"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).