Argues against the use of negative arguments about methodological approaches in the field of composition. Suggests negative argumentation exacerbates the tension concerning the place and value of empirical studies in research; it potentially limits the field's ability to ask certain kinds of research questions; and it risks impoverishing the…

Presents a series of alternatives to the modernist research paper: the argumentative research paper, the personal research paper, the research essay, and the multi-genre/media/disciplinary/cultural research paper. Addresses theoretical implications of alternative research writing strategies. (NH)

Discusses the concept of rhetorical sovereignty as the inherent right and ability of peoples to determine their own communicative needs and desires. Claims rhetorical sovereignty requires writing teachers to rethink how and what they teach as the written word at all levels of schooling. Sketches out some preliminary notes toward the praxis that is…

Claims that educational fair use is more permissive than most writing teachers and administrators realize. Presents four factors, suggested by the Copyright Act of 1976, which teachers and administrators should consider in order to make informed decisions about their practices. Lists 4 websites. (NH)

Explains the City University of New York's reversal of its 1970 Open Admissions Policy and discusses the ramifications of that reversal. (NH)

Argues that composition has neglected the circulation (delivery) of writing by figuring classroom life as a middle-class family drama. Draws on Marx's "Grundrisse" for a conceptual model of how circulation materializes contradictory social relations and how contradictions between exchange value and use value might be taken up in writing…

Argues that looking at students' uses of cliche in context can teach instructors about students' struggles to fashion new knowledge from what they already believe to be true. Examines students' most frequently used cliches. Suggests writing instructors who examine their response to cliche can learn how their pedagogical practices can deafen them…

Examines issues of literacy and identity relative to the development of a critical pedagogy and a critical democracy. Argues that the best strategies to foster a critical and astute citizenry that would pursue a radical, transcultural democracy, involve maximizing various epistemologies, searching for transcultural understandings, and opening up…

Offers two essays responding to Horner's article in a previous issue of this journal. Argues for redefinition of "professionalization,""evaluation," and the uses of professional authority in relation to students' and other laypeople's knowledges. Discusses the need for professional organizations and unions, and the ongoing need…

Responds to an article by Ellen Barton against negative argumentation in a prior issue of this journal. Examines how the debate on empirical versus non-empirical research is a product of different, but not mutually exclusive, historical narratives of research in and around composition. Includes a reply from Barton. (SR)

Offers institutional critique as an activist methodology for changing institutions. Claims institutions are rhetorically constructed human designs and are therefore changeable. Argues that rhetorical action in the area of professional writing and public discourse rather than the composition classroom and departments of English can provide the…

A discussion of how one perceive YsI form versus formlessness in discourse." (Author/RD)