Hawk – A Counter-History of Composition: Toward Methodologies of Complexity

Hawk – A Counter-History of Composition: Toward Methodologies of Complexity Introduction: From Vitalism to Complexity Hawk claims that compositionists consider the term vitalism as an “anything goes” approach to writing and thinking, as an “ahistorical category that subsumes multiple divergent practices, and as an assumed negative counterpart to preferred rhetorical practices that establishes a binary between rhetoric and poetics” (3).  He also notes that vitalism is... Read More

Harris – A Teaching Subject

Harris – A Teaching Subject Chapter One The Dartmouth Conference shifted English away from something you learn about to something you actively do (1). . . or at least that was the idea.  H. wants to use the conference as a way to consider the conflicts that drive work in English – especially the tensions between teaching and research. The America-British debate was bout English as a body of knowledge (discipline) vs. English as a doing/happening (what do we want students... Read More

Berlin – Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985

James Berlin.  Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985. Chapter One: An Overview B. id’s his mission statement: “I will examine the forms that rhetorical instruction in writing has taken in the 20th century classroom” and in doing so will also consider the poetic.  B. invokes the classical Western roots of education and notes that education had long considered rhetoric to be central to good preparation in post-secondary education (by highlighting... Read More

Johnson – Craft Knowledge: Of Disciplinarity in Writing Studies

Johnson, Robert.  “Craft Knowledge: Of Disciplinarity in Writing Studies.”  CCC June 2010. Abstract:  This article argues that craft knowledge can provide a disciplinary rationale for writingstudies. It draws from the ancient concepts of teche, phronesis, and the four causes of making and makes the case for a definition of disciplinary knowledge fitting for writing studies. The article concludes with a conceptual framework that can serve as a heuristic to explore craft... Read More

Harbord – Writing in Central and Eastern Europe

Harbord, John.  “Writing in Central and Eastern Europe: Stakeholders and Directions in Initiating Change.”  Across the Disciplines. In this article Harbord considers the state of writing programs and writing initiatives in formerly Soviet bloc countries.  Noting how writing is largely taught in ESL classes, Harbord then considers the lack of writing instruction in local languages and possible remedies to the lack of writing instruction in Central and Eastern Europe. Harbord... Read More