Composition Studies through a Feminist Lens

Abstract

Shari J. Stenberg Lenses on Composition Studies Edited by Sheryl Fontaine and Steve Westbrook Information and Pricing 978-1-60235-414-2 (paperback $20); 978-1-60235-415-9 (hardcover, $50); 978-1-60235-416-6 (PDF, $14.99). © 2013 by Parlor Press. 119 pages, with notes, questions for discussion, and bibliographies. Bookstores : Order by fax, mail, or phone. See our "Sales and Ordering Page" for details. About This Book Composition Studies Through a Feminist Lens offers students a lucid and engaging introduction to the discipline’s history, struggles, and accomplishments through the lens of feminism.  By illuminating a vast array of feminist contributions to the rhetorical tradition, writing theory, and classroom pedagogy, Shari J. Stenberg shows how feminist scholars have made Composition Studies a more inclusive and innovative field. Stenberg introduces Composition Studies through three of its origin stories—the Harvard exam, the rhetorical tradition, and the process paradigm—with an eye on how efforts to legitimize the field often resulted in the marginalization of women’s voices and feminist knowledge. Composition Studies Through a Feminist Lens then moves feminist knowledge to the center, showing how feminist scholars have revised these stories to offer a more expansive approach to the purposes and processes of writing and rhetoric. Part one features feminist expansions of rhetoric, showcasing how feminist scholars have revised the traditional values and practices of classical rhetoric that shape contemporary ideas about argument and writing. Part two shifts to the composition classroom, showing how feminists have revised the role of student, teacher, and researcher. Students will gain a sense of how feminist contributions have expanded possibilities for learning and writing in the composition classroom.  In addition to providing a compelling overview of feminist contributions to Composition Studies, Stenberg supplies engaging discussion questions designed to faci