In this article, I turn to a grounded theory study that examines the experiences of students participating in an individual project-based FYW course, exploring up close the exploits,--practices, and products of one student "writing to assemble." I question pedagogy stayed to theory that would treat writing as primarily a technology of…

This essay interrogates the concept of "clarity" that has become an imperative of effective student writing. I show that clarity is neither axiomatic nor transparent, and that the clear/unclear binary that informs the identification of clarity as a goal of effective student writing is itself unstable precisely because of the ideological baggage…

As writing-program administrators and faculty are being called upon more frequently to help design and facilitate large-scale assessments, it becomes increasingly important for us to see assessment as integral to our work as academics. This article provides a framework, based on current historical, theoretical, and rhetorical knowledge, to help…

Computer technology is expanding our profession's conception of composing, allowing visual information to play a substantial role in an increasing variety of composition assignments. This expansion, however, creates a major problem: How does one assess student work on these assignments? Current work in assessment provides only partial answers to…

While writing pedagogy instructors assign their students a range of writing tasks, often as central or repeated features of the course, a crucial question has not yet been addressed: does it matter what new teachers write? If pedagogy students are being assigned writing in part to further develop their attitudes and practices related to teaching…

In this article we provide a "portrait" of an exemplary writing teacher and the social construction of authority he established with students in two courses. The portrait demonstrates that teacher authority is most essentially a form of professional authority granted by students who affirm the teacher's expertise, self-confidence, and…

Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities…

Reflecting the digital turn in composition studies, multimedia writing courses have become commonplace in many writing programs. Yet these technology-rich courses take on new significance when located within a rhetorically based writing major, especially as a core course. This article explores a developing writing and rhetoric major through…

This piece continues the work of scholars in the field who look to uncover the ideological and textual practices of our dependence on the construct of "race" through racialized metaphors. Analyzing the rhetoric of race in "College Composition and Communication" and "College English" since 1990, I assert that our categorization of what "race" is…

Argues that rhetorical theory enables a constructivist critique of activist pedagogy. Considers two prominent formulations of activist teaching--by Dale Bauer and James Berlin--examining both the underlying assumptions and descriptions of practice in rhetorical terms. (PA)

Echoes Robert J. Conners' call for a reexamination of sentence pedagogies in composition teaching. Offers an explanation of the unsolved mystery of why sentence combining improves student writing, using insights provided by work in contemporary research in linguistics and in language processing. Argues that educators invite words and phrases, the…

Argues that womanist theology (which employs a socioreligious hermeneutic that examines and critiques racism, oppression, and classism) and the texts it gathers can serve as efficacious course content for other-literate students. Notes that womanist theology offers students a scholarly discipline that expresses inter- and intracultural rhetorical…

Assessment, including writing assessment, is a form of social action. Because standardized tests can be used to reify the social order, local assessments that take into account specific contexts are more likely to yield useful information about student writers. This essay describes one such study, a multiple-measure comparison of accelerated…

Surveys the composition scene both as a teacher and journal editor, finding positive improvements such as (l) enhanced professionalism of young composition teachers, (2) growth of graduate programs, and (3) improved course content and methods. Notes, however, that in spite of these improvements each teacher still needs to periodically assess the…