{"id":7006,"date":"2006-07-25T13:13:26","date_gmt":"2006-07-25T13:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/25\/foster-what-are\/"},"modified":"2006-07-25T13:13:26","modified_gmt":"2006-07-25T13:13:26","slug":"foster-what-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/25\/foster-what-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Foster, “What Are We Talking About…Composition”"},"content":{"rendered":"\u23f3 Approximate reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>\n

Foster,
\n David. "What Are We Talking About When We Talk
\n About Composition?" JAC<\/i> 8 (1988): 30-40.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Foster sets up a tension between scientistic<\/b> and humanistic<\/b>
\napproaches to composition by giving a reading of three seminal texts: Beach and
\nBridwell’s New Directions in Composition<\/i> (1984), Hillocks’s Research
\non Written Composition<\/i> (1986), and North’s The Making of Knowledge in
\nComposition<\/i> (1987). He is foremost concerned with composition’s status as a
\ndiscipline, and he builds toward a provocative conclusion (what will we
\nrefuse to know?<\/i>) by working through each of these books and suggesting the
\nimplications of an approach to composition that depends too narrowly on
\nempirical research, on models of mind and process that do little to account for
\ncontext, and on the limits of replication as a reliability indicator in
\nscientific research (34). Empirical exclusivity is problematic, Foster contends,
\nbecause it renders codependent theoretical development and empirical evidence
\n(34). Humanistic approached to composition, on the contrary, "flouris[h]
\nthrough dialectic<\/b>, in which one mode of thinking draws life [energy!] in
\nresponse to all other modes of thought, none ever permanently ‘disproved’ or
\nabandoned" (35). <\/p>\n

In an affirmation of humanistic models, Foster mentions Bitzer’s triad,
\nrecent research on audience, and Fish and Blech’s work on "interpretive
\ncommunities" (36). Furthermore, Foster notes the trap of dualistic
\nthinking [killer dichotomies?]: "The scientific and humanistic ways of knowing
\ncan carry equal power for the knower, provided he or she understands the
\ndifferent processes of knowledge upon which each depends. We know some
\nthings as humanists, some things as scientists, and we can accommodate each way
\nof knowing into our total field of awareness–so that we can prevent
\nourselves from being trapped into dualistic either-or thinking<\/b>" (37).\n<\/p>\n

Foster’s final criticism of Hillocks centers on Hillocks’ conclusion that
\nthere is relatively little research on audience. Foster contends that
\nHillocks consideration of other research is heavily qualified by a narrow set of
\nbrackets, brackets neglecting to include a number of audience studies on the
\nbasis of methodology. This is the final argument before Foster’s
\ncompelling conclusion: "To refuse this invitation to an intellectual pluralism,
\nto settle in its place for a single perspective, is to invite the punishment we
\nall hated in grade school: having to write the same sentence one hundred times.
\nIn this case, it would be ‘I will not know. I will not know. I will not
\nknow…’<\/b> (38). <\/p>\n

"Each study also conveys a sense of the dynamic, changing nature of
\n‘composition,’ a feeling that it is enlarging its boundaries faster than its
\nmapmakers<\/b> can chart" (31).<\/p>\n

"The assumption informing both books [Beach and Bridwell; Hillocks] is this:
\ncomposition<\/b> is an empirically verifiable field of knowledge which,
\nunder the right conditions, can grow through hypothesis and experiment toward a
\ntruer picture of what teachers must know to nurture literacy<\/i>" (32).<\/p>\n

"Applied to composition, this powerful idea [natural laws] requires us to
\nbelieve that beneath the activities collectively called ‘writing’ are inherent
\nlaws which, when discovered, will permit us to understand, predict, and even
\ncontrol such activities" (33).<\/p>\n

"But can scientific knowledge<\/b> be a real foundation for teaching<\/i>
\ndiscourse?" (34).<\/p>\n

"Indeed, we must turn to North’s thorough, deliberate anatomizing<\/b> of
\nall the major modes of inquiry in composition to get anything like a satisfying
\npicture of the competing ideologies in current composition study" (35).<\/p>\n

\n
Related sources:<\/dt>\n
Beach, Richard, and Lillian S. Bridwell, eds. New Directions in
\n Composition Research: Perspectives in Writing Research. New York: Guilford,
\n 1984.<\/dd>\n
Connors, Robert J. "Composition Studies and Science." College English 45
\n (1983): 1-20.<\/dd>\n
Cooper, Marilyn. "The Ecology of Writing." College English 48 (1986):
\n 364-75.<\/dd>\n
Hillocks, George, Jr. Research on Written Composition: New Directions for
\n Teaching. Urbana: NCRE-ERIC, 1986.<\/dd>\n
North, Stephen. The Making of Knowledge in Composition: Portrait of an
\n Emerging Field. Upper Montclair, NY: Boynton, 1987.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u23f3 Approximate reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> mins<\/span><\/span>Foster, David. "What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Composition?" 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Olson begins with a glaring critique of the perceived split between high-theory elites who avoid \"the problems of the classroom\" and those who would see composition as centrally concerned with \"self-reflection about the teaching of writing or about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing Technologies"","block_context":{"text":"Writing Technologies","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/writing_technol\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7008,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/27\/swearingen-rc-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":7006,"position":1},"title":"Swearingen, “R&C as a Coherent Intellectual Discipline”","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"July 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Swearingen, C. Jan. \"Rhetoric and Composition as a Coherent Intellectual Discipline.\" Olson 12-22. 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