Walter Ong tells us that the noetic--the rhetorical characteristics of feeling, sensation, and intuition applied to a given communicative situation or act--stems from the oral tradition. The noetic contrasts with the print legacy of argument in which "teaching something is the same as 'proving' it'" ("Ramus" 156). Ong's sense…

Writing courses are increasingly popular in higher education. This paper presents a pedagogic approach that combines theory and practice, in an accessible way, to help students appreciate the interrelation of styles and contexts, and develop skills for writing in a range of genres. The approach is characterised as "adaptive application".…

Analyzes Thomas Farrell's discussion of the distinction between male and female modes of rhetoric. Discusses the linking of theory to experience and the creation of nonadversarial argument which suggests two pedagogical practices that can help overcome the dominance of current-traditional rhetoric in the writing classroom. (MG)

Asserts that the renewed interest in rhetoric, evident throughout the professional discourse of English studies, is having a salutary effect on the theory and practice of the teaching of composition and basic writing. (MG)

The contradictory reception given the epistemic approach to composition pedagogy results from a resistance to simple transmission which is built into the approach, so that the approach is constantly re-invented by its practitioners. According to the epistemic approach, truth is dynamic rather than static, and thus continually being re-invented…

Demonstrates the prevalence of the problem of educators consensual, conventional characterization of language. Suggests an alternative, more dynamic way to describe social groups, and shows how this alternative can be used in the writing classroom. (PRA)

In their breakthrough anthology of women's rhetoric, "Available Means," Kate Ronald and Joy Ritchie presented the first comprehensive collection of women's rhetorical theory and practice from the third century B.C. to 2001. With that expansive gathering of women's rhetoric, they raised questions about gender, difference, and the rhetorical canon,…

A composition course for preservice teachers that emphasized writing as a means of inquiry elicited mixed results on student evaluations. The reading and writing assignments were designed to foster what the instructor calls "arguing to inquire." The purpose of this kind of writing is not to take a position and convince others of its…

Discusses Barrett Wendell's theory of discourse, including a critique of his definitions and an assessment of his discourse scheme. Challenges the image of Wendell as a technocrat who never rose above a consideration of style to examine more significant rhetorical issues. (MG)

Reviews research on the "new rhetoric" and written composition, applying these principles to legal discourse writing in the law school curriculum. Notes that the new rhetoric posits that writing is a process of constructing thought and describes selected teaching practices within the reader-writer loop, including reading and writing…