4 A Rhetoric of Doing Essays on Written Discourse in Honor of James L. Kinneavy Eaited by Stephen P. Witte Neil Nakadate Roger D. Cherry-6- Theories That Help Us Read and Write Better ‘Charles Bazerman “The following contemplation on composition theory was provoked by my thinking about he ge fence mes Kinneayy's Theory of cour bs at nme, Kineayy’s book wa the egining of ty Baking aboot composition Theory and the source of a momber of eas hat ave stayed with me, abou tensor by other inoences. By sorting oat what I hin be Bs done, what have ten fom fn and where Ihave coe wo dife, Lope to daw together A unber of dillerea inpdses within compostion theory that have emerged Since Kinneavy st the creat enters inmotion, Altiough significant conse tins can be made tetwee heoses of wee language and theres of spoken language, otto ton oer forms of synblie communication tis ess wil coir only the use of writen language, the primary domain ofthe compostion ‘asm "Tories atti best hlp us manage the maifld and inchoate els We ‘move among. They give sape to oar expecince ad desires they allow sto ‘projet ou acon int a unerse to whieh we have tlbuted some order, They low us to make ovr actoe efletive cathe han reliant onl onthe impulses ‘of spontaneity, habit, nd te unconscious. They also allow us to recognize and ve proper nfucnce othe processes of spontaneity, habit, andthe unconscious, Irhich we otherse might wih to deny of obliterate with nartowly rains Choices or byperconscious nechaiss that make the simple diicut, We con Sider theories sucesstul when we do beter with tee guidance tan without, Iihen we ascomplish more of what We wish when folowing their acount th then follwing any oer or ao account. When considered ints way theories an be seen ab heuristics fer ation. "This pragmatic eoy of theoizing, which hs long philosophical ros, has ‘en most ect and mustelouenty applied o composition by Louse Phelps. Her criterion for tories ries on their usefulness fr the teaching of writing Butteaching is secondary to te primary practice of eading and wring. Theos that help teaching ate necessarily foabded on more fundamental theories about ow poopie se write language, When the ema theory of eat activity is Placed within the lascom, added to he theory are complications eoncesinghow people lear, what influence teachers and insruction have, and bow the structured dynamics of the clasoom affect Ire prctioes. So the primey rterion of ompostion theory is what eps sll human eins, re and write Ths everthing Ihave lead to tell my stents Ihave also lesmed 0 tell mmysell Every way Istucture tele developmentally aimed work i related 4 ‘ray Tsonceve my ora work as eingttured. Every bi-psysho sociological Ttaton and mechani I ane in ay students and help tem make best use of isalimiaton or meckanism recognize and tempt to cope with mysel. Beyond the aul ange of biologieal and biographical difereaces, do nt Sethe st ‘ny ferent fom me, sich tat whet know aboot renga wring would fot be applicable to thm or tut what Izu fr them of aby Otber Users of ‘rien language might not be applicable to mel What | know shoot writing teed only tobe localized co thir experience, developmental biography, and Suton and then commanisted to them inthe may mos appropriate to tei tasks and eure pens Sirly, what ean fom tem and ehers needs only tobe localized to my own developmental autobiography, situation abd tsk. AS Tryself come to reher and more productive acount of what wing sn large part by eaing fom thers wht tr kl in wring consist o), {let stidets Fron the treks and wrategies ofthe trade aod pide tem down the byway of this most intricately consvucted of human practices. By coming to understand the many things wel have made of writen language i many diferent cca Staness, wall come to ave more ofthe power of writen commusicaton within cour reach Despite the great inventive complexity, vasety and sil eaized dough write language, we roneiteles often grow up wit th impression that weting 1s aural ueicive atv. If we ae fomunate to have had 3 tesonably succtesfl ery edtcation, we have lamed may skill of Iteacy and itera ined them 38 act knowledge while we were sil children, Other sil we learn by ad hoe and inventive imitation of models of which we ae only pecipbally sire, while our fea! tention is coosumed by & communist problem ha taxes the limit of ou skill, When we reud and wate, we must juggle so many bulls that we are ot ikely to noice ow much received knowlege an kl we rely on. We may ot uly comebend tht writag is something we have ad 0 Team howto does a human race, a sepurate cles, sr peilized commu tes individ, Hind people not Sgured ou ow to doit, however, writing would not exist au let lone be te