Before closing this essay, I would like to return to the literacy needs and desires of the women who prompted my research. I have suggested that the women’s participation in the Center for Nonviolence support groups was in large part motivated by a desire to clarify the situation of their abuse and to seek actions that would resolve the problem of abuse. But the recursive nature of learning to live without abuse and the weight of old habits anchoring women to victimization can make them feel more incompetent with each return to abusive ways, perhaps deepening their shame and making each new effort more difficult. The creative writing classes, though I have no scientific data to support my claim, seemed to make differences in the lives of the participants—perhaps because the classes not only offered them the pleasure of creation, but also because they offered opportunities for analyzing the creative writing of others. They enjoyed these opportunities, and as a consequence, the women seemed to see themselves as more capable, perhaps even more competent. Their abilities to make connections with texts through their own lived experiences seemed particularly important.