"Rhetoric, The Enabling Discipline." Corbett, Edward P.J. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook.

Corbett writes about the theory and practic of rhetoric's "remarkable adaptability ... to the changing spirit and needs of the times" (26). New modes of discourse seem to gain popularity in accordance to the needs of our society, our worlds, and ever-changing decisions about how it is best to communicate.

Corbett looks to Moffett's model of the triadic relationship in communication: the "I", the "it", and the "you", as well as Kinneavy's "triple set": encoder (speaker), signal (the message), and decoder (listener) to try to show how rhetoric has changed. For example, he believes that emphasis on the speaker is expressive discourse, the emphasis on the message might be literary discourse, and the emphasis on the listener is persuasive discourse (27). Writers should learn to write with all of these emphases, deciding which message is most appropriate to the aim of the message. I think writing teachers, with the increasing demands to teach students to write only academically, should keep in mind that students need to learn to communicate for other audiences, and that hte voice changes in accordance.

"Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class." James Berlin. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook. Fourth Edition. Ed. Edward P.J. Corbett, Nancy Myers, an

"Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class." Berlin, James. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook. Fourth Edition. Ed. Edward P.J. Corbett, Nancy Myers, and Gary Tate. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Berlin defines ideology as it pertains to the classroom as "(it) provides the language to define the subject (the self), other subjects, the material world, and the relation of all of these to each other. Ideology is thus inscribed in language practices, entering all features of our experience ... ideology always carries with it strong social endorsement, so that what we take to exist, to have value, and to be possible seems necessary, normal and inevitable—in the nature of things" (11). Power is intrinsic in ideology, dealing with who has, and is given, power. This might be related to the writing classroom because of the choices the writers, and their instructors, choose to make regarding where the power lies within the composition: with the writer? the reader? the society?

Berlin breaks down the rhetorical situations in which these ideologies could be pertinent:

1. cognitive rhetoric: "might be considered the heir apparent of current-traditional rhetoric, the rhetoric that appeared in conjunction with the new Amerian university system during the final quarter of the last century" (11). Cognitive rhetoric strives to define the mental processes of writing (or heuristics) as planning (generating, organizing, and goal setting); translating (thoughts put into words); and reviewing (evaluating and revising) (13).

What is interesting to me, here, is that Berlin relates this cognitive rhetoric to Flower and Hayes' notion that writing is a goal-directed process: "This focus is on 'real-world' writing ... the real world of college and work" (13). According to Berlin, there is little to no emphasis on artistry in this rhetoric.

2. Expressionist Rhetoric: "the existent is located within the individual subject. While the reality of the material, the social, and the linguistic are never denied, they re considered significant only insofar as they serve the needs of the individual. All fulfill their true function only when being exploited in the interests of locating the individual's authentic nature" (16). Berlin points to Peter Elbow's book Writing With Power to state, "Power within society ought always to be vested with the individual ... for both Murray and Elbow this is a function of realizing one's unique voice" (17).

3. Social-Epistemic Rhetoric: Berlin is convinced this is a form of expressionism (19). "The real is located in a relationship that involves the dialectical interaction of the observer, the discourse community (social group) in which the observer is functining, and the material conditions of existence" (19).

"Four Philosophies of Composition" Fulkerson, Richard. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook. Fourth Edition. Ed. Edward P.J. Corbett et al. 2000.

"Four Philosophies of Composition" Fulkerson, Richard. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook. Fourth Edition. Ed. Edward P.J. Corbett, Nancy Myers, and Gary Tate. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Fulkerson looks to M.H. Abrams' The Mirror and the Mask to consider the four "overriding theories of literature and literary criticism": pragmatic, mimetic, expressive, and objective (3). Because "the elements in an artistic transaction are the same as those in any communication," Fulkerson tries to translate those theories as they might relate to composition:

1. expressive: emphasizes the writer. "Expressionists cover a wide range, from totally accepting and non-directive teachers ... to much more directive, experiential teachers who design classroom activities to maximize student self-discovery ... Expressivists value writing that is about personal subjects, and such journal-keeping is an absolute essential. Another keynote for expressivists is the desire to have writing contain an interesting, credible, honest, and personal voice" (5);

2. mimetic: emphasizes correspondence with "reality" (4): "A clear connection exists between good writing and good thinking (such as on propaganda analysis) ... (it) says that students do not write well on significant matters because they do not know enough" (5-6). Mimetic teachers might emphasize research during the prewriting stage, or heuristic systems;

3. rhetorical: emphasizes the effect on the reader. "Good writing is writing adapted to achieve the desired effect on the desired audience. If the same verbal construct is directed to a different audience, then it may have to be evaluated differently" (6); and

4. formalist: emphasizing traits internal to the work (conventions). "Good writing is 'correct' writing at the sentence level" (4).

Fulkerson believes that all of these theories are practiced in the composition classroom, yet that teachers should identify themselves with a theory (or perhaps theories) when teaching so that student can understand what they are to strive for in order to have success in a course.