Composition Theory:
English 755

Purpose of the Course:
English 755, Composition Theory, is a course designed to introduce you to the theories, theorists, and texts that have shaped composition studies since the early 1970s when it became a legitimate(d) field of academic inquiry (a discipline), distinct from other areas of English studies (and rhetoric). The course examines and interrogates the major theoretical camps that have most influenced the course of composition studies: current traditional rhetoric, expressivist theories, cognitive theories, and theories of social construction, as well as the infiltration and adaptation of literary theories and philosophy, including post-process theories. During the first half of the course we will read the discipline’s "canonical" texts; in the second half of the course, you’ll propose and carry out projects of your own design—one that is research-focused, one focused on pedagogical applications of theory, and one outwardly focused, for an audience beyond the course and the department.

Course Objectives:
In completing this course you will:

• read, discuss, and analyze the canonical texts of the discipline.

• study the political nature of the discipline and the political differences among theorists we read.

• propose projects that help you achieve your goals for the course.
  
  
• become familiar with the journals of our field, both print and electronic.

• design rhetorically appropriate academic documents.

• deliver rehearsed, rhetorically appropriate oral presentations.

Texts, Materials, and Expenses:
REQUIRED TEXTS:

• Bullock, Richard and John Trimbur, eds. The Politics of Writing Instruction: Postsecondary. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1991.
• Villanueva, Victor, Jr., ed. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory. Urbana: NCTE, 1997.
• Reserve articles for weeks 7-10.

Students will assign and prepare readings appropriate for each week, providing the class with one page summaries of the article they read, a second page of dialogue with the essay, and extended bibliographies for each topic.

• 9 one page summeries

• 9 reading responses

• 2 bibliographies extending the week's reading

• 3 projects

• a project proposal

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