10-second review: Suggests that the problem with writing at these two levels is that they need to agree on a continuum in writing and the authors think that that continuum is in teaching argumentative writing.
Title: “An Immodest Proposal for Connecting High School and College.” Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein-Graff. College Composition and Communication (May 2009), p. 289.
Comment: I had to go to the Internet address, www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc, “The Extended CCC,” in order to complete the idea from this title/author/first paragraph truncated “hybrid” version of the article. It worked, The complete article is available to both members of the NCTE and non-members. But make sure, whether you use the author or the title, to spell it correctly when you search. RayS.
10-second review: Focuses freshman college writing programs on research.
Title: “The Student Scholar: (Re)Negotiating Authorship and Authority.” L. Grobman. College Composition and Communication (May 2009), 178.
Comment: Another truncated article to be found on the Internet at: www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc, “The Extended CCC.” Again I thought the idea was interesting.
By the way, one advantage of these title/author/first paragraph entries is not to have to read it if you don’t want to, The writers had better well do as we tell our students to do—attract the reader into wanting to read it—or it won’t be read. RayS.
10-second review: With increasing employment of adjunct faculty at the college level, there is an urgent need for cooperation between the tenured and the adjunct faculty.
Title: “Dual Tracks: Creating Tenurable Teaching Lines.” L. Frost. College composition and Communication (May 2009), A-12-A-16.
Quote: “In a 2008 report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in Language and Literature released online in February, the Modern Language Association recommends four broad changes to the structure of undergraduate programs in language and literature. It urges the development of:
.a coherent program of study .teamwork among the instructional staff members .interdepartmental cooperative teaching .empirical research to assess the successes and shortcomings of the program.”
Quote: “The key to instituting these changes can be summed up in the report’s insistent focus: the creation of a new model of interaction and cooperation between faculty members. ‘Faculty members rarely work together in the way that we propose and often know little about their colleagues’ course contents and methodologies.’ ”
Quote: “Yet in an interactive world, in the face of an ‘explosion’ of new technologies and disciplinary knowledge, the report argues, ‘The work of curriculum demands collaborative teamwork among faculty members to give the major coherence and structure and administrative support to sustain points of articulation with other fields.”
Comment: It has been 17 years since I last worked as an adjunct instructor in a community college and it would seem from the recommendations in this report that all is the same as it was. Adjuncts are at the lowest rung of the ladder, treated with condescension by the permanent faculty, work in isolation and provide little evidence of coherent programs. Incredible. Granted, the gist of the recommendations seems to involve working with faculty in other disciplines, but also suggests that the English faculty are just as uncooperative as I found them to be in the community college. RayS.
10-second review: Create a master’s degree program in professional writing
Title: “Adding Value for Students and Faculty with a Master’s Degree in Professional Writing.” Susan M. Hunter, et al.College Composition and Communication (May 2009). 177.
Comment: This is one of the hybrid articles that includes only the first paragraph to be completed on the Internet: www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc, “The Extended CCC.” The date posted is September 2009. The idea struck me as intriguing. RayS.
10-second review: Contrasts the “democratic approach” to rhetoric to the expert’s authoritarian approach.
Title: “Lydia J. Roberts’s Nutrition Research and the Rhetoric of ‘Democratic’ Science.” Jordlynn Jack. College Composition and Communication (September 2009), 109-128.
Quote: “The ‘democratic approach’ served as both a scientific and rhetorical resource for Roberts. As a scientific method the ‘democratic approach’ helped Roberts fulfill her scientific goals, which included cooperating with researchers in other disciplines, influencing public policy, and creating knowledge useful for public as well as scientific audiences. As a rhetorical strategy, the democratic approach’ sometimes served mainly to shore up Roberts’s own expertise and that of experts, while in other cases it helped to distribute expertise among a wider group of individuals.”
Quote: “…I analyze how Lydia J. Roberts, a nutritionist, employed what she called the ‘democratic approach’ as a rhetorical strategy. When she enacted this approach, Roberts typically sought to involve multiple stakeholders in knowledge-making projects, whether by surveying experts, holding conferences and meetings to discuss findings, or holding workshops to develop strategies for education and outreach work. By giving these stakeholders opportunities to influence decisions, Roberts hoped to ensure that nutrition research would serve the interests of dietitians, educators, policy officials, extension workers and local communities, not just the interests of research scientists.”
Comment: Hard to pin down just what the “democratic approach” to rhetoric is, but it seems to put the source of knowledge on groups of people involved with the topic instead of a single expert. RayS.
10-second review: Because so many good articles have been offered for issues of College Composition and Communication, some articles, because of lack of space in the journal, are only partly printed in the journal and are completed online.
Title: “The Authority of the Hybrid Word.” Deborah Holdstein, ed.College Composition and Communication (September 2009), 8-9.
Comment: Interesting way of providing complete coverage while, at the same time, conserving space in the printed copy of the journal. TV stations have been doing a similar thing, providing the leads on a story on air and the details online. RayS.
