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Articles 151 - 180 of 237

Full-Text Articles in Rhetoric and Composition

Writers Who Care: Advocacy Blogging As Teachers - Professors - Parents, Leah A. Zuidema, Sarah Hochstetler, Mark Letcher, Kristen Hawley Turner Feb 2014

Writers Who Care: Advocacy Blogging As Teachers - Professors - Parents, Leah A. Zuidema, Sarah Hochstetler, Mark Letcher, Kristen Hawley Turner

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Because we believe strongly that writers develop through authentic writing instruction - and because we see policies that drive practices away from these goals - we have decided to speak up and to speak out through advocacy blogging. Teachers, Profs, Parents: Writers Who Care (writerswhocare.wordpress.com) was born from our frustration with current mandates that limit teachers and students to reductive writing. We know what good writing instruction looks like, and we want to share that knowledge with an audience beyond academia. In doing so, we hope to redefine what it means to be an academic writer and to encourage others …


Let Me Tell You About Homestuck: The Online Production Of Place, Jennifer Short Jan 2014

Let Me Tell You About Homestuck: The Online Production Of Place, Jennifer Short

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the potential for the online production of place, specifically as it applies to the host site for the Homestuck web comic, MS Paint Adventures, and its attendant fandom. The proliferation of digital environments such as video games, web sites, and chat rooms has led to numerous opportunities for the study of online spaces and the numerous practices that take place within them. The lack of physical location in online spaces can, however, make it difficult to conceptualize of a web site as real, a problem that has often led researchers to develop new theories of space that …


Rereading Romanticism, Rereading Expressivism: Revising "Voice" Through Wordsworth's Prefaces, Hannah J. Rule Jan 2014

Rereading Romanticism, Rereading Expressivism: Revising "Voice" Through Wordsworth's Prefaces, Hannah J. Rule

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Students’ Rhetorical Strategies In Translingual Encounters On Campus, Laura Moeller Jan 2014

Students’ Rhetorical Strategies In Translingual Encounters On Campus, Laura Moeller

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This thesis examines the ways in which linguistic minority students assert themselves as rhetorical agents when faced with the expectation of impromptu verbal responses. Based on a study that aims at identifying specific rhetorical strategies these students employ, the goal of this thesis is to theorize ways in which linguistic minorities deal with the challenges of fast-paced, high-stakes interactions. The practices that emerge from data analysis suggest that such strategies tend to be reactive rather than proactive and highly dependent on context. While they are valuable ways for linguistic minorities to navigate their ways in specific moments, the thesis argues …


Re-Imagining Invention (Post)Pedagogy From Ulmer's Electracy To Design, Ruth Elaine Clayman Jan 2014

Re-Imagining Invention (Post)Pedagogy From Ulmer's Electracy To Design, Ruth Elaine Clayman

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is a historical project that traces the development of notable strands of composition pedagogy first crafted by Gregory Ulmer in his 1984 Applied Grammatology that continue to the present day, and groups them together in how they are incorporating multimodal tools in writing instruction that demand innovation in composition instruction. This will demonstrate how the work of certain contemporary composition scholars can be seen as creatively re-working the invention model that was devised and promoted by Ulmer in 1984. Through this history of invention in composition, Ulmer's invention model of writing instruction is clearly seen as both situated …


Sisyphus Rolls On: Reframing Women's Ways Of “Making It” In Rhetoric And Composition, Kristin Bivens, Martha Mckay Canter, Kirsti Cole, Violet Dutcher, Morgan Gresham, Luisa Rodriguez-Connal, Eileen Schell Oct 2013

Sisyphus Rolls On: Reframing Women's Ways Of “Making It” In Rhetoric And Composition, Kristin Bivens, Martha Mckay Canter, Kirsti Cole, Violet Dutcher, Morgan Gresham, Luisa Rodriguez-Connal, Eileen Schell

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This is a multi-vocal, multi-institutional piece that examines ways women "make it" in rhetoric and composition. It is in the spirit of being more inclusive that we present our ideas about women's ways of making it in rhetoric and composition. This inclusiveness includes a written transcript of our audio narratives. Humbly, we present our work in this piece after four years of writing and revising in the work spaces we all know so well and offer several glimpses of the work women do as writing teachers. We honor all of the women who teach writing -- those who have made …


