College Composition and Communication

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December 1991

  1. Reviews
    Abstract

    What Is English?, Peter Elbow Sheryl Finkle and Charles B. Harris The Right to Literacy, Andrea A. Lunsford, Helene Moglen, and James Slevin Marilyn M. Cooper Textual Carnivals: The Politics of Composition, Susan Miller David Bartholomae Rhetoric and Philosophy, Richard A. Cherwitz James Comas Rhetoric in American Colleges, 1850–1900, Albert R. Kitzhaber Sharon Crowle A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece to Twentieth-Century America, James J. Murphy Sue Carter Simmons Politics of Education: Essays from Radical Teacher, Susan Gushee O’Malley, Robert C. Rosen, and Leonard Vogt Myron C. Tuman Not Only English: Affirming America’s Multilingual Heritage, Harvey A. Daniels Perspectives on Official English, Karen L. Adams and Daniel T. Brink Alice M. Roy Textbooks in Focus: Cross-Cultural Readers Across Cultures: A Reader for Writers, Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton American Mosaic: Multicultural Readings in Context, Barbara Roche Rico and Sandra Mano Emerging Voices: A Cross-Cultural Reader, Janet Madden-Simpson and Sara M. Blake Intercultural Journeys Through Reading and Writing, Marilyn Smith Layton Writing About the World, Susan McLeod, Stacia Bates, Alan Hunt, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear Nancy Shapiro Textbooks in Focus: Great Ideas Readers Current Issues and Enduring Questions: Methods and Models of Argument, Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau Theme and Variations: The Impact of Great Ideas, Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen The Course of Ideas, Jeanne Gunner and Ed FrankelA World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers, Leo A. Jacobus Great Ideas: Conversations Between Past and Present, Thomas Klein, Bruce Edwards, and Thomas Wymer Casts of Thought: Writing In and Against Tradition, George Otte and Linda J. Palumbo Eleanor M. Hoffman Teaching Writing that Works: A Group Approach to Practical English, Eric S. Rabkin and Macklin Smith Janis Forman Released into Language: Options for Teaching Creative Writing, Wendy Bishop Will Wells

    doi:10.58680/ccc19918908

October 1991

  1. Composition's Misunderstanding of Metaphor
    Abstract

    One might expect that the field of composition, with its close ties to rhetorical studies, would provide a valuable contribution on the subject of metaphor-that figure of speech now widely recognized as a paradigmatic trope, an inescapable gesture of language. If metaphor plays a decisive role in the rhetorical stance and development of texts, then it should surely be an issue of significant concern to those of us involved in the study of writing. Especially during a period like the past decade, one in which speculation about metaphor has become a major preoccupation in the humanities, it would seem likely that in composition journals, conferences, and classrooms-even in handbooks that describe rhetorical terms for useful reference-various approaches to metaphor might reflect the provocative re-figuring that metaphor has recently undergone in disciplines such as philosophy and literary studies. What one mostly discovers, however, is that we remain bogged down in the murky waters of legislating a proper place for metaphor, a place where metaphor will not contaminate the supposed purity of literal language. Paradoxically, this attempt to cleanly divide the metaphorical from the literal results in a hopeless mess that no one can set straight. While the best work on metaphor has learned to accept the ubiquity of figuration, many of us in composition still seem to assume that metaphor can be regulated in a way that writers-in particular, student writers-can use it, so to speak, only when they need it.

    doi:10.2307/358072
  2. Rhetoric as Hermeneutic
    Abstract

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    doi:10.58680/ccc19918914

May 1991

  1. Oral and Written Communication: Historical Approaches
    Abstract

    Symbols in the prehistoric Middle East - developmental features preceding written communication, Denise Schmandt-Besserat a historical view of the relationship between reading and writing, Edward P.J.Corbett sophistic formulae and the emergence of the Attic-Ionic grapholect - a study in oral and written composition, Richard Leo Enos the auditors' role in Aristotelian rhetoric, William M.A.Grimaldi a sophistic strain in the medieval ars praedicandi and the scholastic method, James L.Kinneavy the illiterate mode of written communication - the work of the medieval scribe, Denise A.Troll rhetoric, truth and literacy in the Renaissance of the 12th century, John O.Ward Quintillian's influence on the teaching of speaking and writing in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, James J.Murphy l'enseignement de l'art de la premiere rhetorique - rhetorical education in France before 1600, Robert W.Smith technological development and writer-subject reader immediacies, Walter J.Ong a rhetoric of mass communication - collective or corporate discourse, Lynette Hunter.

