As James A. Berlin writes of critique in the classroom, "To refuse to engage the ideological dimensions of 'ordinary discourse,' . . . is to acquiesce to injustices that that underwrite class, race, gender, age, and other invidious distinctions" (112). As an instructor of writing, I believe that researching the ideological dimensions of "ordinary discourse" is an integral part of the composition classroom. I argue that students must employ critical skills as more than members of the academy; they also use these skills as participatory citizens.

Following Berlin's methodology, I recognize and accentuate the pertinence of dialectics and forms that students bring from their own cultural experience to the academic experience, creating a dynamic wherein they move back and forth. (111) Often "ordinary discourse" is derived from popular cultural artifacts such as print, film, television, advertising, and conversation.