Collaborating, Literature and Composition: An Anthology of Essays for Teachers and Writers of English

The disciplines of English and composition seem particularly prone to crisis-driven proclamations: our kids don\u27t read the great works of they don\u27t read at all or they can\u27t write. Crisis talk notwithstanding, educators are left to theorize and practice ways to teach reading and writing with intelligence, compassion, and integrity. However, it often seems that theoretical formulations do not sufficiently explain their practicable applications; and practicable discussions too rarely rise above the level of swapping recipes--sharing assignments that work well in one context but may not in another. Therefore, the editors of this volume submit this collection of essays that strives to harmonize the all-too-often discordant qualities of theory and practice. Each co-authored essay illustrates and analyzes various classroom-based strategies for productive collaboration between literature and composition. This collection envisions a reciprocal to composing literature-literaturing composition, which entails \u22living through\u22 literature, as Louise Rosenblatt has it. This process regards the literary text as a medium for creative action, so that one reads not to criticize so much as to imagine new compositional possibilities. The eight essays in this collection are divided into four sections which span topics that include: textuality and critical pedagogy, argumentation and hybrid genres, student engagement and popular culture, and materiality and assessmenthttp://digitalcommons.framingham.edu/books/1239/thumbnail.jp