    doi:10.2307/358212
  2. Reviews
    Abstract

    “CCCC Bibliography of Composition and Rhetoric, 1988”, Erika Lindemann and Mary Beth Harding Lynn Z. Bloom “Research in Basic Writing: A Bibliographic Sourcebook”, Michael G. Moran and Martin J. Jacobi LisaJ. McClure “The Writing Teacher as Researcher: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Class-Based Research”, Donald A. Daiker and Max Morenberg Shirley K Rose “Personality and the Teaching of Composition”, George H. Jensen and John K. DiTiberio Lynn Quitman Troyka “Farther Along: Transforming Dichotomieisn Rhetoric and Composition”, Kate Ronald and Hephzibah Roskelly Catherine E. Lamb “Writing Better Computer User Documentation: From Paper to Hypertext”, R. John Brockmann Designing and “Writing Online Documentation: Help Files to Hypertext”, William K. Horton Stephen A. Bernhardt “Modern Rhetorical Criticism”, Roderick P. Hart Timothy W. Crusius “Oral and Written Communication: Historical Approaches”, Richard Leo Enos Thomas J. Farrell The Older Sophists, Rosamond Kent Sprague Richard Leo Enos The Student’s Guide to Good Writing: Building Writing Skills for Success in College, Rick Dalton and Marianne Dalton Charles W. Bridges

    doi:10.58680/ccc19918934
  3. Farther Along: Transforming Dichotomies in Rhetoric and Composition
    doi:10.2307/358209
  4. Modern Rhetorical Criticism
    doi:10.2307/358211
  5. CCCC Bibliography of Composition and Rhetoric, 1988
    doi:10.2307/358205

February 1991

  1. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student
    Abstract

    A standard in its field, this new edition provides the most up-to-date current thinking on rhetoric.

    doi:10.2307/357552
  2. Reviews
    Abstract

    Conversations on the WrittenWord: Essays on Language and Literacy, Jay L. Robinson John Schilb Expressive Discourse, Jeannette Harris Douglas Hesse The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present, Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg Theresa Enos Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 3rd ed., Edward P. J. Corbett Cheryl Glenn Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing, Andrea Lunsford and Lisa Ede John Trimbur Learning to Write in Our Nation’s Schools: Instruction and Achievement in 1988 at Grades 4, 8, and 12, Arthur N. Applebee et al. Paul W. Rea The Future of Doctoral Studies in English, Andrea Lunsford, Helen Moglen, and James F. Slevin Joseph J. Comprone

    doi:10.58680/ccc19918946
  3. The Rhetoric of Technology and the Electronic Writing Class
    Abstract

    Preview this article: The Rhetoric of Technology and the Electronic Writing Class, Page 1 of 1 < Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/ccc/42/1/collegecompositioncommunication8941-1.gif

    doi:10.58680/ccc19918941
  4. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present
    doi:10.2307/357551

December 1990

  1. Identifying and Teaching Rhetorical Plans for Arrangement
    Abstract

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    doi:10.58680/ccc19908951

October 1990

  1. Reclaiming Pedagogy: The Rhetoric of the Classroom
    Abstract

    Besides the editors, the essayists are Lori Chamberlain, Michael Clark, Dennis A. Foster, Jon Klancher, Randall Knoper, Elaine O. Lees, Mariolina Salvatori, and Nina Schwartz. Donahue and Quandahl present accessible and exciting efforts to explore composition teaching in a new mode perhaps, a pristine paradigm of cultural criticism. Approximately half of the essays investigate the pedagogical agenda implied in the theories of a particular writer Barthes, Lacan, or Burke, for exampleand place such theories in the The remaining essays examine pedagogy as a critical practice. The book does not advocate a single method of instruction but instead reminds us that theory is itself continually modified by the classroom.

