Written Communication Feb 2026

Rhetoric and Affect: The Role of Faith in Student Writers’ Wayfinding

Amy D. Williams; Jonathan Ostenson

Abstract

This article adds to previous literature on writing “wayfinding” by examining how a writer’s religious beliefs and commitments shape their rhetorical choices and influence their writing wayfinding. The 5-year longitudinal study we report here used discourse-based interviews to understand the experiences of student writers who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Examining texts our study participants wrote in and outside of college classrooms, our analysis highlights moments when they used emotion and affect as rhetorical strategies to accomplish instrumental and relational goals. We found that in these moments, participants’ commitments as Latter-day Saints and their related identities significantly affected their writing decisions and their sense of wayfinding, particularly as they navigated writing contexts outside of familiar academic settings. The article suggests that understanding the challenges and opportunities writers face in the intersections between their rhetorical choices and their commitments as members of an organized church can help writing teachers better support students' writing development.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2026-02-21
DOI
10.1177/07410883251410169
Topics
empirical research affect and writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (15)

  1. Mannon et al. (2023)
    Evangelical Rhetoric in College Students’ Writing Practice
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Miller et al. (2023)
    Thinking about Feeling: The Roles of Emotion in Reflective Writing
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Austin (2022)
    Traversing Academic Contexts: An Egyptian Writer’s Literacy Learning Trajectory…
    Written Communication
  4. Seltzer (2022)
    “A Lot of Students Are Already There”: Repositioning Language-Minoritized Stude…
    Written Communication
  5. Alexander et al. (2020)
    Affect and Wayfinding in Writing after College
    College English
Show all 15 →
  1. Cope (2020)
    Compartmentalizing Faith: How Three First-Semester Undergraduates Manage Evange…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  2. Alexander et al. (2020)
    Toward Wayfinding: A Metaphor for Understanding Writing Experiences
    Written Communication
  3. Lindenman et al. (2018)
    Revision and Reflection: A Study of (Dis)Connections between Writing Knowledge …
    College Composition and Communication
  4. Thomson-Bunn (2017)
    Mediating Discursive Worlds: When Academic Norms and Religious Belief Conflict
    College English
  5. Pavia (2015)
    Taking Up Faith
    Written Communication
  6. Juzwik et al. (2015)
    Writing, Religious Faith, and Rooted Cosmopolitan Dialogue
    Written Communication
  7. Olinger (2014)
    On the Instability of Disciplinary Style: Common and Conflicting Metaphors and …
    Research in the Teaching of English
  8. DePalma (2011)
    Re-envisioning Religious Discourses as Rhetorical Resources in Composition Teac…
    College Composition and Communication
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    Who Owns Writing?
    College Composition and Communication
  10. Rand (2001)
    Enacting Faith: Evangelical Discourse and the Discipline of Composition Studies
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 7 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1525/9780520353237
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  2. 10.1163/18748945-bja10031
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  3. 10.7208/chicago/9780226218359.001.0001
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  4. 10.4324/9781315769912
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  5. 10.37514/WLN-J.2018.42.5.02
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  6. 10.21623/1.9.1.2
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CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network →

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