Analyzing Students' Perceptions Of Their Examination Of Writing Competency (Ewc) Readiness In Online First-Year Composition Courses, Harry Pendleton Styles Ii Oct 2013

Analyzing Students' Perceptions Of Their Examination Of Writing Competency (Ewc) Readiness In Online First-Year Composition Courses, Harry Pendleton Styles Ii

English Theses & Dissertations

Due to its flexibility and convenience, online instruction is increasingly becoming an attractive, viable option for many students. In 2008, Norfolk State University began promoting online course and program development as a means of "growing the university." Thus, academic departments have increased the number of available online courses and online degree programs. All degree-seeking students are required to pass the Examination of Writing Competency (EWC) which they are eligible to take after completing two semesters of first-year composition. This study, utilizing a survey and site (course) "observation," analyzes the perceptions of students who have completed or nearly completed two semesters …


A New Field Of Dreams: A Study Of The Writing Major, T J Geiger Aug 2013

A New Field Of Dreams: A Study Of The Writing Major, T J Geiger

Writing Program – Dissertations

Within Writing Studies, the tension between pedagogy and theory, between teaching and disciplinary status receives much commentary. This dissertation explores that tension within the context of the undergraduate Writing major. I begin by reviewing scholarship about advanced composition, advanced Writing, and the Writing major. I read this literature in light of concerns about student subjectivity, authorship, and disciplinary participation. Through that reading, I explore the conflicted status of the student subject imagined within this literature. The subject I discern contains elements of what Susan Miller describes as the normative subject of composition as well as elements of a revised and …


Contentious Conversations, Missing Voices: The Ongoing Debate About Style, Megan Yates Grizzle Aug 2013

Contentious Conversations, Missing Voices: The Ongoing Debate About Style, Megan Yates Grizzle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As I began to investigate the concept of style in Composition curriculums, I quickly realized two things: style is difficult to define, and student input about style is virtually absent from the previous scholarship on style theory and pedagogy. This project, therefore, does not seek to end the debate about style. It seeks to do exactly the opposite. I want to extend the ongoing conversation about style even further, this time to include student voices. My project seeks to triangulate discussions about style to include voices from scholars, practitioners, and students. Students are too often an afterthought, receiving instruction based …


The Apprenticeship Of Laurell K. Hamilton: How Aspiring Writers Learn To Write, Chelsea Ann Pierce Aug 2013

The Apprenticeship Of Laurell K. Hamilton: How Aspiring Writers Learn To Write, Chelsea Ann Pierce

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

How do aspiring writers learn to write? Laurell K. Hamilton’s blog records and presents her thorough apprenticeship to readers. This thesis is a case study of the writing process that she documents on her blog. The results reflect aspects of composition theory including formula deviation, character persona construction, audience function and awareness, diverse research possibilities, revision and motivation strategies, digital literacy and technology acquisition, and the blog as a genre. Hamilton also develops and contributes her own writing process theories. The study reveals that both aspiring and professional writers both adhere to common established composition theories and create their own …


Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Designing A High School Or Middle School Course (Or Unit) In Professional Writing, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema Jul 2013

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Designing A High School Or Middle School Course (Or Unit) In Professional Writing, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers information on the development of professional writing course in English middle school or high school classroom. It mentions that a good syllabus not only provide answers to basic questions, but also to questions that Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins have pertained to as the essential questions. It notes that students learn from writing activities and assessments including how to write in genres, evaluate the settings of professional tools, and manage their writing processes.


Seven Strangers, Rhetorical Devices For Hospitality, Epiphany, And Repentance In The Media Flood, Jimmy Butts May 2013

Seven Strangers, Rhetorical Devices For Hospitality, Epiphany, And Repentance In The Media Flood, Jimmy Butts

All Dissertations

Beginning with the foundation that rhetorical devices are often inherently defamiliarizing, often to productive ends, this study explores the theories, ethics, and praxis behind defamiliarizing rhetorical tactics. Because of the cultural shift toward increasing novelty within 21st century media production, it is progressively difficult for the contemporary writer to speak into the boisterous public sphere, which in turn creates a growing need for uniquely unfamiliar modes of rhetorical intervention. Strangeness offers a lens for seeing deliberate stylistic choices within the information flood; additionally, it asks us to consider how we can compose for potentially disinterested audiences. The examination also suggests …