    doi:10.2307/357666
  2. Reviews
    Abstract

    Creating a Computer-Supported Writing Facility: A Blueprint for Action, Cynthia L. Selfe Computer Writing Environments: Theory, Research, and Design, Bruce Britton and Shawn M. Glynn Fred Kemp Critical Perspectiveosn Computers and Composition Instruction, Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe Bruce L. Edwards Reclaiming Pedagogy: The Rhetoric of the Classroom, Patricia Donahue and Ellen Quandahl Sharon Crowley Audience Expectations and Teacher Demands, Robert Brooke and John Hendricks Alice M. Gillam The Psychology of Writing: The Affective Experience, Alice Glarden Brand Robert Brooke Coping with Failure.: The Therapeutic Uses of Rhetoric, David Payne Paul W. Ranieri Critical Thinking: A Semiotic Perspective, Marjorie Siegel and Robert Carey Alice Heim Calderonello Effective Documentation: What We Have Learned from Research,Stephen Doheny-Farina Jack Selzer

    doi:10.58680/ccc19908966
  3. Coping with Failure: The Therapeutic Uses of Rhetoric
    doi:10.2307/357669

May 1990

  1. Rescuing the Subject: A Critical Introduction to Rhetoric and the Writer
    Abstract

    When it was first published in 1989, Susan Miller s Rescuing the Subject: A Critical Introduction to Rhetoric the Writer established a landmark pedagogical approach to composition based the importance of the writer the act of writing in the history of rhetoric. Widely used as an introduction to rhetoric composition theory for graduate students, the volume was the first winner of the W. Ross Winterowd Award from JAC and is still one of the most frequently cited books in the field.This first paperback edition includes a new introductory chapter in which Miller addresses changes in the field since the first edition, outlines new research, surveys positions she no longer supports. A new foreword by Thomas P. Miller assesses the proven impact of Rescuing the Subject on the field of rhetoric composition.Situating modern composition theory in the historical context of rhetoric, Miller notes that throughout the eighteenth century, rhetoric referred to oral, not written, discourse. By contrast, her history of rhetoric contends oral written discourse were related from the beginning. Taking a thematic rather than chronological approach, she shows how actual acts of writing comment both rhetoric composition. Miller also asserts that contemporary composition study is the necessary cultural outcome of changing conditions for producing discourse, describing the history of rhetoric as the gradual unstable relocation of discourse in conventions that only written language can create. She maintains teachers historians of rhetoric must recognize that the contemporary writing they analyze teach demands their attention to a textual rhetoric that allows theorizing the writer as always symbolically a student of situated meanings.

    doi:10.2307/358166
  2. Reviews
    Abstract

    The American Community College, Arthur M. Cohen and Florence B. Brawer Nell Ann Pickett Rescuing the Subject.: A Critical Introduction to Rhetoric and the Writer, Susan Miller The Written World: Reading and Writing in Social Contexts, Susan Miller Joseph Harris Writing as Social Action, Marilyn M. Cooper and Michael Holzman Deborah Brandt The Double Perspective: Language, Literacy, and Social Relations, David Bleich Joyce Irene Middleton Writing and Response: Theory, Practice, and Research, Chris M. Anson Anne Ruggles Gere Technical and Business Communication: Bibliographic Essays for Teachers and Corporate Trainers, Charles H. Sides Alice Philbin Writing and Technique, David Dobrin Deborah H. Holdstein Worlds of Writing. Teaching and Learning in Discourse Communitieast Work, Carolyn B. Matelene Stephen A. Bernhardt Creative Writing in America. Theory and Pedagogy, Joseph M. Moxley D. W. Fenza

    doi:10.58680/ccc19908976
  3. Writing as Social Action
    Abstract

    Drawing on scholarship in a variety of disciplines - philosophy, political theory, sociology, sociolinguistics, anthropology, literary theory, rhetoric - the authors outline an approach to the study of literacy that does not neglect the cognitive or individual aspects of literacy but rather sees them as largely shaped by the social forces of our political, economic, and educational systems. Ranging from the first-year writing class to adult literacy programs, the essays point the way to effective teaching strategies, program design, and research opportunities.Seven new chapters - on such topics as collaborative writing, discourse communities, women's literacy, and functional literacy - and eight previously published ones make up the book, providing a comprehensive theory of writing as social action.

