This paper presents the views of three critics of higher education in America, chosen to represent the conservative, centrist, and liberal points of view. The critics are Russell Kirk (conservative), Robert Maynard Hutchins (middle ground), and Harold Taylor (liberal); and their views are presented within the framework of six concepts: (1) outlook…

Epistemic rhetoric, as a monolithic view of language use, will not be much help in forging a useful and consistent definition of the composing process and an accompanying effective pedagogy. By rejecting the mimetic functions of language--and thereby the validity of any empiricism and its derivative, positivism--epistemic rhetoric banishes items…

Advocates a balance between engagement and disengagement, between overintellectualizing and oversentimentalizing in literary criticism. Recommends literature education as dialectic and gaining the best of both worlds--engagement and detachment. (JDH)

Acknowledging that the tradition of school rhetoric in the nineteenth century was narrow and restrictive, refutes the charge that nineteenth century rhetoricians lacked originality. (HTH)

Discusses the role of literature in the secondary school English curriculum, then examines the current state of literary criticism and analysis in the classroom. (FL)

Discusses poststructuralism in the classroom--the use of contemporary literary theory in teaching undergraduates, as well as some of its consequences. (AEA)

Responds to article by Pauline Wilson (School Library Journal, v25 n6 Feb 1979) in terms of defining the role of children's librarians, clarifying the goals of children's services, making a case for such services, improving the impression made by children's librarians, determining appropriate preparation, and understanding and achieving quality…

This article discusses various philosophies and ways of approaching literature, specifically with regard to the teaching of literature. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Argues that students and teachers of literature should begin the study of literary texts with the emotional immediacies and humanistic sympathies that the texts evoke, rather than with an examination of literary critical theories. (MM)

Argues that studying professional art critics can provide material for studying art criticism in the classroom. Focuses on the published work of Lawrence Alloway. Describes how his work covered a wide range of artists and movements and how he was politically proactive in promoting underrepresented populations of artists. (KM)

Discusses the "crisis in representation" experienced in the humanities since the 1960s. Considers the relationship of academic knowledge to political power in terms of an ongoing struggle for representation. Recognizes higher education as a leading agent in redistributing access to representation in the public sphere. (HB)

Criticisms have recently been voiced of constructivism, the leading metaphor of human learning since the 1970s. Inspired by inconsistencies in interpretations of constructivism in current literature, we examine the underlying epistemological beliefs of popular constructivist theories and their criticisms. We find that popular constructivist claims…

What does Penny Thompson really want? Reading her article in "BJRE" 26 (1) proved a baffling experience: it clearly wanted to say something, and to say it passionately, yet signally failed to do so. It fails largely because it lacks an argument; there seems also to be conceptual muddle at its heart. A fuller critique will need to attend…

Arguing that developmental writing programs should remain rhetorical rather than philosophical, this paper reviews some issues in the history of rhetoric that are relevant to those who teach writing in open-door colleges. The paper begins with an explanation of some of the basic arguments between the Greek philosophers and the…

Explores how Cormier learned the art of writing, its rewards, and the influences on his work. (CRH)