Peter Elbow provides a more comprehensive understanding of voice with a taxonomy of different voices in
Landmark Essays on Voice
, breaking voice down into four categories: The Acoustic Voice, Dramatic Writing, Voice as Authority, and Writing as Resonant of a Real Person.
Elbow's account of The Acoustic Voice discusses the literal, actual voice created from our vocal cords - what we actually hear that comes out of a body. He describes voice as our primary form of expression; as a continuous, recognizable imprint that is distinctive to each person even as we age, like a thumb print; as something that is imitable and performative (think of famous impressionists); as something that while maintaining its distinction, can sound different depending on audience and purpose; as something made out of air (bodies and air); as something made from different registers that are a part of voice (i.e. body, hands, pitch); as something recognized by its tone that helps us learn subtext. Secondly, Elbow conveys the idea of Voice as Dramatic Writing, something to be performed where voice expresses a character. Just as we recognize the voices of people we know, we can also recognize the style of a writer because writers too have distinctive voice prints. Then there is the metaphorical concept of voice, Voice as Authority. It has a public presence; it is the way powerful writing is constructed and can move us to tears or call us to action. Lastly, when Elbow speaks of voice as writing that is resonant of a real person, he encapsulates the reason we read literature or listen to songs - because a great deal is being expressed. He raises critical questions as to how voice is transmitted across a page: How is depth (sound vibrating) heard from the page? Through sincerity? Through description? Through the expression of feelings? This is the resonant writer - the one who resonates from the page to us, the readers. Further, Elbow includes the unconscious or subconscious of the writer in voice or when the writer expresses more than one feeling simultaneously, perhaps without even knowing it. In this category, Elbow is explaining the difference between simply getting across a message and what actually happens when a writer communicates feelings in all their complexity.
I will not be teaching students the definition of voice in a mini-lesson; rather I will create opportunities throughout the unit for students to grapple with voice, their own, the characters, and the writers, while Elbow's ideas can be integrated throughout. Through discussion and direct questioning, I will help students "get at" voice and then at the end of the unit, I will reflect on their understanding with a discussion of what voice really is using Elbow's definition.