"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.