While templates for academic writing, like those offered in the popular textbook "They Say/I Say," have been embraced by some, others still question the extent to which an emphasis on form comes at the expense of substance. But ancient rhetoricians offer a theory of rhetoric that unites style and substance, and Jeanne Fahnestock's modern…

Focuses on two seemingly oppositional kinds of writing, academic discourse and personal writing, and the reasons for labeling two apparently distinct modes of writing as such. Argues that these terms are not adequate for composition teachers. Considers the value of another form of writing, public discourse, for portfolio activities. (HB)

Mikhail Bakhtin's literary theory, particularly his voice-oriented term, "heteroglossia," can easily be brought to bear on the teaching of voice in the composition classroom. Bakhtin not only likes the concept of voice, but at times even seems obsessed with it. The notion of heteroglossia suggests a diversity of discourses or voices, and…

Hip-hop as content in a first-year writing course offers students a powerful way to connect with their worlds. This article draws on Marcel Proust as a kind of rhyme to legitimate hip-hop as a substantive expressive medium to achieve artistry in writing.

With the recent interest in the fifth century B.C. theories of Protagoras and Gorgias come assumptions about the philosophical affinity of the Greek educator Isocrates to this pair of older sophists. Isocratean education in discourse, with its emphasis on collaborative political discourse, falls within recent definitions of a sophist curriculum.…

Proposes that freshman writing instructors incorporate the form of writing practiced by the social sciences. Notes that this form constructs an intellectual bridge that leads from a limited "I"-oriented perspective to the academic discourse community. Gives three examples of writing strategies adapted from the social sciences. (RS)

Students in college composition courses should experiment with a variety of discourse styles--referential, persuasive, literary, and expressionistic--as opposed to a more traditional focus on the mastery of academic discourse. David Bartholomae assigns freshmen writers the goal of becoming like academics by assuming a "language not their…

Studying the life of Langston Hughes in the context of how to teach freshman composition can shed light on two sometimes conflicting pedagogies, the expressivist and the social-constructionist. A discouraging period of fierce criticism, illness, depression, and financial woes coincided with Hughes' 39th birthday, which his biographer Arnold…

Topic knowledge, discourse knowledge, and contextual awareness are now considered crucial for "good writing" by many writing researchers. It is time for writing instructors to stop conducting composition classes as though substantive knowledge is a far lesser issue than "rhetorical skill." Composition teachers can offer…

Classifies three domains of register: "field" (context); "mode" (function); and "tenor" (role interaction). Examines examples of student writing for evidence of register. Asserts that an identification of registers permits teachers and researchers to understand features of text coherence. Suggests implications for…

The most serious approaches to teaching basic writing in the last 20 years have been framed by the competing metaphors of growth and metaphors of initiation. The growth model pulled attention away from the forms of academic discourse and toward what students could and could not do as writers, and encouraged teachers to respect and work with the…

In writing, as in conversation, there are implicit boundaries which separate various modes of communication, and these boundaries cause exclusion, discomfort, and misunderstanding. The existence of these boundaries results in a number of issues, such as the categorization of texts, the differences between writing for English classes and writing in…

Explores Michel Foucault's view of discourse and relates it to the college freshman writing experience. Describes discourse as the aim to expose a fundamental contradiction between the nature of knowledge and the notion of unchanging structures. Compares two student passages to illustrate empowerment within discourse. (KEH)

At Southerland Institute (a pseudonym), in spite of the teacher's strong statements in favor of encouraging students to think for themselves and to work together, the writing program Southerland's teachers outline is formulaic with its required modes, prescribed five-paragraph-like essay form, and bell-curve grading practices. A new rhetorician…

Discusses and problematizes the notion of agency in the English classroom. Considers both teachers and students to be constructed agents in the classroom. Focuses on an excerpt from a first-year writing class. Provides comments from the teacher and four students in the class. (HB)