Peter Elbow

Individualism and the teaching of writing: Response to Vai Ramanathan and Dwight Atkinson

Abstract I am grateful to the editors for inviting me to respond to “Individualism, academic writing, and ESL writers” by Vai Ramanathan and Dwight Atkinson, (JSLW 8.1 [1999]). I was invited because the authors refer repeatedly to my work as a problem for ESL students. I can say that I am largely in agreement with what I would call their root claim, namely, that certain common principles and practices of U.S. university writing pedagogy can carry individualistic implications that can be problematic for some ESL students. But I have some substantial reservations about the various ways in which they pursue this general point. I will focus my response on two key ambiguities that I find central to their essay—treating the first one briefly and the second one at length.

In Defense of Private Writing Consequences for Theory and Research

In the first section, the author addresses the most theoretical criticism of private writing as a false or misleading concept—that writing is inherently or essentially social. The author distinguishes and explores the various forms or senses in which this claim is true; in doing so, the author explores the limitations of certain kinds of totalistic forms of argumentation. In the second section, the author also addresses criticisms that acknowledge the existence of private writing but asserts that it is misguided or harmful. In the final section, the author suggests possibilities for empirical research that might not only throw light on theoretical disputes about the nature of private writing but also provide some concrete help to teachers of writing.

Taking time out from grading and evaluating while working in a conventional system

Abstract This essay argues that grading and evaluation need not be as pervasive as they seem—even for teachers working in conventional grading curriculum. First, the author explores ways in which teachers can step outside grading: by using non-graded writing assignments, portfolios, and grading contracts. Then the author explores how it is possible to go further and even step outside of the mentality of evaluation: by using certain descriptive and analytic responses to student writing. The appendix includes a sample grading contract along with some further discussion of it.

Theresa Jarnagin Enos, In Memoriam

On November 2, 2016, Theresa Jarnagin Enos unexpectedly passed away at her home in Tucson, Arizona, leaving behind a trailblazing legacy of work in writing, teaching, scholarly editing, (wo) mentoring, administration, and service. An important figure in contemporary rhetoric and composition studies, Theresa—a self-proclaimed “maverick”—founded this journal, Rhetoric Review, on her own in 1982 due to the lack of publication venues for research concerning the history and theory of rhetoric. As the first peer-reviewed journal in rhetoric and composition studies, Theresa worked tirelessly to make Rhetoric Review the journal we know today—publishing manuscripts from the field’s superstars (Jim W. Corder, Frank D’Angelo, and Michael Halloran were among the first contributors in the inaugural issue), establishing an editorial board, soliciting peer reviewers, editing each manuscript scrupulously, advertising for new subscribers, all while printing issue copies and mailing them off to institutions herself. In 1987, Theresa was recruited by the University of Arizona where she helped establish its PhD program in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English (RCTE). During her twenty-seven year tenure at the University of Arizona, Theresa taught undergraduate and graduate courses, served as associate composition director, program director of RCTE and, of course, maintained her editorship of Rhetoric Review. Theresa authored, edited, or co-edited over ten books including A Sourcebook for Basic Writing Teachers, Writing Program Administrator’s Resource, The Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition, Gender Roles and Faculty Lives in Rhetoric and Composition, The Promise and Perils of Writing Program Administration, Defining the New Rhetorics, Living Rhetoric and Composition, Beyond PostProcess and Postmodernism: Essays on the Spaciousness of Rhetoric, in addition to numerous articles and chapters. The entries from colleagues and former students included in this Burkean Parlor allow us just a brief glimpse of Theresa’s influence on the lives and careers of so many of us in our discipline; how fortunate we are to have known her and to have learned from her.