complex, vated Kinds of peace carey is. That rest ‘of guring out depended on conceptions of problems, stations ante symbolic tool thar provided soluions. Tut Sgurng ot cones tds a our writen Caltre expands and becomes more aislited o meet ne soca eed Tf we lived widiasubl,oczly apd limited Lnrate weeds, where adtoal writen language practices served al our needs and were taste by seas clara socialization, we might do jus fine without self-conscious therzing about n= fing ne ould simpy ive off the theoretical capital uit it the tation ‘ull peseties. But our cues! word i lngisealy and eatery complex, ‘resenting each of swith move and apd evolving situations anda temendous "are of reading to make sem of inthe oar of or edextons an lives ntDw the inary rite vote dos gical vse of yond woul eof Scand ele scat Tage dene sof Stand thin ugh ing ably ral. aly bat ny ‘Tearit Tht Help Us Read and We Beer only do we meet and form close commutiy with people of many diferent fekgrounds oot eal do we move throvgh many diferent kinds of soil Irclectal and work arangemens aot only mist we participate in many ie ae inttons ha organi diferent pas of olives, but these soa fo ions, azangements, apd institut are consamly evolving within the comple. Ayoamies of modem American society. econo, and technology. We med omctous theory to elp us make our wath this intresting, ever shang teat tea ‘0 couse, theories of writen language cr do other wor besides helping ws we litery. They ean, fr example, distance us from the work of language in the word by establishing ecurc hots ane practices of privileged lengvoge ta become te propery of only a ploopscsl or lteray o thesia er politcal clss the beefs ao power fliers then tobe shared only hose tho atch themselves othe privileged cas, Or theories of write language an euage iver den ttng "a, for ance sree ser bis ste ning ple, tbe my ‘ers tat tha “hus the text becomes ave and meaningful in ow we deal with how and sabes ely fom wets ad what we mae oft formes eades, These st wend ou sls Rerate people andthe sills we tac nou ase, scan of alized form sony the raining obit to manipulate Reet thinking ad activites by which me proce a text are ated 1, but them Tay ih sane ax, the femoning dipayed inthe txt, ust a oUF atv activity insta to, bt not necessiythe same a, te reasoning ‘ene to the text, The soning by which we acomplish weaning is not ERIN'S the accomplished meaning, nor ised he nae we seis ot ‘eds x "hen we contemplate txt inte content, we ar nt likely to elize he pure nin sociated with elzed ext types, Kineay ecognies tht fact in remixed, bate treats as a simple ovelpping ht ean Be gored fr ‘pete of analytic clarity (66-68) rather than as fandaental teeing ‘Bicannotbe aay pulled apart without viene mthe phenomenon. Because [inseny ls conceed with bow texts appear, be aes he inetional smbions ‘Netty represeied in the text atin foot te fll representation of the aims {foamed in the ext Stategie subordination of sis. owever sot the ame ‘rmaking ie vanish, As 1 iseus in detain Shaping Writer Knowledge, for ‘amples basic persuasive and expository saz of the moder experimental rice in scene 1 organize social plosphial, erry, and payeholozca ‘Srorsions of the text 30 that they ll rely om empiscal experience; cus the ‘epresentton of enpcieal experience inthe form of experiment becomes the ‘ol element ine textual agument This mean ha sciente iseourse {tek aims and iteration long these subordastc dimensions. Quit the con ttn. Nor does an exresive piece of wating do without concen for audience ‘estion, representation of experienc, arflexpesion or an itretual ta tion, Al hese elements ae always all tee, The most expesive yres are prevselythwe tha Know Bow fo daw readers i an emetve real (10 be iit fo the author's state of mind) though contol of language, choice of ‘rychologally power images, resonances from the liray tadton, and Feewgaizaton of reader” experiences ofthe word. Communication mst be ‘complished on all hese dimensions ‘What fers among text ype aete configurations, subordination, coortins sions, enphuses, and mechanisms for barmessing all he aims ito coherent text tha appears to ve a dominant imple. There ae potently many such ‘oigrtons tat could create any One apparent dominat sim, so i nota [ron obvious that exts apace displaying the sie sim must be of asnge, Uniform ype four concer were oly to recognlzethe appearances of dominant impulse and if Gominent pulses consist overwhelmed eter ais, then Kinnensys account would be adequate. But if we wish to produce texts that cfetively coordinate ll aims ote appurectdorinat sim and i we wish fo be abe to understand fully a eaders how texts operate on us, we need ihr counts of embeded eatos, abd not