Williams – Seeking New Worlds: The Study of Writing Beyond Our Classrooms

Williams, Bronwyn T.  “Seeking New Worlds:  The Study of Writing Beyond Our Classrooms.”  CCC 62.1 (2010): 127-146. In this article Williams is arguing that our institutional responsibilities – as departments charged with the teaching of academic discourse – and our specific focus on university-level writing practices has severely hindered a broader, more comprehensive “vision” of what constitutes writing and literacy. W. claims that... 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... Read More

Mallioux and Leff – On Disciplinarity

Steven Mallioux – “Disciplinary Identities:  On the Rhetorical Paths Between English and Communication Studies” This article traces the “rhetorical paths of thought” that flow between and through English and Communication.  Specifically, Mallioux looks at scientific rhetoric from the 1910s to trace disciplinary development before moving on to the rhetorical study of science in the 1990s to demonstrate the large-scale change prompted by... Read More

CCR601 – Williams, McNabb, MacDonald

Problems into PROBLEMS:  Rhetoric of Motivation Joseph Williams In the introduction, Williams makes the point that he is interested in the “substantive problem” of rhetoric – and his definition of this substantive is a little unclear.  Later in the first section, he defines exigence as “a situation that demands a rhetorical response” (3).  Williams notes that students have difficulty writing because they don’t know how to pose problems. ... Read More