Fall, 2002
Composition Theories and
Practices: English 681
Hephzibah Roskelly
Roskellh@uncg.edu
Office: 200 Foust; 334-3280
Office
hours: l0-l2, MW; ll-2 T; by appt.
David Carithers
Drcarith@uncg.edu
Office: l37HmcIver; 334-6897
Office hours: l0-l2 TR; by appt.
Composition has a long,
conflicted history, as both a practical response to students' needs and a
theoretical exploration of how those needs might get met. From Aristotle to Peter Elbow, composition
has wrestled with competing definitions of its work and its premises, and our
work this semester will be to explore the field as we define for ourselves what
it means to teach in that field.
We'll investigate both
theories and practices as we look at the link between reading and writing,
teaching and learning, processes and products.
We'll read work from the past forty or so years of composition's history
to consider the host of theoretical and practical issues that confront college
composition teachers. And we'll
continually juxtapose those ideas to our continuing classroom experience,
finding strategies to confront pedagogical concerns. You'll consider as well your role as a beginning academic who
must learn how to connect your teaching life to your scholarly one.
Assignments/expectations:
You'll meet often in groups,
and group participation is crucial to your success in the course. Your group, in fact, will direct at least
one seminar meeting to discuss readings and will make a presentation on a
journal in the field. You'll be asked
to reflect on your experience and contribution as a group member.
You'll also direct the
discussion of one of the essays or an issue in the field sometime during the
semester.
You'll write often and in various
formats:
l.
JOURNAL: Your journal will be your forum to reflect
on your teaching, classroom activities, your reading and your writing. Journals will be turned in weekly, and
occasionally you'll trade with a partner.
2. IN CLASS, short out of class writing: responses to reading, excerpts from journals,
reflections on work in progress.
3.
ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
(l0-l5 pages): This paper will involve
you in observing, recording, describing and exploring a composition
classroom. Its deep look at Classroom
action will allow you to speculate about methods and theories we're studying.
4.
FINAL PAPER (5 or so
pages): Based on an issue, problem,
theory or experiment you've encountered this semester, this paper will
investigate a particular issue theoretically or practically. OR:
Book review and analysis.
Fiction or nonfiction about writing.
We'll share final projects during last week of class.
5.
PORTFOLIO: Your teaching portfolio is something you'll
keep with you during your graduate career at UNCG. It might include:
syllabus, writing assignments, group projects, reflections, student
work. You might wish to include work
from 681 or other courses.
TEXTS: bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress. Routledge, l990.
The
Braddock Essays l975-98. Ed. Lisa Ede
ALSO: selected articles on e-reserve
Week l: Problem solving by triadic means:
Classroom stories
Designing Assignment #1 for l0l
Week 2: Introduction, Braddock
Categories
of composition research and teaching; the canons of rhetoric
Week 3: Introduction, ch. 1-3, hooks
Teaching
and learning; issues in the classroom
Week 4: Discussions: Braddock, Corder, D.Angelo, Matott, Gebhardt
Composition's venue: finding the
field
Week 5: Discussions: Sommers, Connors
How to
respond to writing, how to connect writing
Week 6: Discussion:
Rose, Hull et al, Sommers, Flower and Hayes
How to
observe
Revision
Week 7: Discussion:
Hiatt,
Hooks, Ch.
5-9
The
role of difference in writing
Week 8: Literature and composition discussion, Haas,
Hull and Rose
Strategies
for A Lesson Before Dying
Preliminary
ethnographic looks--ethnog. due
Week 9: The field now: rhetoric of journals
Group
presentations
Week l0: Discussions: Bartholomae, Harris, Hull
and Rose, Brooke
Problems
with error. Grammar instruction
Week ll: Paulo Freire and the culture circle
Hooks, ch.
4, l0, ll, l2
Student
processes and products, the role of the group
Week l2: Proposals for final projects
Rhetoric
revisited; discussions: Ede and
Lunsford, Cushman, Ball and Lardner
Week l3-l5: What's gained and lost in the field? Review of all
Final project presentations
The
oral dimension of the writing class; Elbow
Famous last words
Because
of the assignments, discussions, and activities across the semester, you will
1)
explore
multiple definitions and theories of rhetorics,
2)
gain
an understanding of the historical chronology of these theories and
rhetoricians across 2000 years,
3)
examine
through reading and research intersections among theories of rhetoric and
theories of poetics, philosophy, literature, ethics, and culture,
4)
actively
use and participate in various spoken and written forms of rhetoric,
5)
apply
rhetorical theories to your own specialization and/or interests, and
6)
reflect
on the relationship of theories to practices in various contexts such as the
public, academic, and private spheres.