Suggests that the valorization of Emerson in English departments has been behind the split between fiction and nonfiction, and between creative writing and composition. Suggests further that the values Emerson places on contemplation versus action degrade argument and persuasion. (TB)

Argues that a paradox exists in humanities departments when such departments, which are the custodians and beneficiaries of literacy, fail to concern themselves with reading, writing, and pedagogy. (DF)

Problems of "dialect" exist in the field called "English," which is constituted by both composition and literature. The "ghettoization" of composition has created a hostile underclass, and many compositionists try to "pass" as literarists or at least unconsciously adopt the vocabulary and rhetoric of the…

Deplores the fact that most departments of English, as departments of literature, relegate the teaching of writing to graduate assistants and suggests that departments of English should become departments of rhetorical studies, focusing on both reading and writing. (JM)

Claims the literary critical essay does virtually nothing, as it is printed, read by a small number of literary people, and forgotten. Argues that teaching is doing and claims that the English department establishment either ignores or sneers at the kind of scholarship that tries to solve the problems of teaching literature and composition. (NH)

Arguing that practice without theory is destructive, this books deals with the theory, philosophy, and application of a variety of subjects within the area of composition. The nine chapters of the first section of the book constitute a state-of-the-art essay and discuss such topics as J. Emig's 1971 study of the composing process and the more…