Composition Studies

The RHIZOME Project

by Martin E. Rosenberg

_The RHIZOME Project_ (1988-91; @1991), co-authored with Tom I. Ellis, and created in Hypercard. _RHIZOME_ was a critical thinking hypertext which offered creative as well as rhetorical and logical heuristics for the writing of a range of undergraduate essays. It was available at numerous writing programs in the early 1990's, and several articles were generated to explain its theoretical as well as pedagogical implications. Two other programmers, Stuart Selber, and Johndan Johnson-Eiola, worked briefly on the interface in 1991.

The RHIZOME Project was an experiment in instructional software to use the decision-tree environment of hypertext to... more The RHIZOME Project was an experiment in instructional software to use the decision-tree environment of hypertext to model specific sequential (as in narrative and logic) and non-sequential (as in creative and associative) thought strategies to help students write academic and creative essays. It was available at numerous writing programs in the early 1990's, including U Michigan, UC Berkeley, ASU, University of Illinois and Carnegie Mellon U. Comprised of separate "stacks" each modeling a specific heuristic, these stacks included:
1. Jazzwriting--a non-linear and recursive environment for generating and then exfoliating ideas in response to an automated or self-initiated prompt. Designed with the composing practices of BeBop jazz musicians in mind (improvisation/composition/improvisation), it offered recursive access to strategies for the improvisation of thoughts, and guided students to explore their more formal elaboration according to the rules of rhetoric, which was then linked to another "stack called:
2. Brainstorming--a non-linear, yet also sequential cluster of rhetorical heuristics: "Narrative," "Description," "Definition," "Comparison/Contrast," "Argument,"--each of which consitituted a "stack" which contained a sequence of prompts (often based on challenging heuristics such as Kenneth Burke's Pentad, for Narrative) to help expand the range of implications of ideas generated spontaneously in Jazzwriting. It was also possible to "jump" randomly or deliberately from one to the other of these heuristics, so that five separate threads of thought might be developed from the initial Jazzwriting responses. All five of these stacks then were projected into the next stack:
3. Arguprompt--which guided students through a series of prompts that would generate positions, assumptions, arguments and evidence, objections and replies to those objections, in such a way that each prompt generated a paragraph in sequence. At any point in the process of "inventing" and "arranging" an argument, the user could highlight and then export a particular assertion into another "stack" called:
4. Enthymemes--which would, through the use of dialog boxes, center that assertion into the form of an Enthymeme, which would then prompt the student to respond to a few questions. Answering these additional questions would then trigger the hypertext program to translate the Enthymeme into a formal syllogism; and then offer the opportunity to translate that socratic syllogism into a Toulmin unit of logic, with assumptions and grounds for those assumptions. Furthermore, from Arguprompt, the students could access another stack called:
5. Style--which would offer students exercises to work on semantics, grammar and syntax.
As the student progressed through the sequence of four distinct environments, or worked exclusively with just one of them, the student could export generated text to a word processing program for further engagement with the processes of invention, arrangement and style.

Informed by the specific practices of jazz musicians and composers, the behavior of bifurcating systems in non-equilibrium thermodynamics described by Ilya Prigogine, as well as the non-linear models from philosophy exemplified by the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari and their concept of the rhizome, the project was an application of the theories explored in my theoretical dissertation: _Being and Becoming: Physics, Hegemony, Art and the Nomad in the Works of Ezra Pound, Marcel Duchamp, Samuel Beckett, John Cage and Thomas Pynchon_ (1989). This project was followed by an online real-time text-based virtual reality classroom of multiple rooms with functional tools at the Media Lab MOO called _MER's Fungal Palace_ (1996), with which I taught several graduate seminars linked to seminars at other universities (1996-8); and _Chess RHIZOME_, an exploratory hypermedia database to explore the contradictory epistemological implications of the metaphor of chess across all disciplinary formations (1998).