Reading And Religion: Reconciling Diverse Reading Patterns And The First Year Composition Classroom, Evelyn Baldwin May 2013

Reading And Religion: Reconciling Diverse Reading Patterns And The First Year Composition Classroom, Evelyn Baldwin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While tolerance is the supposed standard of the first-year composition classroom, the writing patterns and argumentation skills of self-identified Christian students often frustrate teachers and create classroom dissonance and interpersonal divergence. This work looks at what apologetic and devotional texts these students are reading before they enter the classroom and then analyzes these works to see how well their content aligns with Composition I reading and writing requirements. To do this, the study takes information from two very distinct groups: religious leaders of young adults and Composition I instructors. The study begins by surveying religious workers to identify the top …


Recitative: The Persuasive Tenor Of Jazz Culture In Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, And John Coltrane, Andrew Vogel Apr 2013

Recitative: The Persuasive Tenor Of Jazz Culture In Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, And John Coltrane, Andrew Vogel

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Jazz is more than music. Jazz is a culture defined by a progressive ethos encoded in sound. By putting the poetry and music of Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, and John Coltrane into conversation, this essay demonstrates the versatility and vitality of jazz culture. However, jazz culture has come to be drowned out in America today, and so I argue for a return to the voices of jazz's past so that we can give a new ear to jazz artists working today. Such listening should be seen as a means to reinvigorate progressive values today and in the future.


Teaching Rhetorical Strategies And Workplace Discourse Conventions In First-Year Composition, Natalie Rego Mar 2013

Teaching Rhetorical Strategies And Workplace Discourse Conventions In First-Year Composition, Natalie Rego

Theses and Dissertations

In general, Composition I and II are required across the board for every student regardless of academic major. For some students, First-Year Composition (FYC) is the only writing instruction they will receive before making the transition into the workplace. Subsequently, FYC is the opportune time to teach rhetorical strategies and to expose students to the workplace discourses that will be relevant to their professional lives. This thesis proposes a curriculum for a composition II course that has two aims: to teach students rhetorical strategies and to expose students to multiple genres and discourse communities. This thesis shows that it is …


"Game Recognize Game": How Hip-Hop Rhetoric Affects Perceptions Of Composition In College Freshmen, Ages 18-24, Veronica Nanette Williams Mar 2013

"Game Recognize Game": How Hip-Hop Rhetoric Affects Perceptions Of Composition In College Freshmen, Ages 18-24, Veronica Nanette Williams

Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to help justify hip-hop as a valid example of rhetoric, this project is an informal investigation of how the hip-hop rhetoric affects perceptions of composition in college freshmen ages 18-24 using a small survey sample of first-year composition students. The resulting data indicates that hip-hop rhetoric does affect the perceptions of composition in hip-hop oriented students, specifically, hip-hop rhetoric's emphasis on ethos, or authenticity, seems to influence those students' assessments of their college compositions in terms of classical rhetorical aims.


Universal Design In First-Year Composition – Why Do We Need It, How Can We Do It?, Danielle Nielsen Jan 2013

Universal Design In First-Year Composition – Why Do We Need It, How Can We Do It?, Danielle Nielsen

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Ensuring that all students can access information, demonstrate mastery, and feel comfortable in the classroom is important, yet first-year composition faculty may find reaching the diverse populations in their classrooms daunting. Learning styles, comfort levels with writing and English language skills, disabilities, and family life impact all students, leaving us to wonder how best to facilitate student success. This essay, in taking up the question of universal student success, explores Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the first-year composition classroom and its benefits to both students and teachers. I first define Universal Design for Learning and then attend briefly to …


Theoretical Communities Of Praxis: The University Writing Center A Cultural Contact Zone, Randall William Monty Jan 2013

Theoretical Communities Of Praxis: The University Writing Center A Cultural Contact Zone, Randall William Monty