    doi:10.2307/358167

December 1989

  1. Response to Christina Haas and Linda Flower, "Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning"
    Abstract

    Ruth Ray, Ellen Barton, Response to Christina Haas and Linda Flower, "Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning", College Composition and Communication, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 480-481

    doi:10.2307/358248
  2. Writing across Languages and Cultures: Issues in Contrastive Rhetoric
    Abstract

    Preface - Sidney Greenbaum Introduction - Alan C Purves PART ONE: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS Culture, Writing and the Curriculum - Judit Kadar-Fulop The Problem of Comparability of Writing Tasks - Anneli Vahapassi Developing a Rating Method for Stylistic Preference - R Elaine Degenhart and Sauli Takala A Cross-Cultural Pilot Study PART TWO: NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN WRITING STYLES Writers in Hindi and English - Yamuna Kachru Cultural Variation in Persuasive Student Writing - Ulla Connor and Janice Lauer Cultural Variation in Reflective Writing - Robert Bickner PART THREE: TRANSFER OF RHETORICAL PATTERNS IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING The Second Language Learner and Cultural Transfer in Narration - Anna Soter Narrative Styles in the Writing of Thai and American Students - Chantanee Indrasuta Cultural Differences in Writing and Reasoning Skills - Sybil Carlson The Rating of Student Performance in Written Composition - Young Mok Park PART FOUR: SUMMING UP Contrastive Rhetoric and Second Language Learning - Robert B Kaplan Notes Toward a Theory of Contrastive Rhetoric

    doi:10.2307/358253

October 1989

  1. Cognition, Context, and Theory Building
    Abstract

    English studies are caught up in a debate over whether we should see individual cognition or social and cultural context as the motive force in literate acts. This conflict between cognition and context (Bartholomae, Berlin, Bizzell, Knoblauch) has special force in rhetoric and composition because it touches some deeply-rooted assumptions and practices. Can we, for instance, reconcile a commitment to nurturing a personal voice, individual purpose, or an inner, self-directed process of meaning making, with rhetoric's traditional assumption that both inquiry and purpose are a response to rhetorical situations, or with the more recent assertions that inquiry in writing must start with social, cultural, or political awareness? These values and assertions run deep in the discipline. One response to these differences is to build theoretical positions that try to polarize (or moralize) cognitive and contextual perspectives. We know that critiques based on dichotomies can fan lively academic debates. They can also lead, Mike Rose has argued, to reductive, simplified theories that narrow the mind and page of student writers. In the end, these attempts to dichotomize may leave us with an impoverished account of the writing process as people experience it and a reductive vision of what we might teach.

    doi:10.2307/357775

May 1989

  1. The Literate Mode of Cicero's Legal Rhetoric
    Abstract

    The first book to examine closely how the relationship of Cicero s oral and written skills bears on his legal argumentation.Enos argues that, more than any other Roman advocate, Cicero developed a literate mind which enabled him to construct arguments that were both compelling in court and popular in society. Through close examination of the audience and substance of Cicero s legal rhetoric, Enos shows that Cicero used his writing skills as an aid to composition of his oral arguments; after the trial, he again used writing to edit and re-compose texts that appear as speeches but function as literary statements directed to a public audience far removed from the courtroom.These statements are couched in a mode that would eventually become a standard of literary eloquence. Enos explores the differences between oral and literary composition to reveal relationships that bear not only on different modes of expression but also on the conceptual and cultural factors that shape meaning itself.

    doi:10.2307/358138
  2. In Defence of Rhetoric
    doi:10.2307/358139
  3. The Art of Wondering: A Revisionist Return to the History of Rhetoric
    doi:10.2307/358140

