Category Archives: Teaching Composition

i write because…

In “Why I Write,” Terry Tempest Williams writes, “I write because I believe in words. I write because I do not believe in words. I write because it is a dance with paradox” (32). I’m reminded of the debate between … Continue reading

Posted in Teaching Composition, Uncategorized, Writing 516: Advanced Composition (Winter 2007) | 1 Comment

more from Brooke on writerly identity

In “Modeling a Writer’s Identity,” Brooke argues that students learn about writing through imitating other people, not through imitating texts. When imitation works, he claims, it’s becuase of the identity of the writers being imitated, not because of the forms … Continue reading

Posted in Identity and Identification, Teaching Composition | 1 Comment

Robert Brooke on ‘underlife’

I really like Brooke’s concept of the “underlife” — or, more accurately, his use of Erving Goffman’s concept of “underlife.” Brooke defines the underlife as “the activities (or information games) individuals engage in to show that their identities are different … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Identity and Identification, Teaching Composition | 3 Comments

Wendy Bishop on teacher identity and identification

I just finished reading Wendy Bishop’s Something Old, Something New: College Writing Teachers and Classroom Change. It’s nice to actually focus on reading an entire book now that break is here. Sara Jameson and I are preparing for our talk … Continue reading

Posted in Identity and Identification, Teaching Composition | 1 Comment

Lunsford on “The Nature of Composition Studies”

I stumbled upon Erika Lindemann and Gary Tate’s (editors) An Introduction to Composition Studies while surfing through the shelves of the library (is surfing the right metaphor?). In “The Nature of Composition Studies,” Andrea Lunsford writes: Thus composition studies views … Continue reading

Posted in Teaching Composition, Uncategorized | 3 Comments