jst apparent oes "us sich problems ‘of coordinating te mulidinensinal aims of texts provide the inp forthe ‘moet striking textal inventions, such as he argucent from experiment or the {oeston of mood though personal contemplation Our course world would indeed be ingovershe if we didnot constantly connd wth the multcimenson- Thou Ta Help Us Re ad Wie Baer(cos Baseman ality ofa discourse, Moreover, e either would have achieved eitematoped tage or would be pilsmpically muve if we acted as though out discourse ‘oul achieve uomedaed ascese too spite the spins of our audience, world ouside ws, ora disembodied creation of Saussurean Tongue (Considering texts ideal types out of context also obscures the conection betncon a text and prior statements, both thse tit establish the immediate ‘Convertor torial station and hos that esabish te unterlig heor {aUsymboli waivers within whi the lea conversation staking plac. This invertetual dmeasion is equaly part of the cones that each new text must Coordinate Represetton of te Sette can indeed be a dominant mode cf Sertng as inte codication of laws, review of hterae, o poems and ris that evoke the familiar themes and aise the old songs (oe example, James Baldwin's Sonny" Ble an, in par, be sen a sel onsciouly operating a this mde), Yer ike the oter aims, he oer coacers to which texts ean atene, the interes never atendd otal innocent of the ther ams, which it must hres to ke appuent dominance. Abd iis nover no there even whe other tims are more obviously served The underlying sstepe problem of wring is indeed evientng yourself wit resget to all those dimensions, dfning your aime with respect ther, and fearing inthe txt a set of retions among these elements to achieve your Complex ains wth respect ttn al. Assessment, evasion, and decison 2 {Iotentona ates, sbaped by the writers conceptions, perceptions, motives, eran istores, and development. The ned for intentional choice is lieved nly in those Instances when we ae folly abit socalled aoa sabe tof toil elton, s tht cll repulse and conventional language nak the choices for us. A texrbased faronomy doe nat ll us to move ‘yond sonventonlzd regularities even makes the world appear uch move ‘conventional spd repulsed than Ii. In a text-based taxonomy, itnsona thinking becomes invisible ané unknowable, None, this complex area's Pressly where we need clear theories fo help us make order of where we sa td how we should at once we reeogize we ive ina confusing tere But even bere we donot eave Kineayys tatonamy tully behind. If ve take his sme non the rection of ealzed, discrete tex types but sconces tnd connetions tat all addesed in every a of dacorse, every symbole Inaction, and if we add o bis four coocers (of anene, self reality, a texb tein concerm ofinterertuaiy orth symbol eld, o pir statemens. tne have a Roi for considering theses of relations we ab writers need Gret ourselves toward and adress, We may even, for memory’s sake, call this heuristic a aeo-Kinneavianpytamid, supplementing the three vertices ef inneaty’strangle ter, reaer, ality withthe fourth verte ofthe iterate for nertxt the word orignal remais ia the center. With ach ofthese dimensions we have lng histories and stabilize elation ships, al of which come ito play a8 we contemplate any new symbolic ation fof dacouse, We have since bith Ineacted with and estblished soil pace ‘vith respect to maa individuals and social proopings; hese interactions prove {swith foci mols through which we perceive how we stand with respect © te caret auiens, a eater how distin, imperona, nd novel st mit fe he armologiel ‘iscourse sone, the immediate niger vce. This mode of tnd soi dle James eating natn’, chit mut hen other sll wih hem, and ‘selieved foasble anguage terion! ewe sed ‘hetorial ind, we symbolic lity. and stemeat) need ‘ake, eal verte of inert «tation se ation seal place ns provide respect 0 mit ee “ote That Help Us Re ad Wie Bose pest nor bo inappropriate sich modes may uiately tum ott be fo this ‘uation with this sudience, We have also estblied our sense of self, out perioral experiences and commitments and goals, and our adopted personae Fefore varios pubis, which ear on how we wll reresent ourselves an further ‘or personal ends before this particule aaience.Siily, we have become fale with and oved within various symbeli lds and engaged in conversa tons that have led this moment we ve come 1 know, eich in or ove trays, aspects ofthe ambentpiysical wold that bea on the cutest moment; Tho we fave bad #cerain amount of experience with reading and writing text tnd cresting formations that provide the material of ou current uteranes. ‘These elements all fume the cumen hori moment fo Moreover, each of these histones that