Written Communication Oct 2014

The Development of Writing Habitus: A Ten-Year Case Study of a Young Writer

Catherine Compton-Lilly

Abstract

Peter, an African American writer from a low-income community, is followed across a 10-year period as he progresses from first grade through high school. Drawing on writing samples and interviews, the author identifies a set of interrelated dispositions that contribute to his development of habitus as a writer. This article considers Peter’s developing writing abilities alongside these emerging dispositions that include (a) meeting school expectations for reading and writing, (b) being good in school and being a good student, (c) forming friendships and affiliations that involve reading and writing practices, and (d) crafting future goals related to writing. Future success as a professional writer was contingent on his writing abilities being recognized, valued, and taken up in contexts beyond high school. The author draw on Bourdieu’s constructs of habitus and field to explore Peter’s becoming a writer across time.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2014-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088314549539
CompPile
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
literacy studies race and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Bodger (2025)
    Gateways to a Different World of Meaning: Expanding Theme Use in Primary-Aged C…
    Written Communication
  2. Ellison et al. (2020)
    Examining African American Girls’ Literate Intersectional Identities Through Jo…
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  3. Lammers et al. (2018)
    “A Writer More Than . . . a Child”: A Longitudinal Study Examining Adolescent W…
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  4. Anderson et al. (2017)
    Seeing Academically Marginalized Students’ Multimodal Designs From a Position o…
    Written Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 18 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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