Written Communication Jan 2002

“Get Comfortable With Uncertainty”: A Study of the Conventional Values of Literary Analysis in an Undergraduate Literature Course

Laura Wilder The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

This study describes the extent to which shared assumptions of literary scholars form part of an introductory literature course. Fahnestock and Secor, in The Rhetoric of Literary Criticism, describe five special topoi of literary criticism (appearance/reality, paradigm, ubiquity, contemptus mundi, and paradox) that characterize the warrants of literary criticism appearing in a sample of major literary studies journals. This study triangulates ethnographic data of a class's meetings, analyses of students' essays, and questionnaires to discover whether these topoi are communicated to students in a survey course, whether students recognize and use them, and whether students are rewarded for using them. The special topoi of literary criticism appear in the discourse of instructors and students. Though textual analysis did not reveal a connection between using the special topoi in writing assignments and receiving a higher grade, questionnaires revealed that students adept at recognizing literary values and discourse conventions were more successful.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2002-01-01
DOI
10.1177/074108830201900106
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis writing pedagogy qualitative research literary studies
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Li (2025)
    Beyond Surfaces and Depths: An SFL Analysis of Fine Gradations of Meaning in Un…
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  2. Fields et al. (2021)
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  5. Wilder (2005)
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    Written Communication
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CrossRef global citation count: 22 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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