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".…

The spaces in which public deliberation most often takes place are institutionally, technologically, and scientifically complex. In this article, we argue that in order to participate, citizens must be able to invent valued knowledge. This invention requires using complex information technologies to access, assemble, and analyze information in…

Compares the current use of prose models to those developed by the Greek Sophists. Outlines problems with using professional writing excerpts as examples of rhetorical modes when they were not written as such. Argues that composition texts based on prose models err by implying that all writing fits into modal categories. (HB)

The dialectic of pitting reality against the perception of reality has been a proclivity of philosophers since the days of Plato and Greek civilization. Most philosophers today regard the availability of a pure reality to be impossible. The world is as it appears to be: thinkers have no access to perfect truth. Accordingly, the matter of…

Suggests that technical writers should emphasize similarities rather than differences between oral and written discourse. Argues that implicit rules of conversation have much to offer the technical writer. Illustrates how the principles of conversation can be applied to the process of writing instructions. (KEH)

Proposes a theoretical model of organizing texts that uses four "master" tropes (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony) as a conceptual framework to represent the processes of selecting, ordering, and placing words, ideas, and images into a text. Discusses possible practical application of tropical operations to nonfictional…

Argues for an activity-based theory of genre knowledge. Provides data from case study research concerning "insider knowledge" about genres of academic cultures. Proposes five general principles as a basis for a theory of genre. (HB)

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 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…