In this edited volume, some of the today's leading composition scholars consider the ways in which argumentation as an approach to teaching writing remains valuable, despite the postmodern theories of composition that have challenged its relevance. The contributors first "revisit" and explain the traditional approaches to argument - enthymeme, evidence, Toulmian, Rogerian, and classical rhetoric - and show why they are more relevant today than ever. They then "redefine" argument by connecting it with theoretical movements that have been adverse to it - feminism, narratology, and reflexive reading. As a result, the book unites apparently conflicting approaches in a new definition of argument that emphasizes inquiry over discord and understanding over entrenched difference.

ARGUMENT IN COMPOSITION provides access to a wide range of resources that bear on the teaching of writing and argument. The ideas of major theorists of classical and contemporary rhetoric and argument-from Aristotle to Burke, Toulmin, and Perelman-are explained and elaborated, especially as they inform pedagogies of argumentation and composition.

This text makes available in a concise format the chapters comprising the research methodology section of the Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts, Second Edition. An introduction, designed to give K-12 teachers an understanding of the basic categories and functions of research in teaching, is followed by chapters addressing teacher professionalism and the rise of "multiple literacies"; empirical research; longitudinal studies; case studies; ethnography; teacher research; teacher inquiry into literacy, social justice, and power; synthesis research; fictive representation; and contemporary methodological issues and future direction in research on the teaching of English. Methods of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts is well-suited for use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level literacy research methods courses.

In this volume leading composition scholars consider the ways in which argumentation as an approach to teaching writing remains valuable - in spite of the challenge presented by postmodern theories. The book first explains the traditional approaches to argument - the enthymeme, evidence, Toulmian, Rogerian and classical rhetoric - and illustrates why they are of particular relevance today. The contributors then `redefine' argument by connecting it with theoretical movements that have been adverse to it - feminism, narratology and reflexive reading. As a result, the book unites apparently conflicting approaches into a new definition of argument that emphasizes inquiry over discord and understanding over entrenched difference

In this collection edited by Alan G. Gross and Arthur E. Walzer, scholars in communication, rhetoric and composition, and philosophy seek to “reread” Aristotle’s Rhetoric from a purely rhetorical perspective. So important do these contributors find the Rhetoric, in fact, that a core tenet in this book is that “all subsequent rhetorical theory is but a series of responses to issues raised by the central work.” The essays reflect on questions basic to rhetoric as a humanistic discipline. Some explore the ways in which the Rhetoric explicates the nature of the art of rhetoric, noting that on this issue, the tensions within the Rhetoric often provide a direct passageway into our own conflicts.

Illustrates the widespread applications of the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing, especially the eight habits of mind, in helping students to be successful not only in postsecondary writing courses but also in four arenas of life: academic, professional, civic, and personal.

Learning to Rival tells the inside story of college and high school writers learning to "rival"--to actively seek rival hypotheses and negotiate alternative perspectives on charged questions. It shows how this interdisciplinary literate practice alters with the context of use and how, in learning to rival in school and out, students must often negotiate conflicts not apparent to instructors. This study of the rival hypothesis stance--a powerful literate practice claimed by both humanities and science--initially posed two questions: * how does the rival hypothesis stance define itself as a literate practice as we move across the boundaries of disciplines and genres, of school and community? * how do learners crossing these boundaries interpret and use the family of literate practices, especially in situations that pose problems of intercultural understanding? Over the course of this project with urban teenagers and minority college students, the rival hypothesis stance emerged as a generative and powerful tool for intercultural inquiry, posing in turn a new question: how can the practice of rivaling support the difficult and essential art of intercultural interpretation in education? The authors present the story of a literate practice that moves across communities, as well as the stories of students who are learning to rival across the curriculum. Learning to Rival offers an active, strategic approach to multiculturalism, addressing how people negotiate and use difference to solve problems. In the spirit of John Dewey's experimental way of knowing, it presents a multifaceted approach to literacy research, combining contemporary research methods to show the complexity of rivaling as a literate practice and the way it is understood and used by a variety of writers. As a resource for scholars, teachers, and administrators in writing across the curriculum studies, writing program administration, service learning, and community based projects, as well as literacy, rhetoric, and composition, this volume reveals how learning a new literate practice can force students to encounter and negotiate conflicts. It also provides a model of an intercultural inquiry that uses difference to understand a shared problem.