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last.updated 9.5.08

 

Composition's History

Purpose

Composition studies' history is rich and complex. As with many fields of study, developing an understanding of where the field has been will help you to understand the practices that are currently advocated by the field and those that have fallen out of favor. The field's history helps to explain why certain practices were developed for teaching writing, why some of these eventually fell out of favor, and why some practices have staying power whether they are pedagogically sound or not. Understanding this history will help you to decide how you want to participate in the current conversation through the design of your classroom practices.

Before Class

  • Buy textbooks
  • Read Berlin, Writing Instruction in Nineteenth-Century American Colleges
  • Read Matsuda, "Composition Studies and ESL Writing" CT [773-796]
  • Read Gilyard, "African-American Contributions..." [College Composition and Communication, 50.4]
  • Read Lunsford & Lunsford, "Mistakes Are a Fact of Life" [BB]
  • Choose textbook for Textbook Review by the end of class
  • Choose PAB article from CT by the end of class

Discussion I: The Class

Use this opportunity to raise questions about classroom policies and assignments.

Discussion II: Rhetoric, the Abridged Version

We will discuss the contexts of writing and of the some basic principles of rhetoric; these will provide a vocabulary for discussing what we do in this class and what you do in your composition class.

Activity I: Visualizing Composition's History

You will be divided into the five groups listed below. Each group will be responsible for developing a visual representation of the piece of composition's history that your group is responsible for.

  • Berlin (chapters 1-4)
  • Berlin (chapters 5-8)
  • Gilyard
  • Matsuda
  • Lunsford & Lunsford

Start this process by discussing your understanding of the assigned reading for your group and develop a sense of what the reading selection is about. If you individually have any questions about the reading, first pose them to your group; if the group cannot answer them, then write them down so the group can ask them when we reconvene as a class.

As a group think of a way to visually represent the history of composition as it is narrated in your selection. You may do this by hand (the instructor will provide paper and colored writing utensils) or electronically. Your goal is develop a visual that will help your peers to remember what they read.

At the end of the activity period, each group will present their visual and you will have the chance to ask questions about the readings.

Assigning Work

During the last part of the class, you will get an opportunity to choose a textbook for the Textbook Review and an unassigned article out of Cross-Talk for one of your PAB entries.