Refiguring Prose Style: Possibilities for Writing Pedagogy

For about two decades, say Johnson and Pace, the discussion of how to address prose style in teaching college writing has been stuck, with style standing in as a proxy for other stakes in the theory wars. The traditional argument is evidently still quite persuasive to some—that teaching style is mostly a matter of teaching generic conventions through repetition and practice. Such a position usually presumes the traditional view of composition as essentially a service course, one without content of its own. On the other side, the shortcomings of this argument have been much discussed—that it neglects invention, revision, context, meaning, even truth; that it is not congruent with research; that it ignores 100 years of scholarship establishing composition\u27s intellectual territory beyond service. The discussion is stuck there, and all sides have been giving it a rest in recent scholarship. Yet style remains of vital practical interest to the field, because everyone has to teach it one way or another. A consequence of the impasse is that a theory of style itself has not been well articulated. Johnson and Pace suggest that moving the field toward a better consensus will require establishing style as a clearer subject of inquiry. Accordingly, this collection takes up a comprehensive study of the subject. Part I explores the recent history of composition studies, the ways it has figured and all but effaced the whole question of prose style. Part II takes to heart Elbow\u27s suggestion that composition and literature, particularly as conceptualized in the context of creative writing courses, have something to learn from each other. Part III sketches practical classroom procedures for heightening students\u27 abilities to engage style, and part IV explores new theoretical frameworks for defining this vital and much neglected territory. The hope of the essays here—focusing as they do on historical, aesthetic, practical, and theoretical issues—is to awaken composition studies to the possibilities of style, and, in turn, to rejuvenate a great many classrooms.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1156/thumbnail.jp

Writing Science Through Critical Thinking

Written and extensively class tested with NSF/NIH support, this timely and useful text addresses a crucial need which is acknowledged in most universities and colleges. It is the need for students to learn to write in the context of their field of study; in this case science. Although numerous how to writing books have been published, few, if any, address the central pedagogical issues underlying the process of learning to think and write scientifically. The direct connection between this writing skill and that of critical thinking is developed with engaging style by the author, an English professor. Moriarty\u27s book is an invaluable guide for both undergraduate and graduate science students. In the process of learning the specific requirements of organization demanded by scientific writing, students will develop strategies for thinking through their scientific research, well before they sit down to write. This instructive text will be useful to students who need to satisfy a science writing proficiency requirement in the context of a science course, a course in technical writing, advanced composition, or writing for the profession.https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/facbooks/1047/thumbnail.jp

Pastplay: Teaching and Learning History with Technology

In the field of history, the Web and other technologies have become important tools in research and teaching of the past. Yet the use of these tools is limited—many historians and history educators have resisted adopting them because they fail to see how digital tools supplement and even improve upon conventional tools (such as books). In Pastplay, a collection of essays by leading history and humanities researchers and teachers, editor Kevin Kee works to address these concerns head-on. How should we use technology? Playfully, Kee contends. Why? Because doing so helps us think about the past in new ways; through the act of creating technologies, our understanding of the past is re-imagined and developed. From the insights of numerous scholars and teachers, Pastplay argues that we should play with technology in history because doing so enables us to see the past in new ways by helping us understand how history is created; honoring the roots of research, teaching, and technology development; requiring us to model our thoughts; and then allowing us to build our own understanding