December 1988

  1. Toward a Grammar of Passages
    Abstract

    The mature writer is recognized ... by his ability to create a flow of sentences, a pattern of thought that is produced, one suspects, according to the principles of yet another kind of grammara grammar, let us say, of passages. Mina ShaughnessyRichard M. Coe has developed such a grammar, one which uses a simple graphic instrument to analyze the meaningful relationships between sentences in a passage and to clarify the function of structure in discourse. Working in the tradition of Christensen s generative rhetoric, Coe presents a two-dimensional graphic matrix that effectively analyzes the logical relations between statements by mapping coordinate, subordinate, and superordinate relationships.Coe demonstrates the power of his discourse matrix by applying it to a variety of significant problems, such as how to demonstrate discourse differences between cultures (especially between Chinese and English), how to explain precisely what is bad about the structure of passages that do not work, and how best to teach structure. This new view of the structure of passages helps to articulate crucial questions about the relations between form and function, language, thought and culture, cognitive and social processes.

    doi:10.2307/357704

October 1988

  1. The Harper & Row Rhetoric: Writing as Thinking, Thinking as Writing
    doi:10.2307/357482
  2. Selected Bibliography of Scholarship on Composition and Rhetoric, 1987
    Abstract

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    doi:10.58680/ccc198811155

May 1988

  1. Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985
    Abstract

    Berlin here continues his unique history of American college com-position begun in his Writing Instruction in Nineteenth-Century Colleges (1984), turning now to the twentieth century.In discussing the variety of rhetorics that have been used in writ-ing classrooms Berlin introduces a taxonomy made up of three cate-gories: objective rhetorics, subjective rhetorics, and transactional rhetorics, which are distinguished by the epistemology on which each is based. He makes clear that these categories are not tied to a chronology but instead are to be found in the English department in one form or another during each decade of the century.His historical treatment includes an examination of the formation of the English department, the founding of the NCTE and its role in writing instruction, the training of teachers of writing, the effects of progressive education on writing instruction, the General Education Movement, the appearance of the CCCC, the impact of Sputnik, and today's literacy crisis.

    doi:10.2307/358039
  2. Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
    Abstract

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    doi:10.58680/ccc198811161

February 1988

  1. Write to Learn
    Abstract

    Written by one of the pioneers of the process-writing approach, the seventh edition of Donald Murray's brief rhetoric continues to help students find their own style of writing.

    doi:10.2307/357836
  2. Writing Groups: History, Theory, and Implications
    Abstract

    Drawing upon previously unpublished archival materials as well as historical accounts, Gere traces the history of writing groups in America, from their origins over a century ago to their recent reappearance in the works of Macrorie, Elbow, Murray, and others.From this historical perspective Gere examines the theoretical foundations of writing groups, challenging the traditional concept of writing as an individual performance. She offers instead a broader view of authorship that includes both individual and social dimensions, with implications not only for the teaching of composition but also for theories of rhetoric and literacy.

    doi:10.2307/357833

December 1987

  1. Longman Bibliography of Composition and Rhetoric: 1984-1985
    Abstract

    The Bibliography of Composition and is an annual, annotated, descriptive bibliography of work in rhetoric and composition. Its first vcdume contains 3,853 citations for titles appearing in 1984 and 1)85. The bibliographers received assistance from important authors and editors of publications in rhetoric, who stressed that subject-area bibliographies are an important way of asserting the legitimacy of a profession. The bibliography is a comprehensive, descriptive work encompassing the many disciplines that make up rhetoric and composition. The Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors and convention programs of the National Council of Teachers of English and the Conference on College Composition and Communication helped define the terms and subjects covered in the profession. Next, the bibliographers mapped and clustered the terms, which cover works on written communication in English or other languages, the processes whereby people compose and understand written messages, and methods of teaching people to communicate effectively in writing. To write the entries, 152 teachers and researchers have volunteered their services, and use a handbook to create consistent 25to 50-word annotations that are descriptive rather than evaluative. They try to use original materials rather than copy from advertisers whenever possible, although most publishers will not provide examination copies. In the bibliography all entries are listed once, numbered, and cross-referenced. Computers are used for alphabetizing and typese'Aing, and it is projected that computers will be used more and more in future editions. (SEC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** The Development of The Longman Bibliography of Composition and Rhetoric

