For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able to shift between direct and indirect language in various writing tasks. The apparent indirectness in inductive language is required of regular writing tasks such as response essays and e-mails, while the directness of deductive academic writing, a…

This article presents the author's response to "How Do We See What We See? Pedagogical Lacunae and Their Pitfalls in the Classroom" by Jennifer A. Rich. McKinney describes how she tweaked a rhetorical analysis assignment to have it produce more summary, description and response. She stresses that teachers can create a more rhetorically viable…

In this study, I explore the challenges, tensions, and opportunities facing a major research-intensive public university related to public service and engaged scholarship as the university system and higher education in general increase emphasis on service and engagement. This project was designed in cooperation with the university's Center for…

This essay provides an account of The Ohio State University's (OSU) rhetoric department during the tenure of Joseph Villiers Denney, arguing that he appropriated and repurposed national trends in education and rhetoric in ways that complicate the narrative of rhetoric and composition's decline in the late nineteenth century. In this essay, the…

"Scholarship Reconsidered" by Ernest Boyer generates a flurry of theoretical and applied activity. Much of the research centers on the concept of the scholarship of teaching as researchers explore what constitutes scholarship, which is often misdirected. Through lexical statistics and rhetorical analysis, the text is examined according to its…

In his novel "Small World," David Lodge lampoons the professional conference experience and satirizes the academic participants. One real-life conference-goer identifies herself with one of the main characters of the novel: she is a conference and professorial novitiate but a quick study. After attending a few conferences, she found…

Examines over 500 job rejection letters received by a single English professorial job candidate over a period of 9 years. Analyzes shortcomings and strengths. Offers suggestions for composing these letters. (HB)