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The fundamental purpose of Theoretical Communities of Praxis: The University Writing Center as Cultural Contact Zone is to investigate the situatedness of Writing Center Studies, defining it as an autonomous (sub)discipline and interdisciplinary contact zone within the larger discipline of Rhetoric and Composition. In order to meet this objective, a "Communities of Praxis" methodological and theoretical framework, based on scholarship of Critical Discourse Analysis, ecocomposition, and Contextualist Research Paradigm, is applied in the analysis of a variety of WCS discourses. In doing so, WCS is repositioned as a series of interrelated, triangulated contact zones that are based on collaborative interactions …


W.02 The Political Turn: Writing Democracy For The 21st Century, Brian Hendrickson Jan 2013

W.02 The Political Turn: Writing Democracy For The 21st Century, Brian Hendrickson

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

The morning of the CCCC preconvention workshops feels a lot like the beginning of a marathon. The atmosphere is full of both excitement and apprehension as attendees slowly fill the seats around each table—a few seasoned veterans casual in their conversation and demeanor, as if the morning were just like any other, whereas others appear to be only half present, staring far off into space as if trying to focus on imagining what it will feel like to finally cross the finish line and not what it will take to get there. I arrived at this year’s “The Political Turn: …


Mapping Dissertation Genre Ecology, Kate Lisbeth Pantelides Jan 2013

Mapping Dissertation Genre Ecology, Kate Lisbeth Pantelides

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though the pervasive rumor that the “traditional” dissertation persists because of the “I suffered, so they too should suffer” mentality — the professor revenge theory — students are often the ones eager to pin down writing genres so that they can master them. However, hopes to stabilize and thus capture the secret or equation of the dissertation genre are futile, since genres, like language, are alive: rhetorical, evolving, and flexible. Thus, to demonstrate the contemporary context of the dissertation genre, the conflicting perspectives of university stakeholders, the forces working on the genre to enact change, and the process by which …


When The Virtual Meets The Real: An Assessment Of The Benefits And "Costs" Of Open Access Texts For First Year Writing Courses At Cuny, Johannah Rodgers Nov 2012

When The Virtual Meets The Real: An Assessment Of The Benefits And "Costs" Of Open Access Texts For First Year Writing Courses At Cuny, Johannah Rodgers

Publications and Research

An assessment of the advantages, drawbacks, and costs of Open Access / OER texts for First Year Writing courses at CUNY.


Intermodality In Teaching Writing, Margarette Christensen Oct 2012

Intermodality In Teaching Writing, Margarette Christensen

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation articulates a writing pedagogy based on a theory of intermodality to help writing instructors navigate the affordances and challenges of multimodal composition. Drawing from recent discoveries in neuroscience about how the brain makes meaning, I situate this pedagogy of intermodality – literally, “between the modes” – within the Rhetoric and Composition traditions of embodied rhetoric and visual/multi-sensory rhetoric. A pedagogy attuned to intermodality capitalizes on how the senses (“modes”) work together to create meaning when composing with sound, image, movement, and text. In addition to the five senses, intermodality also incorporates the cultural, social, and material aspects of …


Inventing Laughter: Comedic Writing Practices And The Limits Of Pedagogical Power, Daniel Liddle Aug 2012

Inventing Laughter: Comedic Writing Practices And The Limits Of Pedagogical Power, Daniel Liddle

All Theses

This thesis conducts an examination of the writing methods used by stand-up comedians using the lens of the rhetorical canon of invention. The study applies the theories of Thomas Rickert, Diane Davis, Ann Berthoff, and Janice Lauer in order to define the relationship between humor and epistemology, and to consider how this comedic-epistemic perspective can inform pedagogical practices in the composition classroom. This study relies mainly on the rhetorical analysis of 'How To' books on writing comedy, the methodologies of schools of comedy, as well as biographies by/about comedians in order to discuss the relationship between comedians and their 'material.' …


Food For Thought: Sustainability, Community-Engaged Teaching And Research, And Critical Food Literacy, Dianna Winslow Jun 2012

Food For Thought: Sustainability, Community-Engaged Teaching And Research, And Critical Food Literacy, Dianna Winslow

Writing Program – Dissertations

Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. Marion Nestle's Food Politics. Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. The films Food, Inc. and The Future of Food. Debates over the industrialized food and farming system currently circulating in nonfiction books, documentaries, and public forums have immediacy for college students--and for anyone who eats. Food for Thought: Sustainability, Community-Engaged Teaching and Critical Food Literacy argues that fostering the development of critical food literacy is necessary for college students to have a voice in current and future public conversations on food politics and environmental sustainability, and the social …