    doi:10.2307/357650
  2. Invention as a Social Act
    Abstract

    The act of inventing relates to the process of inquiry, to creativity, to poetic and aesthetic invention.Building on the work of rhetoricians, philosophers, linguists, and theorists in other disciplines, Karen Burke LeFevre challenges a widely-held view of rhetorical invention as the act of an atomistic individual. She proposes that invention be viewed as a social act, in which individuals interact dialectically with society and culture in distinctive ways.Even when the primary agent of invention is an individual, invention is pervasively affected by relationships of that individual to others through language and other socially shared symbol systems. LeFevre draws implications of a view of invention as a social act for writers, researchers, and teachers of writing.

    doi:10.2307/357648

October 1987

  1. J. L. Austin and the Articulation of a New Rhetoric
    doi:10.58680/ccc198711196
  2. Rhetorical Beginnings: Professional and Amateur
    doi:10.2307/357755
  3. Writing in Action: A Collaborative Rhetoric for College Writers
    doi:10.2307/357770
  4. Sentence Combining: A Rhetorical Perspective
    Abstract

    Twenty-three stimulating papers, including essays by Peter Elbow, Donald Murray, and William Strong, selected from the more than sixty presented at the Second Miami University Conference on Sentence Combining and the Teaching of Writing.Sentence combining has not only survived the paradigm shift in the teaching of writing but continues to stimulate provocative, creative thinking about the writing process itself. No longer an end in itself, but a tool, sentence combining has become a method of teaching about ways of thinking, of perceiving, and of organizing reality.

    doi:10.2307/357761
  5. Selected Bibliography of Scholarship on Composition and Rhetoric, 1986
    Abstract

    Preview this article: Selected Bibliography of Scholarship on Composition and Rhetoric, 1986, Page 1 of 1 < Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/ccc/38/3/collegecompositionandcommunication11198-1.gif

    doi:10.58680/ccc198711198
  6. The Classical Tradition(s) of Rhetoric: A Demur to the Country Club Set
    Abstract

    Preview this article: The Classical Tradition(s) of Rhetoric: A Demur to the Country Club Set, Page 1 of 1 < Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/ccc/38/3/collegecompositionandcommunication11195-1.gif

    doi:10.58680/ccc198711195

May 1987

  1. Composition/Rhetoric: A Synthesis
    doi:10.2307/357729
  2. Communication and Knowledge: An Investigation in Rhetorical Epistemology
    doi:10.2307/357725

December 1986

  1. Rhetorical Traditions and the Teaching of Writing
    Abstract

    The argument of this book is that the earliest tradition of Western rhetoric, the classical perspective of Aristotle and Cicero, continues to have the greatest impact on writing instruction--albeit an unconscious impact. This occurs despite the fact that modern rhetoric no longer accepts either the views of mind, language, and world underlying ancient theory or the concepts about discourse, knowledge, and communication presented in that theory. As a result, teachers are depending on ideas as outmoded as they are unreflectively accepted. Knoblauch and Brannon maintain that the two traditions are fundamentally incompatible in their assumptions and concepts, so that writing teachers must make choices between them if their teaching is to be purposeful and consistent. They suggest that the modern tradition offers a richer basis for instruction, and they show what teaching from that perspective looks like and how it differs from traditional teaching.

    doi:10.2307/357926
  2. Writing in the Liberal Arts Tradition: A Rhetoric with Readings
    doi:10.2307/357924
  3. The Topic Sentence Revisited
    Abstract

