Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Disciplinary Permeations: Complicating The "Public" And The "Private" Dualism In Composition And Rhetoric, Erica E. Rogers

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As Composition and Rhetoric rose in disciplinary status and academic legitimacy the discourse practice of negation, the positioning of texts in oppositional binaries that set the “new” over the “old,” the “novel” over the “familiar,” became embedded in academic tradition, seeming to be an inherited part of scholarship instead of an individual’s rhetorical choice and deliberate ethos strategy. Negation, when one idea or set of ideas constructed by another is critiqued, advocated, and/or redeveloped by another scholar, is a discourse practice firmly established in the Rhetorical Tradition as part of Socratic dialogues, reappears in “modern rhetoric”, and remains today as …

Grammar Workshop: Systematic Language Study In Reading And Writing Contexts, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Responding to claims that grammar instruction has become too limited, Zuidema describes field notebooks, mentor text, show-and-tell essays, and other strategies for engaging students in systematic language analysis.

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 …

Cooking School, Allison Carr

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

As a writer and educator, I'm interested in the parts of our creative processes that aren't necessarily recognized as integral or valuable --the cleaning, cooking, organizing, exercising, screwing around on the internet... All the stuff we do around creation. I created this video, which splices together a double-blind interview between myself and my mother, to show how two totally different people (a scholar and a chef) talk about their creative processes. My contention is that studying the processes of people who do things OTHER than what we do can lend some insight into how we might think about or go …

Putting Words On Paper: A Technoautobiography, Andrew Treneer Pitman

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This project was originally created for a class called "Multimedia Authoring," which is sort of a whirlwind tour through graphic design, web design, and digital filmmaking from both a practical and theoretical perspective. Although the class as a whole is inherently very optimistic about new technologies, because it teaches students how to understand the exciting rhetorical possibilities afforded by them, I wanted to examine a specific case where I had found technological progress to be problematic. This piece explores my personal history with technologies that enable writing.

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

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 …

Writing For Change And Changing Writing: Service Learning, First-Year Composition And Writing About Writing, Vanessa Rae Bormann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a piloted model of curriculum designed for ENC 1101 this teacher-research study investigated how service-learning can shape the experiences of both teachers and students in the first-year composition classroom. The research aimed to determine the ways in which enhancement occurred for students and teachers through evaluation of student coursework, a post-semester student focus group and a faculty interview. Focusing on the impacts of this curriculum on a part-time teacher, this study also aimed to bring to light some of the challenges inherent in service-learning within FYC, while offering ways to mediate those challenges in both course design and departmental …

Metaphoric Competence As A Means To Meta-Cognitive Awareness In First-Year Composition, David T. Dadurka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of writing research suggests college students’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of writing play an important role in learning to write and making the transition from secondary to post-secondary academic composition. First-year college writers are not blank slates; rather, they bring many assumptions and beliefs about academic writing to the first-year writing classroom from exposure to a wide range of literate practices throughout their lives. Metaphor acts as a way for scholars to trace students’ as well as their instructors’ assumptions and beliefs about writing. In this study, I contend that metaphor is a pathway to meta-cognitive awareness, mindfulness, …

Peer Review Writing Workshops, Nicole Trackman

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This lesson takes students through the writing workshop process in preparation for revision. This lesson requires students to prepare constructive feedback for three authors in their class and reflect on their own work.

Composing The Working Thesis, Nicole Trackman

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This lesson will review the proper format of effective thesis statements. Students will review sample thesis statements, reflect on their own work and revise.

Creating A "Mock Essay" To Teach Mla Format, Erin Micklo

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This lesson requires students to write a “mock essay” using fictional sources and a creative, entertaining topic to demonstrate MLA proficiency.

One Quotation, Two Meanings: Quotation Analysis Exercise, Dan Gleason

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This challenging lesson gives students practice in analyzing quotations very closely. The exercise begins with the premise that quotations never “speak for themselves,” and that writers need to explain what quotations mean. To prove this point, this lesson shows students that specific quotations can in fact “mean” (or support) very different claims; in fact, students use a single quotation to advance almost opposite arguments. The goal of the lesson is for students to understand that quotations may be very malleable, and thus they always need clear framing and explanation. This lesson uses a short essay, “What is an American?” as …

Dancing With Don: Or Waltzing With "Expressivism", Bronwyn Williams

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Simplifying Writing, Erin Micklo

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This lesson uses William Zinsser’s essay “Simplicity” to teach the importance of simplifying one’s own writing. Students will work to “de-clutter” a sample student paragraph, then will attempt to “simplify” one another’s work.

The Headless Paragraph: Back-Forming Topic Sentences, Dan Gleason

Writing Bootcamp Unit

This exercise is designed to give students practice in creating and understanding topic sentences. Rather than asking students to create their own paragraphs headed with topic sentences, this exercise gives students the paragraphs and asks them to synthesize the topic sentences from the content provided. Such back-formation can help students grasp that a topic sentence does not merely start the paragraph, but also organizes and summarizes its key content.