The Effects Of Service-Learning On Student Writing And Research, Kimberly Anne Pierce May 2012

The Effects Of Service-Learning On Student Writing And Research, Kimberly Anne Pierce

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Several researchers have investigated the outcomes achieved by service-learning; however, the primary focus of many of these studies is on student engagement or the development of civic outcomes. Edward Zlotkowski and Paul Feigenbaum have argued that researchers should look beyond these benefits to discover how service-learning might enhance course work and academic goals. Despite the calls for further research, studies investigating the academic outcomes of service-learning are limited, and those focused on writing outcomes are fewer still. This study, building off the concerns of Zlotkowski and Feigenbaum and utilizing student interviews and artifact analysis, investigates how service-learning affects student writing …


The Electrate Blues, Pearce Durst Apr 2012

The Electrate Blues, Pearce Durst

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

The following piece articulates a connection between blues music and electronic literacy. I visualize this connection by harmonizing the three dominant chords of the blues (one-four-five) with the three dominant modes of electronic literacy (audio-text-images). The content on each page contextualizes this relationship between music and electronic literacy both historically and personally. The inspiration for this work derives from connections I began to note while simultaneously learning how to play guitar and teach a class on multimedia authoring.


Electronic Peer Feedback In A Collaborative Classroom, Cassandra A. Branham Mar 2012

Electronic Peer Feedback In A Collaborative Classroom, Cassandra A. Branham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the ways in which frequency and reflexivity affect student engagement with the peer feedback process. I study the peer e-feedback sessions conducted via My Reviewers in a pilot model of Composition 2 at a large research university in the southeast in order to determine if an increased focus on the peer feedback activity might enhance the effectiveness of the process. Through textual analysis and survey results, I determine that an increased focus on electronic peer feedback along with an increase in frequency and reflexivity helps to minimize some common criticisms of the peer feedback process. In this …


Writing With An English As A Second Language (Esl) Student, Sara Mulcahy Jan 2012

Writing With An English As A Second Language (Esl) Student, Sara Mulcahy

Undergraduate Review

This paper explores the pedagogies and practices of teaching writing to English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students. With growing numbers of ESL students entering colleges and universities, it is important to be aware of the challenges facing ESL students. Equally important is awareness of what methodologies and practices work best when assisting ESL students with their writing. This paper serves as a final report for a service learning project that consisted of one-on-one workshops with a Japanese ESL student. This final report draws on various secondary sources and primary research in order to explore the writing development of this particular ESL student. It …


Engaging And Enacting Writing In First-Year Composition: Re-Imagining Student Self-Efficacy In Writing, Mary L. Tripp Jan 2012

Engaging And Enacting Writing In First-Year Composition: Re-Imagining Student Self-Efficacy In Writing, Mary L. Tripp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to educational theory, learning to write necessitates self-belief that one is capable of performing required tasks. This belief is called self-efficacy, a component of human agency. Students who enter First-Year Composition (FYC), are often unaware of the writing challenges that lie ahead, and many educational psychologists posit that self-efficacy beliefs are the most important factor in meeting these writing challenges. While socio-cognitive theory shapes views of self-efficacy in education literature, to date, measures of self-efficacy in writing have focused only on the individual cognitive beliefs as they influence writing performance outcomes. However, current research in writing studies as well …


Writing Across Institutions: Studying The Curricular And Extracurricular Journeys Of Latina/O Students Transitioning From High School To College, Todd Ruecker Jan 2012

Writing Across Institutions: Studying The Curricular And Extracurricular Journeys Of Latina/O Students Transitioning From High School To College, Todd Ruecker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is based on a year and a half multi-institutional study of seven Mexican American students transitioning from high school to a community college or a university. It explores the differences between high school, community college, and university literacy environments, focusing on the following: the impact of standardized testing at the high school level, the role of rhetoric and composition disciplinary expertise in shaping first-year composition (FYC) curricula, writing in the disciplines, and the digital divide between institutions. Seven case studies examine students' literacy experiences across institutions as well as both challenges and sources of support in and beyond …