Rhetoric Review Sep 1984

Composition studies: Dappled discipline

Janice M. Lauer Purdue University West Lafayette

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the development of graduate programs in composition has provoked a number of questions: Is this study a genuine discipline? What are its origins, its domain of investigation, its modes of inquiry and methods of evaluation? To some it seems a newcomer to academia even though part of its work reinstates and reorients the written branch of rhetoric, one of the most ancient disciplines of higher education. To others its character is puzzling because its scholarship has a highly multidisciplinary cast. These attitudes manifest themselves in many circumstances. A panel at the last meeting of the Modern Language Association raised questions about criteria for assessing composition research. A recent article in College English by Scott and Castner implied this puzzlement by offering some bibliographic starting places for those wishing to enter the field.' Such questions are normal and appropriate for a developing field, which must define itself. This essay does not attempt to offer definitive answers to these questions but rather some preliminary reflections on the nature of composition studies as a discipline, first delineating some of its distinctive features and then discussing advantages and dangers associated with these features.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
1984-09-01
DOI
10.1080/07350198409359074
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism assessment
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (37)

  1. Pruitt (2026)
    (Re)Considering Centrality: A Bibliometric Network Analysis of College Composit…
    College Composition and Communication
  2. Cowan (2026)
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  3. Gaillet et al. (2025)
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  4. Gaillet et al. (2025)
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  5. Pruitt (2025)
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  1. Pandey et al. (2025)
    Large language models and digital multimodal composition in the first-year comp…
    Computers and Composition
  2. Muñoz (2024)
    Our Responsibility to Graduate Student Writers
    College Composition and Communication
  3. Hart-Davidson (2024)
    Distant Readings of Disciplinarity: Knowing and Doing in Composition/Rhetoric D…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Penner (2023)
    “What’s in a name?” Literacy Studies and Transdisciplinarity
    Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  5. Wickman (2023)
    Genre and Metagenre in Biomedical Research Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Phelps (2022)
    2022 CCCC Exemplar Award Acceptance Speech: Hospitality in a Dappled Discipline
    College Composition and Communication
  7. Turner (2022)
    Key-notes: A Content Analysis of ATTW Conferences 1998-2018
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  8. Dubinsky et al. (2021)
    The Disappearance of Business Communication From Professional Communication Pro…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  9. Bay (2020)
    Response: All We Need Is Love
    College English
  10. Hesse (2019)
    Journals in Composition Studies, Thirty-Five Years After
    College English
  11. Serviss et al. (2019)
    Researching Writing Program Administration Expertise in Action: A Case Study of…
    College Composition and Communication
  12. Dryer (2019)
    Divided by Primes: Competing Meanings among Writing Studies’ Keywords
    College English
  13. Sánchez (2018)
    Review Essay: Moving Knowledge Forward
    College Composition and Communication
  14. Kilfoil (2015)
    Beyond the “Foreign” Language Requirement: From a Monolingual to a Translingual…
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  15. Werner (2015)
    Speaking of Composing (Frameworks): New Media Discussions, 2000–2010
    Computers and Composition
  16. Vealey et al. (2014)
    Dappled Discipline at Thirty: An Interview with Janice M. Lauer
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  17. Carlo et al. (2011)
    Back-Tracking and Forward-Gazing: Marking the Dimensions of Graduate Core Curri…
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  18. Skeffington (2010)
    Situating Ourselves: The Development of Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric and Composition
    Rhetoric Review
  19. Cushman et al. (2009)
    Writing Theories / Changing Communities: Introduction
    Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  20. Johnson (2004)
    Book Reviews
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  21. Gellis (2002)
    Leadership, Rhetoric, and thePolis
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  22. Strain (2000)
    Local histories, rhetorical negotiations: The development of doctoral programs …
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  23. Johnson (1998)
    Complicating technology: Interdisciplinary method, the burden of comprehension,…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  24. Carlton (1995)
    Composition as a postdisciplinary formation
    Rhetoric Review
  25. ELDRED et al. (1995)
    Researching Electronic Networks
    Written Communication
  26. Lauer (1994)
    Constructing a doctoral program in rhetoric and composition
    Rhetoric Review
  27. SULLIVAN et al. (1993)
    Remapping Curricular Geography: Professional Writing in/and English
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  28. Ervin (1993)
    Interdisciplinarity or “an elaborate edifice built on sand”? Rethinking rhetori…
    Rhetoric Review
  29. NYSTRAND et al. (1993)
    Where did Composition Studies Come from?: An Intellectual History
    Written Communication
  30. Laditka (1991)
    Language, power, and play: The dance of deconstruction and practical wisdom
    Rhetoric Review
  31. Chapman et al. (1987)
    A survey of doctoral programs in rhetoric and composition∗
    Rhetoric Review
  32. Phelps (1986)
    The Domain of Composition
    Rhetoric Review

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CrossRef global citation count: 39 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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