A Proposal For Creating A Sports Themed First-Year Writing Course For Student-Athletes, Christopher Osborn Bell

Theses and Dissertations

A sports themed writing course could be a good start to helping student-athletes with their college writing. Studies have indicated that the majority of student-athletes are academic underachievers and are considered to be at a high risk of dropping out when they reach the college level. Many institutions are struggling to find ways to help their student-athletes succeed because colleges depend upon athletic programs to generate revenue and prestige which can also lead to higher enrollments. There is a general agreement that student-athletes aren't getting the same value out of their education as non-student-athletes, but there seems to be a …

Integrating Multimodal Composition Techniques In First-Year Writing Courses: Theory And Praxis, Bret Zawilski

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The body of this thesis seeks to explore the costs and benefits of instituting a multimodal composition pedagogy within first-year writing. Contested definitions of multimodality and multimedia provide a background for delving into the printed-word dominated discourse, where image, sound, and animation are all placed in a subordinate position relative to that of the written word. Within, many theories of multimodality and composition pedagogy are placed in contrast with one another in an attempt to discern connections in the body of already published theoretical material. The primary method of data collection for this document involved the investigation of secondary sources …

Defining And Addressing Expectations For L2 Writers Across Disciplines, Lindsey Ives, Tom Pierce, Michael Schwartz

Publications

A presentation divided into three sections: Student Perspectives given by Michael Schwartz, Teacher Perspectives given by Lindsey Ives, and Administrator Perspectives given by Tom Pierce.

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Beyond Language: The Grammar Of Document Design, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers guidelines in teaching professional writing in an English classroom. It highlights the elements in deciding for a good document design which include layout, fonts and color. It outlines the CRAP acronym (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity) formulated by Saul Greenberg which summarizes the essential techniques in grammar design.

Gore's Science The Kairos Of An Inconvenient Truth And The Implications For Science Writing, Carolyn M. Glasshoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern Americans are exposed to scientific and technical information on a daily basis that urges them to react as well as learn about new ideas. The popular science writing that circulates this information must be portrayed in a way that makes it easy for lay people to understand complicated ideas while at the same time remaining complex enough to convince readers that the information is reliable, accurate, and worth learning. In making decisions about how to accomplish this balancing act, science writers make decisions that influence the audience's opinion about new scientific ideas, how easily the audience will accept or …

Revising Thesis Statements, Leah Kind

Writing Bootcamp Unit

Allows students to see the potential for revision in their own thesis statements. Encourages both revision and avoiding “falling in love” with the first draft of a thesis. Activity assumes some prior knowledge of good conventions for thesis statements.

Thesis Group Activity, Margaret T. Cain

Writing Bootcamp Unit



This is not an introduction to the thesis statement, but serves well as a second or reinforcing lesson. This activity asks students to practice, in the comfort of a group, drawing out and expressing complete, coherent statements from an essay. These statements will be in four areas of criticism: intention, tone, world view and skill; the teams of students will shape these statements into theses. This activity requires one entire class of at least 60 minutes.

Healing The Cartesian Split: Understanding And Renewing Pathos In Academic Writing, Travis Washburn

Library Research Grants

No abstract provided.

Response In Real Time : Bringing Context To A Semester's Responses To Student Writing, Scott James O'Callaghan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Within the field of Composition, research into responding to student writing has most frequently studied individual responses outside the material contexts in which those responses were produced. Advice given to teachers of writing on how best to respond to large amounts of writing--perennially a feature within the reality of the work writing teachers do--has tended to be similarly acontextual. However, further research into response must take into account writing teachers' material conditions and situatedness.

Developing A Thesis And Utilizing Supporting Evidence, Leah Kind

Writing Bootcamp Unit

Allow students more experience with formulating a thesis statement and drawing on specific textual evidence to support it. Students can utilize any reading they are familiar with—this familiarity allows them to already have knowledge of the piece’s content, and ability to use the most appropriate points as support. This activity assumes some prior exposure to and practice with thesis statements.

The Rhetoric Of Space In The Design Of Academic Writing Locations, Amanda Nicole Metz Bemer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation explores the rhetoric of space as it relates to academic computer writing locations--specifically, computer labs, computer classrooms, and writing centers. Using observation, surveys, interviews, and textual analysis, the author discusses seven rhetorical principles of design for these spaces, including designing for specific audiences, attention, clarity, enthymematic flexibility, identification, pathos, and shared ethos. Ultimately, applying a rhetorical gaze to these areas can help us to design more effective computer spaces in academia.

Professional Writing In The English Classroom: Professional Writing: What You Already Know, Jonathan Bush, Leah A. Zuidema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The article offers the authors' insights on professional writing that are taught in the English classroom, in which it is defined as writing within professional context with genres such as formal reports, directives, and proposals. They state that many teachers learn professional writing not only from advice, but also from experience and practice. They also mention that professional writing can be integrated in all fields of English language arts classrooms that can be taught to students.

"And Then I Wrote Queerly Ever After...": A Performance, Madhu Narayan

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Closets come in all shapes and sizes, and coming out takes many different forms.

Scientific Language: The Fear Of The Unknown (A Ualr Course Proposal), Ashley Stanley Block

Theses and Dissertations

Scientific Language: The Fear of the Unknown (A UALR Course Proposal) is a final project written as a proposal for the implementation of a science writing course within the Department of Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The project is complete with a syllabus, assignments, an extensive review of relevant literature, as well as a personal reflection regarding the importance of communicating scientific knowledge to lay audiences.