fame the cunt momest interacts fundamentally with ll teeters. The statements we ave uttered ave been pat ‘foo relationships withthe people sound us and have beled frm both uF ble person and personal comment; moreover, neu siatemens we have {escedto the convertion we were prt nd have deployed symbolic cements ‘wehivesicovered within the itertextusl fed. Even oursease of ality hasbeen ‘Shaped by the symbols with which we suround ourexperene apd knowledge of the word ‘More conse an practically, rater han to erste an abt mode fal lacure station, we ean use these fiveconceas io begin o map ou retccl ‘sun gains the several works we interet with as we communicte. As we Caw oat tis map, we ean recognize ur consis aad opporuiis, OF ‘souces and problems, ou gosls and choise, cbr models of analog ith ‘ons, and our posible mechanisms for influencing aes ’A anders, we can also place ouselves, our motives our imerests, and out sn ia ierpstation by mean ofthis eat, tery deepening ou reading. ‘Weesn comet understand how this text tracts with ts, te Imtrtetial wel, cour etcepton of reality andeven our erepion of he author, We cen contact {ison of where the writer placed hel and tempted to place we, and we can faluste wheter we accep that placemeat in all ts dimensions. AS rening Ubeorits have argued, reading can be seen sta cnsuative at by which We Jnvoke schematic knowledge to make sease ofa text with the famewodks of sr undersanding, Ihave eleewhere (Shopng Written Knowledge, chap. 8) found physicists employ complex, muldinenionlsthema they ead, refectng alte conceres expressed in this hewisti pyramid is view, Scher arent ‘he passive modules of elle determined names (as posnted by ED. Hirsch 4) but the aetveconsrtion of each invial a that vidal comes 10 terms withthe socal, natal, psychological, an txts! wore de moves soo. Moreover, the Schema are almed a prodocing action, for ech individ tgsties perceptions inorder t evaluate the next move. The hewsti derived ‘fom Kinaeavy can serve asa dovic fr expicilyrcopizing and orgniing ‘he moliimensionaity of our schema "This concept of schematic knowledge by which we tre and make de slog can inten be applied to these of writing oes we accept that weg A refictive ation, based on oeanized perceptions and considered deions. The ‘stocralizations of theory, then, have place as piciples by which we organize ‘ur schema, by which we order our View of the wal in which we act. And‘haces Base io again Uuggest tha the neo-Kinneavian pram offers us 2 ich and useful set Gt eategoes by which we can come to tere with what we are dong ia wring, by which we ean Become more article and reasoned ia out wetng processes ‘Thistle for theory hpi theay's constructive, eure inci, Rather nan desing «natural sate of aff, a theory of wten language posits a framework for conseting an understanding of prior evens and creating new ‘ones If me old ane tory ver anoer and we tha theory as the basis foe Interpretation and aeton, we wl experience and act tere than if we had ‘el the eer teary. Theorie of writen language, because they are heuristic forour trate practices, are set liling prophecies, The criterion fr choosing among sich theories cannot be reference to any natural sate of aff, fore theory ies bps ws construct ae of ers consonant wih ifs precepts and rips etblish «perceptions fmework trough which we perceive those ‘ates of ffi that me consider nar, The citron must be our satslaction tit the vor ete by ou theory and with our ens of bow well the word Urea created coordinates wit ut experiences ofthe wri we move among. {thats whether our tory allows us to pareipate succesfully wih ots, ll living ies acovding to her own conceptions). People ean ld theories aboot Tanguage based entirely on conceps of poprity, amd ia a proper word, where All pons have Been put in pope place, and everyone KRows where they propery melon, oe could get by quite propzly. By contrast, where nate 1 Ein and n economic pressres or cla complet reqie greater ordering Cfhumanactions unrefectve spontaneity woul bea perfectly adequate theory of tiscourseto which alos everyone would come independent. spontaneoisly. ‘Our word of culiral compen, indice! moby, and comple coord rated enceavors toques complex understandings of where we me and Bow We ‘and with respect teach oer. We ced ay complicated schema to get around inthe complex of discourse by which we interact wih many diferent kinds of ‘people in many different ways. Wit this complex we Bnd many pockets of Fegulrzed relations and dncoure that we Men as structed communities ‘wih sallzed genres and conventions. Notetheless, our complex biographies resto the fd and elect elations of contemporary society equi tht our ‘es ino these pockets