Representations of Self in Reflection Essays of Philippine University Students (2011)

by Isabel Pefianco Martin

In the Philippines, there are few, if any, studies of student compositions that investigate the use of language as an... more In the Philippines, there are few, if any, studies of student compositions that investigate the use of language as an effective, efficient, and creative means of expressing the self. This study is an attempt to contribute to knowledge about student writing in the Philippines. In particular, the study aims to describe the various ways freshman students from a private university in Manila represent themselves in their reflection essays, a writing task required in the core humanities courses of the university. Two sets of compositions, one written in the English language and another in the Filipino language, are analyzed for ways in which self-representation is realized by the student writers. As the study focuses on how the Filipino students represent themselves in their essays, both English and Filipino compositions were examined for grammatical/ lexical features and for the types of speech act verbs employed in the essays. More specifically, the study investigates the use of (1) first person referencing, (2) modals, and (3) types of illocutionary points. The results of the investigation reveal that for both English and Filipino compositions, student writers have a tendency to (1) limit their use of first person referencing, with fewer first person pronouns employed in the Filipino corpus; (2) limit the use of modals, with fewer modals observed in the Filipino corpus; and (3) employ more assertive illocutionary points than declarative points, and fewer commissive and expressive points in both English and Filipino compositions. From the results, one may conclude that (1) the student writers involved in the study do not seem to present themselves as active subjects or agents in the writing process, and (2) the reflection essay may be a useful tool for writing pedagogy and student formation.

KEYWORDS: Composition studies; Speech acts; Teaching writing

"Successes, Victims, and Prodigies: 'Master' and 'Little' Cultural Narratives in the Literacy Narrative Genre"

by Kara Poe Alexander

Alexander, Kara Poe. (2011). Successes, Victims, and Prodigies: “Master” and “Little” Cultural Narratives in the Literacy Narrative Genre. College Composition and Communication, 62(4): 608-633. 

This article examines the “master” and “little” cultural narratives students perform in literacy narratives. Results... more This article examines the “master” and “little” cultural narratives students perform in literacy narratives. Results show that students incorporate the literacy-equals-success master narrative most often, yet they also include in little narratives figures such as the hero, victim, and child prodigy. I consider how these findings can improve instruction on this topic and conclude with pedagogical recommendations. 

"Interaction of Author, Audience, and Purpose in Multimodal Texts: "Students’ Discovery of Their Role as Composer

by Kara Poe Alexander

Powell, Beth. Alexander, Kara Poe, and Borton, Sonya. (2011). Interaction of Author, Audience, and Purpose in Multimodal Texts: Students’ Discovery of Their Role as Composer. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. PraxisWiki. 15(2). Webtext/Multimedia Composition.

This article highlights how the rhetorical situation of audience, purpose, and context shifts when students go from... more This article highlights how the rhetorical situation of audience, purpose, and context shifts when students go from composing print-based alphabetic texts to multimodal texts that combine more than one mode and argues that multimodal composition can maximize students’ learning of rhetorical principles.

Implicit response: Instructor values and social class in the literacy narrative assignment

by Kara Poe Alexander

This is my dissertation. Contact me if you would like more information.

"Literacy Practices and Literacy Events of a 21st Century American Child"

by Kara Poe Alexander

Alexander, Kara Poe. (2004). Literacy Practices and Literacy Events of a 21st Century American Child. [Digital Video Composition] Computers and Composition Online: An International Journal, 2(1). http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/theory.htm (13:40). This essay is a video composition published online. The downloadable file is the references list..

This digital video essay argues that college composition courses need to consider the multiple literacies that 21st... more This digital video essay argues that college composition courses need to consider the multiple literacies that 21st Century students will bring to our classrooms. This essay uses one case study to argue that these children create interactive, intertextual, and creative texts that allow them to merge their personal literacy practices with those taught in school. I end by theorizing how these current literacy practices might impact composition classrooms of the future.

Subversion, intertextuality, the ethics of care and multivocality in women's ways of writing: An introduction and annotated bibliography

by Cynthia Mahaffey

An examination of the "women's ways of writing" movement as subversive and interrogative of early views of... more An examination of the "women's ways of writing" movement as subversive and interrogative of early views of gendered writing

Implementing 21st-century Literacies in First-Year Composition

by Maggie Gordon Froehlich

Co-authored with Peter Alan Froehlich, Pennsylvania State University

Based on the NCTE’s statement on 21st-century literacies and the WPA’s Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition,... more Based on the NCTE’s statement on 21st-century literacies and the WPA’s Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition, in 2008, we transformed our cultural-studies approach to first-year writing (at a sister/partner campus) to incorporate writing for the web and digital media. In this essay, we discuss the course redesign and changes we have made to the syllabus in subsequent semesters, ending with some food for thought for faculty considering making such changes in their own teaching of FYC.

Join the REx Collective

by Jenn Fishman

REx editors include Jenn Fishman, Joan Mullin, and Mike Palmquist.

