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Re: Book, Books, and More Books!
John and other WCentaurs (centurians?)
You asked for references on comp/rhet and argument theory: First, let
me recommend a bibliography:
Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. _Bedford Bibliography for
Teachers of Writing_. Fourth Edition. Boston: Bedford Books of St.
Martin's Press, 1996. 149 pp. ISBN 0-312-11556-3
Titles are categorized in this valuable bibliography according to
Resources, History and Theory, Composing Processes, Curriculum
Development, and Writing Programs.
Here is a brief list of comp./rhet standards that I refer to
frequently and/or provide the foundation for my work in comp./rhet.
1. Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition:
Readings from Classical Times to the Present. Boston: Bedford Books
1990. I've read several entire works excerpted in this collection,
but if you want one text, this is a good overview of rhetoric from an
historical/traditional view.
2. Berlin, James A. Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in
American Colleges, 1900-1985. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP 1987.
Not just a history of composition, but really an argument for the
naming and evaluating different aims of discourse. This book, no
doubt, has done much to shape the major terms for discussing the field
of composition. Since Berlin's death, many scholars have both praised
and attacked this work -- which is just more testimony of it's
importance. A must read.
3. Elbow, Peter. _Writing Without Teachers_ . New York: Oxford UP,
1973. Elbow creates his pedagogy around the metaphors of cooking and
growing. HIs book contains many simple yet profound exercises for
getting ideas on paper and shaping them into an effective product.
His idea on freewriting probably is the most influential idea in this
book.
I'm leaving out a gazillion great texts that have really effected my
teaching (Friere, Belenky, et al, Rose, North, Burke, Lunsford/Ede
--and a bunch of classic WC titles), but you wanted only a handful,
so I winced and chose.
Here are a few texts on argument, which you also asked for:
1. Corbett, Edward P.J. and Robert Connors. Classical Rhetoric for
the Modern Student. This is in a new edition, which I don't have in
my office, because the student doing a feminist critique of invention
for her honors thesis, and she has it. It's by Oxford UP. It's
probably the 4th edition, 1998. This book, created for students,
serves as the "bible" of formal, traditional argument theory
(Aristotilian, with some help from Quintilian and Erasmus--IMO). It's
a great reference and classroom text. Many dispute its lack of
attention to ethos and pathos (but I think the new edition seeks to
address these criticisms, and the sexism of the 3rd editions sample
texts).
2. To a large degree, Sharon Crowley's _Ancient Rhetorics for
the Contemporary Student_ is a counter-argument to Corbett's text. I
quite like her text, too. She pays more attention to ethos and
pathos, and her examples are more appealing. New York: Macmillan
College Publishing Company, 1994.
3. Rottenberg, Annette. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. 4th
Edition. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994.
Rottenberg discusses claim, evidence, assumption -- and other elements
of the argument, showing students how to analyze these elements in
others' prose and how to write effective arguments by carefully
combining these elements. I taught this text for five years, and it's
GREAT!
Enjoy.
Karen
Karen D. Austin, Writing Center Director
Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV 25443
kaustin@intrepid.net (304) 876-5293
ShepOwl: scwcweb@shepherd.wvnet.edu
Webpage: http://www.shepherd.wvnet.edu/scwcweb