Composition: History & Theory: 1990 - 1999
College Composition and Communication, Volume 41, No. 1: 1991
Description
CONTENTS
Beyond Argument in Feminist Composition - Catherine Lamb (Albion College): Suggests that current discussions of feminist approaches to teaching composition emphasize the writer’s ability to find her own voice through open-ended, exploratory, often autobiographical arguments that assume a sympathetic audience. Lamb is advocating a shift toward the rhetorical: a form of writing that allows for the richness and diversity of women’s voices but does so in a more argumentative form. Lamb also questions how one might implement feminist pedagogy: cooperation, collaboration, and shared leadership through negotiation and mediation. All Writing is Autobiography - Donald Murray (University of New Hampshire): Murray examines the autobiographical elements of some of his own poems. He argues that the “texts we create in our own minds while we read — or just after we read — become part of the life we believe we lived” (74). Murray argues that we create versions of truth when we attempt to write about our lives. An underlying theme is that our writing “voice” is a product of our life experiences. Murray is, of course, also trying to argue that all writing is autobiographical. Theory Building in the Composition Classroom - Howard Tinberg (Bristol College): Discusses a deep division (even distrust) in composition studies today - the mad rush toward theory in the discipline: the identity of teacher v. theorist. Tinberg echoes Stephen North’s suggestion that “classroom teachers are usually not given prominence at CCCC” (37). He argues that the rush toward theory might just as well be described as a rush to get out of the classroom: the ghettoization of practitioners. Observing ones own teaching practices, Tinberg claims, can allow one to gain a philosophical perspective, and he aims to create a classroom environment conducive to creative expression. In the article, Tinberg discusses Friere and the need for instructors to resist banking methods of education. To observe a classroom is to reclaim it. The Rhetoric of Technology and the Electronic Writing Class - Gail Hawisher (University of Illinois) and Cynthia Selfe (Michigan Tech): Both Hawisher and Selfe were editors of Computers and Composition at the time of this article’s publication. Hawisher and Selfe had just released a collection of readings entitled Critical Perspectives on Computers and Composition Instruction. The article argues for the use of electronic bulletin boards and conferences (using networked computers). Hawisher and Selfe give readers the results of a survey distributed at the 1988 Conference on computers in Writing and Language Instruction, which illuminated the following benefits to using computers in the classroom: 1) Students spend a great deal of time writing; 2) Lots of peer teaching goes on; 3) Class becomes more student-centered; 4) One-on-one conferences with instructors increases; 5) Opportunities for collaboration increase; 6) Students share more with other students. The use of computer technology, according to Hawisher and Selfe, may give us greater freedom to construct more effective learning environments: this will move us away from the authoritative classroom where the teacher assumes the role of “expert,” “gatekeeper,” or “guard.”
CONNECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS (Todd S.)
Minor Observations: The names of the contributing authors were absent from the journal’s front cover (university affiliations were also absent) Four of the six featured writers were women. Each front cover contained a heading titled “in focus” that displayed the theme(s) of the issue. Articles seemed much shorter than contemporary issues. Themes such as “feminism,” “teacherly authority,” “collaborative learning,” and “theory” were found in issues published shortly before and after 1991. In my opinion, the journal seemed to be moving away from pedagogy and toward a more theory-based slant. The back of the journal contained advertisements for PhD. Programs in Rhetoric and Composition (ex. Carnegie Mellon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania). The front and back of the journal contained various advertisements for handbooks and readers.
Editorial Board:
Editor: Richard Gebhardt (Bowling Green University)
David Bartholomae (University of Pittsburgh)
Patricia Bizzell (College of Holy Cross)
Geneva Smitherman (Michigan State University)
Victor Villanueva (Northern Arizona University)
Date of Upload
3/15/09