Composition-Rhetoric: Backgrounds, Theory, and Pedagogy

by Robert Connors

Connors provides a history of composition and its pedagogical approaches to form, genre, and correctness. He shows where many of the today’s practices and assumptions about writing come from, and he translates what our techniques and theories of teaching have said over time about our attitudes toward students, language and life. Connors locates the beginning of a new rhetorical tradition in the mid-nineteenth century, and from there, he discusses the theoretical and pedagogical innovations of the last two centuries as the result of historical forces, social needs, and cultural shifts. This important book proves that American composition-rhetoric is a genuine, rhetorical tradition with its own evolving theria and praxis. As such it is an essential reference for all teachers of English and students of American education.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kaia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connors wants to lay out the history of composition-rhetoric so that the discipline might understand where it came from so it can unify for a consolidated future. I think if he had his way, we'd all go back to studying rhetoric as oral discourse and we'd stop writing froofy personal essays. Interesting tracings of the history, though, as long as we remember that Connors is not neutral in his presentation.

[Kierra · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would be difficult to explain how much I disliked this book. Redundant, vaguely (and occasionally directly) misogynistic, dry, pretentious, reductive, and just plain bad.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used two of his chapters as support for my paper this semester on the history of First Year Composition (FYC).

The first composition class was taught at Harvard in 1880 in response to concerns about students’ writing ability that occurred after a shift in the demographics of the student population at universities that occurred in the 1860’s as educational reforms made college more accessible. However, universities soon realized that many of these students were not prepared for the writing required at the university as they were "flooded with students who needed to be taught to write, who needed to be taught correctness in writing, who needed to know forms, and who could be run through the system in great numbers" (Connors, 1997, p. 9).
Post WWII: newspapers proclaimed that there was a great "illiteracy of American boys" and that "college freshmen could not write" (Connors, 1997, p. 11).