Suggests that the essay, despite its second-class status in academia, is a compelling form. Argues that articles have replaced essays as a result of poststructuralist criticism and its preoccupation with ontological questions, resulting in a set of highly technical terms and conceptually difficult problems which exclude the casual reader. (ARH)

A symposium in the November 2006 issue of "College English" addresses the question, "What should college English be?" In this article, the author presents his answer to this question--it should be a functional approach to English studies. By English studies he means everything that is done in English departments. Most English departments teach…

Applauds urging teachers to let students write about what they know, to be more expressive and personal, to make meaning, to discover and explore their knowledge and experiences. Urges teachers not abandon claims to authority or their allegiance to the expository principle even when it is the students' own knowledge and private experiences…

Presents an overview of a three-part heuristic strategy (planning, generating ideas in words, and constructing for an audience) for analytical writing. (DD)

Argues that Richard Whately was a significant force in shaping the model for teaching writing that has been dominant in the last 90 years. (Author/RL)

Defines "literature" as including such expository works as "The Theory of the Leisure Class" and "The Lonely Crowd" and encourages development of college courses in expository modes of writing. (DD)

Describes an expository writing course that uses the student's personal experience both to stimulate intense interest in self-expression and to stimulate disciplined analytical thinking. (DD)

Claims that by being open to the French (feminist) theories of Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, and Helene Cixous, teachers of composition, male and female, might actually engender new textual and pedagogical strategies within the field and beyond. (ARH)

Proposes a way of looking at the process of expository prose--in the nonfiction texts used in composition courses--which students can then adapt, first to become aware of their own composing processes, and then to experiment with them. (EL)

The principles discussed in this essay are the basis for a composition text being prepared by the author for McGraw Hill. (RY)

Recommends teaching students the exploratory essay as a means of contributing to the larger effort of revitalizing the humanities by restoring the spirit of inquiry to a place of currency and honor and by educating people to communicate freely with one another. (EL)

Literary critical prose is a specialized, artifical mode of discourse, and it is a poor model for students trying to learn to write well. (JH)

Describes a remedial English program at the University of California, Berkeley. (RY)

To help students become more honest rhetoricians," teachers must recognize the issues involved in teaching controversial subjects." (Author/SW)

Argues in favor of teaching thesis and the forms of exposition by means of assignments such as personal narrative, autobiography, and observation out of direct experience. Describes one such assignment. (RL)