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last.updated 9.20.09

 

Composition in Movements

Purpose

As James Berlin demonstrates, the field of composition studies has been through several movements–most of these are responses to the Current Traditional Rhetoric pedagogy developed at Harvard in the late 1800s. Although the field of composition studies has experienced multiple paradigm shifts, many of these movements–to various degrees–still have a significant influence on the methods used to teach composition in the contemporary classroom. In his scholarship, Berlin, also argues that the degree to which these movements' principles underscore an instructor's pedagogy reflects how the instructor wants to teach the relationship between the writer, the audience, reality, and language. Therefore, as you develop your own teaching philosophy, you will want to think about how you conceive the writing process and rhetorical influence of the pedagogical principles you (and others) value.

Before Class

  • Read Crowley, "The Evolution of Invention in Current-Traditional Rhetoric" NBCS [333-346]
  • Read Kinneavy, "Expressive Discourse" NBCS [372-386]
  • Read Bazermann, "The Problem of Writing Knowledge" NBCS [502-514]
  • Read Leki, "The Legacy of First-year Composition" [BB]
  • Read Fox, "Repositioning the Profession" [JAC, 12.2]

FreeWrite

Answer the following questions in "Week 4" thread of the Blackboard Discussion Board. You have the first ten minutes of class.

What is the purpose of the composition course? As you answer this question converse (which includes agreement and disagreement) with the assigned readings?

Discussion I: History, Redux

The instructor will pick up where the readings from last week left off and update the history of composition studies up until the present with a focus on tying in the movements we read about (new classical, expressivism, social constructivism, abolitionist) and explaining recent agendas in the sub-fields that study bi-dialectic writing and second language writing.

  • What questions do you have about the field's history?

Discussion II: The Movements

We will discuss the readings for today's class. We may use the following questions to guide the discussion:

  • What questions do you have about the readings?
  • Should the composition classroom be solely focused on academic writing?
  • Is composition a necessary course for all students? If so, what should be the emphasis of the composition course (as articulated by these various movements)? Why?
  • What is the relationship between the Being-for-Itself, Being-for-Others, and Being-for-the World? How does this influence expressivist discourse?
  • How does/should the study of scientific discourse inform our pedagogical decisions of teaching composition
  • Which movements seems to address issues of diversity best? Explain.