Situating Composition: Composition Studies and the Politics of Location
By Lisa Ede
* Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
* Number Of Pages: 280
* Publication Date: 2004-11-24
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0809325829
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780809325825
Product Description:
Responding to a growing pedagogical paralysis in debates over the nature and status of composition studies as an academic discipline, Lisa Ede offers a provocative inquiry into the politics of composition’s place in the academy. The result is a timely and engaging reflection on the rhetoric, ideology, and ethics of scholarship and instruction in composition studies today.
Situating Composition: Composition Studies and the Politics of Location delves into some of the most vexing issues presently facing the field: its status in relation to English studies, the nature and consequences of the writing process movement, the uneven professionalization of composition teachers, and the widening chasm between theory and practice. Ede interrogates key moments and texts in composition’s evolution, from the writing process movement to Susan Miller’s Textual Carnivals, through the interpretive lenses of historical analysis, theoretical critique, feminist and cultural theory, and Ede’s own two decades of experiences as a teacher and writing program administrator.
Questioning the narratives of progress and paradigm shifts that inform the field’s highly regarded recent theoretical studies, Ede urges scholars to carefully reconsider these claims, to honor the roles of teachers and students as more than dupes of ideology, and to more fully acknowledge—and utilize—the differences between the practice of theory and the practice of teaching. As academic hierarchies of knowledge increasingly privilege scholarship over instruction, Ede warns researchers to be cognizant of the politics and power inherent in their own location in the academy, particularly when professing to speak for teachers and students. To that end, the volume’s conclusion advocates pragmatic avenues for change and proffers topics for future discussion and debate.
Summary: Okay, but repetitive
Rating: 3
I am being forced to read this book for my Comps exam to finish my MA degree. I'm sure that at some point in my career (if I do pursue teaching) I would have had to read this book, but it would not be my first choice. While she does have some really interesting points, Ede is too repetitive. She repeats phrases often and constantly reminds the reader that the stuff she discusses is true for her, but not necessarily all Comp depts. or Comp professors.
The one thing that bugs me is that she gives about 3 intros before she gets to the point. Example, "I'm about to discuss X, but before I get to X, let me say this. (Next graph) Oh, before I get to X, let me remind you of this too (Next graph) oh, one more thing before I get to X."
Also, there are typos, which is comical considering one of her requirements for her Advanced Comp students is to have papers with very few errors in order to make a good grade. I understand that editors should catch that kind of stuff, but I found it so odd that a comp book would have several errors while talking about how to teach students how to write--although "process" is the focus.
I'm all for process over product and I'm glad I'm reading it, but I wish I weren't being tested on it that way I could read it and chew it over.
If you're interested in process writing and believe we are not living in a post process era, then this is the book for you. If you're on the fence, this is still the book for you. |
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