of tabity must bea SelF-conscous transformation of ‘urideattes. We mast eam her ores a sangers being sosaied st foci ules We nest a theory of language sch enough to help us make sense of These exerences, avoid the mistakes tht would vost the communal under Standing tte te ofthe system, ad wansform these commits © accept tllthe cmplenites that wea India bring to them. Otherwise, we have 0 Teave our ene histories and commitments atthe door whenever we emer few dscorse situation, We would hen sit tthe tranny of overpowering parochial socal conto. "This danger of supyession of the fulness of our complexity should aot events rns ntring it glared sition with whole Dear oreves fom loping local theories for ecganizing our experiences within thse Ststians. ‘When ring te poet of Blake, the more oe enters nt the st of imaginative escepans that encompass ha wrk, teicher and mare complete the expe hc is Tcl to be, jus a the more ne enters nto a rears, the mote one ‘us conrt som theory of highly ordered ablative iniexble comics imei oi woul thepe ofthe ishee ‘all the wi word inper hose Then langu they fet onder of tan projec dacou the hs Tinie fer sha yon. theore ther, ‘troup to‘of sons ule one's weranees. Notes, i may ad to ou resdom and Sent getaton if we have some ality bmcasie the cost and gins of he sous formations we hve actesto,sothat we can set inligenty, verity then we fel dicomfot, abd svcd creating discourse universes we eel peter no to inhabit beloe inthe constrctive role of language ant SIRNSG of tetbeories thatare here tht constuction ten carevalation ee becomes serious mater. Dinitshe theres are not us diminished ‘tei: tyra in inne practices, diminished experiences, and din ihe ves. Sia a who have commited surntves in aftaniag de cause fiero in ihe wold have also commited owreles 10 the sping and reshsping ofthe an By enaeing with our steers se fr writen language inthe lves, we ofa engage wit tet toed fo write thei repr, sel ter poodutsy ad huge rhetconportion, But we also engaze with thei ability to make refective ‘Gusts shout what dincouses they engage im and ow they engage inthe, ‘Fhe more deeply they understand the woes they interact with through ete Iimgunge, the beter ale theyre to interac more fully and to understand bo they bate trough te ineracins. They arn oroove fom being the minor Fertonary.unelectively crying out marowly defined asks 0 being able © tnersund ond contol the symbolic ations ht shape te endeavor they ate pa o ‘James Kinneary bas lng been deeply commited to he fundamental ent] roe of advancing itera, and he hus provide important dsinctions ts, Fray inthe teching of wrtag have found useful is consucting ou evolving USecoune universes: He sated wih a vision well founded in he practical ds foure theories of classic thetorie, which were pat of world whee lea onmaniy, tt, and vinues were givens, where Waels were accompanied by the hardships of Odysses and Aeneas, and where socal inequalities severely Tied ie coices. But he then asked How those theories shouldbe modified to ft curt pacts cational dul and modern theories of language and tents In aking the conection between clini hteric apd New Cries, he sharpened our sna toward the text and helped move our modes of es teyond te traitonalthetlorcal situations of agora, assembly, ad cout. His ‘ore terms helped shape our hnkig about wring, and we mst attend to them. evens we afempt 10 ereste now thereof weg to Rep guide us ‘tro poser ne. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS owe thanks to Chen Geisler, Carolyn Miller, and Marie Secor fr their sensitive ealings and perceptive comment op a aft of his ey Nores 1. Comer, for example, the ret of work aa Newlo ad acaplishin oder ‘» eshte dct pout tt ese the vty of pose! pions, pus expences, experimental canpetens, eee famevors, Meets “Teas Tat Help Us Read and Wt eter(Chas Hazon ‘mien, and etra les of the vars para in hp bts om ‘eleunied:ysem nshch hows empl desonstoons cases ogg (Gaerman chap) 2, Wale Ble in his Prayaric Tay of Rhee, tt tex om vying sate of mlntynon fans moves wich she oe ‘tomo chse, otha ar a tepin puns m andere ethos seat fect represen of way othe ace High fe work ee expeon aad scan ofthe rr heh th st of wrt. Heas mas Kime ee ‘Neato oft rate tan seg them elf swap hr ap come Inte vet frases nth dicanive nome Works crTED Buasmae: Chas. Spin Weiton Smet, Maio: U of Ween P1988 Bele, Whiter: Pragnnt Theoy of fare: Curie: Suen nals OP, 187, Kingery, dunes, “Aaos.& Neleed Costin Chines! Rhee Rao ad Prac fon Die Mas, Wskestn,De Cale Ua Arica POH. 3 <— A tao o Discourse 1991, Sew York: Norn, 1980 Nosand: Main’ Phe Sacre of Wren Commi, Olax, FL: Academis lp, Louse Weeee.Conpostion a Human Since. New York Oxford UP, bi