Alexis Perez

English 1A
Prof. Lasley
27 September 2015
CRL 4
In her essay, Its Time for Class: Toward a More Complex
Pedagogy of Narrative, Amy E. Rolbillard discusses the relationship
between time and social class, and the effect it has on narrative. As a
working class citizen one would view the concept of time differently
than those in the middle class. Their concept on time is based on what
is happening now and what would gain immediate results as opposed
to delayed gratification (75)- a middle-class perception of time in
which they can afford to hold off on gratification to wait for a larger
more rewarding outcome. This perception of time stems from the
personal experiences of those in the working class in which time is
money (85). Rolbillard expresses this with personal anecdotes in
which she interprets various life experiences equating them with
overall generalizations of the working class. The importance of the
relationship between time and social classes is that those in the
working class fail to look at their past and future to develop an
understanding of why things happen, their consequences, their
material results in the present (76). The use of narrative is important
order to have students build upon their past experience to enhance
their understanding of their current situation and look towards their
future. Unfortunately educators dismiss the validity of personal
narratives in curriculum and choose to focus in on analysis and
argument stating that discussion of social class-consciousness that
arises in personal narratives of the working class may be too sensitive
of a topic. Writing personal narratives allows an analysis of experiences
that will benefit your personal understanding and effects of these
events, as well as improve class-consciousness and overall knowledge
analytical thought.
The main ideas presented in this text focus on the devaluing of
narrative, the essence of time being class affiliated, and the
importance of our past affecting our underlying values and actions.
Robillard argues against the devaluing of narrative when she states
that continuing to do so would take away the opportunity of students in
the working-class to understand the importance of making connections
from their past experience to their lives. She believes that it is crucial
for them to make these connections so they do not blindly accept
someone elses ideas as their own. Narrative can also benefit other
genres of writing such as analysis and argument and should not be
dismissed in classes. This idea resonates with in the whole essay even

as she continues to talk about class affiliation and time. The reason she
believes so strongly in the use of narratives is because in the
perception of time that the working-class is usually stuck in.
Carolyn Kay Steedman argues that it is only through the stories we
tell ourselves about our past that we can begin to understand the past
(79).
To suggest that we shift the focus to the social and material interests
[that] undergird our work as teachers of composition (46) while
implicitly disparaging the forms in which we make sense of and
interpret class consciousness narrative and autobiographical histories
is contradictory at best (79).
By valorizing narrative along with analytical writing narrative as
analysis and by making explicit the ways that narrative and analysis
interanimate each other, perhaps we can create a forum where all
students feel comfortable speaking and writing (80).