do not feel math is my area of strength, and I know my “lack of confidence in math or statistics naturally leads to avoidance” (qtd. in Johanek 67). But, it might be shocking that I also agree with a lot of the arguments supporting math. Although reading and doing math might not necessarily be what you like, that still does not eliminate the fact it is important.

The solution seemed quite simple to me and it brings me back to several classroom discussions. One in which Dr. Zamora said the only way to get better is to read it more. Another in which Dr. Zamora and several students emphasized a great paper incorporates both your own personal input and research. I think both of the comments mentioned are important to recall, and I also think it is important to question whether our schools and researchers have done a great job teaching and reinforcing both personal input and outside research.

In addition, I also think it is important to bring up this idea that schools teach us to have a variety of sources and techniques, and I like the fact Johanek mentions using “all available tools to make necessary changes” (70). Following the school and Johanek’s advice, is a way to conquer bias which is an issue brought up in the article. But in some cases, I thought it was a good idea not to include all the research because of the way the researcher chose to get the results. In other circumstances as Johanek displayed, it hindered the author more than it helped. In conclusion, I liked the fact Johanek tried every way possible to make others position and her own understandable.