    Historically considered, the concept of the topic sentence seems to be related to the concept of the topoi in classical rhetoric-in the sense of a topos or topic as subject matter treated in a speech or a portion of a discourse, as a method of reasoning about a subject, and as a place or heading from which arguments are drawn. All of these senses of the word seem to have been maintained in the kind of advice given by 19th-century textbook writers about methods of constructing paragraphs. In order to construct a paragraph, the advice goes, the writer should embody the main idea of the paragraph (its subject) in a topic sentence. Then, drawing upon a list of commonplace methods of reasoning about the subject (in the form of headings, such as comparison, contrast, and cause and effect, that label relationships), the writer should develop the central idea contained in the topic sentence into a unified and coherent paragraph. This connection between the topic sentence and the classical topoi is eminently suggestive, but however interesting it may be, the fact is that as an independent concept the topic sentence did not begin to emerge until the mid-19th century. It first appeared in Alexander Bain's discussion of the paragraph in 1866, and it attained fuller development in the late 19th and early 20th century. But the 19th-century conception of the topic sentence has come under considerable attack in recent years because of its deductive origins and because one kind of research has revealed that many contemporary professional writers do not use topic sentences in their writing. I would like to argue, however, that in some kinds of writing the topic sentence can be a valuable rhetorical strategy because it can help writers to organize their ideas and it can help readers to follow the logical development of the writer's ideas. As a means of developing my argument, I would like to look briefly at the origin and development of the concept of the topic sentence, consider the criticisms that have been made of the topic sentence in the 20th century, and then, drawing upon readability research that discusses the topic sentence and schema theory, argue that this kind of research supports the value of using topic sentences in expository prose.

    doi:10.2307/357913

October 1986

  1. A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric
    doi:10.2307/358061
  2. The Present State of Scholarship in Historical and Contemporary Rhetoric
    Abstract

    In the years since its publication in 1983, The Present State of Scholarship in Historical and Contemporary Rhetoric has become a classic in its field, proving to be an invaluable resource for students of rhetoric and composition, as well as for scholars in English, speech, and philosophy. This revised and updated edition defines the field of rhetoric as no other volume has.

    doi:10.2307/358060
  3. The Rhetorical Tradition and Modern Writing
    Abstract

    Rhetorical history as a guide to the salvation of American reading and writin James J. Murphy -- Remarks on composition to the Yale English Department / E Hirsch, Jr. -- Restoring the humanities / James Kinneavy -- The Phaedrus idy as ethical play / Virginia N. Steinhoff -- Classical practice and contempora basics / Susan Miller -- Ciceronian rhetoric and the rise of science / S. Michael Halloran and Merrill D. Whitburn -- John Locke's contributions to rhetoric / Edward P.J. Corbett -- Rhetoricin the liberal arts / Winifred Bry Horner -- Nineteenth-century psychology and the shaping of Alexander Bain's English composition and rhetoric / Gerald P. Mulderig -- Three nineteenth-century rhetoricians / Nan Johnson -- Two model teachers and the Harvardization of English departments / Donald C. Stewart -- Concepts of art and the teaching of writing / Richard E. Young.

    doi:10.2307/358062

May 1986

  1. Open to Language: A New College Rhetoric
    Abstract

    masterful book...one of the most thorough books on rhetoric I've seen.--Olivia Castellano, California State University, Sacramento beautiful work. The first text I have so far seen that operates fully from the principles we have learned about writing and the teaching of writing in the last fiftenn years.--Ronald Shook A dramatic, invention-centered approach to the teaching of writing skills, this comprehensive text actively involves students in the writing process, drawing on the language capabilities they bring to the classroom.

    doi:10.2307/357530
  2. Writing Instruction in Nineteenth-Century American Colleges
    Abstract

    Defining a rhetoric as a social invention arising out of a particular time, place, and set of circumstances, Berlin notes that no rhetoricnot Plato s or Aristotle s or Quintilian s or Perelman sis permanent. At any given time several rhetorics vie for supremacy, with each attracting adherents representing various views of reality expressed through a rhetoric.Traditionally rhetoric has been seen as based on four interacting elements: reality, writer or speaker, audience, and language. As emphasis shifts from one element to another, or as the interaction between elements changes, or as the definitions of the elements change, rhetoric changes. This alters prevailing views on such important questions as what is appearance, what is reality.In this interpretive study Berlin classifies the three 19th-century rhetorics as classical, psychological-epistemological, and romantic, a uniquely American development growing out of the transcendental movement. In each case studying the rhetoric provides insight into society and the beliefs of the people.

    doi:10.2307/357527