Irwin Weiser

English 591: Introduction to Composition Theory

Course Description and Policies

Fall 2003

Contact Information and Office Hours:

My office is to the right of the door to the English department office and is accessed from the main office.

I will try to reserve 30-45 minutes after each class (2:30-3:15) for office hours, but I’ll also be available by appointment at other times, and you can always check with Janeen to see if I’m available for a drop-in visit.

You can reach me by phone at 46478 (via Lisa) or 43740 (via Janeen).

My e-mail address is iweiser@purdue.edu

Description and Goals:

English 591 is primarily a reading course. That is, we’ll be doing a lot of reading in contemporary composition theory and in theoretical work that has been influential in composition studies. Most of what we’ll read and discuss has been written since 1963, the date many scholars use to identify the birth of contemporary composition as an academic field, but we’ll be looking a some historical accounts of the earliest American composition courses and some earlier essays on composition that have been more or less overlooked in the field.

 A historically oriented reading course might appear to have as its sole, or main, goal to help you become familiar with the work that has influenced composition over the past 40 years or so. And that is part of what this course is intended to do: to help you become familiar with the scholars and scholarship that have shaped the field. But another, equally important goal of this course is to look at how theories are built and revised in composition studies via the study of the texts we’ll be reading and the consideration of their theorizing power.

 Texts and Readings:

 English 591 Coursepack ; books loaned from Lauer Library; materials on reserve.

 The Work:

 Because this is a reading course, the primary work for the course is doing the (often quite substantial) reading for each class and coming to each class prepared to participate in discussion. I may occasionally give you specific questions to write a paragraph or so about, either as preparation for discussion or as discussion prompts in class. 

The major written work for the course is a project to be submitted on Friday, December 12, the last day of class. The project (about a 15 page product) may be one of the following: 

• A bibliographic essay on a topic of specific interest to you. Brooke Horvath’s “The Components of Written Response: A Practical Synthesis of Current Views,” Rhetoric Review 2.2 (1984): 136-156 and Kenneth Bruffee’s “Social Construction, Language, and the Authority of Knowledge: A Bibliographic Essay,” College English 48 (1986): 773-790 (in the coursepack) can serve as models.
• A syllabus and supporting materials or a textbook analysis, based on examining the implicit and explicit theories underlying the pedagogy (If you do a syllabus analysis, you may choose from any of the approved English 106 syllabi—see http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~roses/ICaPweb/samplesyllabi.htm for information about them. I caution you not to all select the one you’re using in your mentor group, if you’re being mentored. I won’t want to read 8 analyses of the same syllabus, and you won’t want to be in the position of having your analysis compared with 7 others. You may decide among yourselves which one or two of you can work with the mentor group syllabus if more than two of you want to do so. I suggest drawing lots or playing “paper, rock, scissors.”)
• A review essay of two to four books on issues of contemporary composition theory. See, for instance, John Trimbur’s “The Politics of Radical Pedagogy: A Plea for ‘A Dose of Vulgar Marxism’.” College English 56.2 (1994): 194-206, also in the coursepack.
• An essay for a specific journal or the text of a paper for a specific conference. If you choose this option, you need to be thinking about the issue in composition theory or history you want to explore and what you have to contribute to the conversation.

 In preparation for this final project, we’ll devote Wednesday, October 15 to brief oral presentations about what you’re planning to do. On that day, you’ll also submit a 2-4 page proposal, in which you’ll describe the project, what you think it will contribute to your knowledge of composition studies and to the field, and a bit about your plan for conducting the research for it.

 Grades:

 50% of your grade will be based on regular attendance, preparation (as evidenced by participation), and any short written assignments I may make.

15% of your grade will be based on the proposal for the final project.

35% of your grade will be based on the final project.