English 700, Spring 2003

INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION STUDIES

University of Wisconsin-Madison

INSTRUCTOR: David Fleming, PhD

CLASS MEETINGS: F 10:00 - 12:30, 7109  H. C. White Hall

CLASS EMAIL LIST: comp-studies@lists.students.wisc.edu

OFFICE: 6187D  H. C. White Hall

OFFICE HOURS: W 1:00 - 3:00 & gladly by appt.

PHONE: 263-3367 (o)

EMAIL: jdfleming@facstaff.wisc.edu

1.  DESCRIPTION

We'll organize our inquiry by looking at three crucial "moments" in the history of composition studies: first, the appearance, institutionalization, and eventual decline of classical rhetoric, an especially influential art of public speaking and writing that played a central role in Western education from ancient Greece to the European Renaissance; second, the rise of composition, an educational project of the modern North American university that developed between the 18th and 20th C.; and third, the advent of contemporary composition and rhetoric studies, an amalgam of the two preceding movements that now exists in a cultural context (with its multiculturalism, anti-foundationalism, globalization, etc.) to which neither seems adequate or even relevant.  Though we'll approach the discipline through this rough chronology, the course will not be narrowly historical: in fact, all three paradigms share certain trans-historical hopes and fears: about the practical and political work that writing does in the world; about the uncertain connection between writing and the self; about the complex relationship of writing to speaking and reading; about writing's link to "content"; about the ties among "practical," "academic," and "creative" writing; about the teachability of writing, etc.

The main goal of this course is increased understanding of, and appreciation for, composition studies as an academic discipline.  But the course should also help you learn about the history of English studies in general, reflect productively on teaching issues for your own professional development, and open up a body of new texts, theories, and practices that could be relevant for your own research.
 
 

2. TEXTS

• Murphy, James J. (Editor).  A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece to Modern America, 2nd ed.  Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001.
• Connors, Robert J.  Composition-Rhetoric: Backgrounds, Theory, and Pedagogy.  Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997.
• Shaughnessy, Mina P.  Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
• Villanueva, Victor, Jr. (Ed.).  Cross-Talk in Comp Theory.  Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997.
• Faigley, Lester.  Fragments of Rationality: Postmodernity and the Subject of Composition.  Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992.
• Crosswhite, James.  The Rhetoric of Reason: Writing and the Attractions of Argument.  Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996
• Herrington, Anne J., and Marcia Curtis.  Persons in Process: Four Stories of Writing and Personal Development in College.  Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2000.

In addition to these texts, supplementary articles and chapters will be placed on reserve or distributed as photocopies in class.  Finally, I will provide you with a list of articles and books recommended for individual reading.
 
 

3. ASSIGNMENTS & GRADES

• Reading and discussion.  There will be some lecture from me but much of the  class will be centered on active discussion of class readings and the issues and problems raised therein.  To that end, I ask that you prepare for class not only by reading carefully the assigned texts and doing your own voluntary background reading but also by leading discussion at least once during the semester.  There will be an opportunity in the first weeks to sign up for this responsibility.
• Mid-term essay exam.  Before Spring Break, you will turn in a take-home essay exam of about 5-7 pp, DS, concerning the reading, discussion, and lectures of the first part of the course.  You will have several questions to choose from.
• Research project.  At the end of the semester, you will turn in a formal research paper in which you pursue a problem in composition studies: historical, pedagogical, philosophical, sociological, etc.  The schedule for this project will likely include the following steps: a) initial problem statement or question, b) preliminary reading report of 5-10 sources, c) outline, d) status report, and e) final paper (due sometime during exam week) (12-18 pp).

Final grades will be based on the following rough formula:

• Reading & discussion 30%
• mid-term exam 20%
• research project 50%

4. CALENDAR     (tentative)