The Research Exchange Index or REx  is designed to recognize local, national, and international writing... more The Research Exchange Index or REx  is designed to recognize local, national, and international writing researchers by periodically collecting and publishing information about the research studies they've conducted. All writing researchers are invited to contribute by uploading information about their work. In addition, writing researchers, teachers, and students are invited to help build and shape REx by joining the editorial collective as an acquisitions editor or an editorial reviewer. To learn more, download the attached paper or contact the REx editors: RExchangeContact@gmail.com.

“An Auditory Journey through Dante’s Inferno.”

by Shannon Howard

Learning and Leading with Technology. International Society of Technology in Education. October 2006.

Wearing the Rainbow Triangle: The Effect of Out Lesbian Teachers and Lesbian Teacher Subjectivities on Student Choice of Topics, Student Writing, and Student …

by Cynthia Mahaffey

(Sacra)Mentality: Catholic Identity in the Postmodern Classroom

by Jeffrey Cain

"(Sacra)Mentality: Catholic Identity in the Postmodern Classroom." in Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom. Ed. Elizabeth Van Der Lei and Bonnie Lenore Kyburz. Portsmouth: Heinemann Boynton / Cook, 2005. (167-183)

This paper problematizes and attempts to negotiate some of the difficulties in dealing with the rather... more This paper problematizes and attempts to negotiate some of the difficulties in dealing with the rather organically-charged outlook of certain Papal writings on teaching in Catholic Universities, most notably Ex Corde Ecclesiae (1990) and Fides et Ratio (1998). This was an early essay in which I attempted—with only partial success--to invoke Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the Body without Organs in order to open up new ways of thinking about the culture of composition teaching as it subsists inside Church-influenced higher education. My basic argument is that an experience of true multiplicity allows students an understanding of the "organ-ized" Church structure; it also provides ways to think beyond and around the stratified organs productively, without doing violence to the body of the Church or the organs themselves (a point that Deleuze and Guattari insist upon, in a more general context, in A Thousand Plateaus [1988])

Ethics, Ethos, Habitation

by James Comas

Ethical Issues in College Writing, edited by Fredric G. Gale, Phillip Sipiora, and James L. Kinneavy, 75-89. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 1999.

Using Electronic Discussion to Teach Literary Analysis

by Kevin LaGrandeur

In "Computers and Texts" 12 (July, 1996); available at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ctitext2/publish/comtxt/ct12/lagrand.html

There are numerous avenues for engaging in electronic discussion. The classroom practice I shall describe below could... more There are numerous avenues for engaging in electronic discussion. The classroom practice I shall describe below could be done on the Internet via environments known as MOO's or MUD's, which are accessible to anyone via 'virtual classrooms' on the Internet (one I have used, because it is big, and easy to access, is the University of Texas Internet site called Diversity University). In my classes I was not involved in distance learning, and so was not seeking a surrogate for oral discussion, but a means of enhancing it. Hence, rather than using an Internet site, I used an ENFI program installed on our Local Area Network (LAN), and I brought my students to the computer lab for some of our discussions of literature.

Splicing Ourselves Into the Machine: Electronic Communities, Systems Theory, and Composition Studies.

by Kevin LaGrandeur

Published in: ERIC, March, 1998: ED 410 563.

Computer mediated communication (CMC) tends to erase power structures because such communication somehow undermines or... more Computer mediated communication (CMC) tends to erase power structures because such communication somehow undermines or escapes discursive limits. Online discussions seem to promote rhetorical experimentation on the part of the participants. Finding a way to explain disparities between electronic discussion and oral discussion has proven difficult. Those in composition studies have tried to theorize CMC by reference to postmodern theory, but another form of theory that might help in the investigation of the nature of online communities derives from cybernetics and from information theory. Cybernetics' wider implications have led to the advent of a second-order cybernetics or systems theory--self-organizing, self-making, or autopoietic. Reflexivity provides an implicit reason for the difficulty of controlling electronic class discussion. Third wave cybernetics can be used in conjunction with social applications of systems theory to think about what happens when machines, teachers, and students are all "spliced" into one grand system. It seems that traditional approaches to class discussion with the instructor controlling the flow and order make it natural for teachers to view electronic communities as the early cyberneticists did, as allopoietic mechanisms whose goals can be set and observed. Though control of a system with multiple, dynamic elements may be somewhat difficult, a lack of control does not, in terms of systems theory, preclude an instructor's valuable involvement in an online community.