LOOKING FOR RHETORIC IN COMPOSITION: A STUDY IN DISCIPLINARY IDENTITY

Abstract

The author engages in a study of rhetoric and composition's disciplinary identity and representations as seen in various disciplinary locations. Despite individual preferences toward other titles, the discipline is commonly referred to as "rhetoric and composition," a title that embraces but does not categorize the field. In this dissertation the author examines the relationship between rhetoric and composition, arguing in the first section of the dissertation that the conjunction "and" is not sufficient to describe the many relationships between these two terms. The first section of the dissertation also examines the positioning of rhetoric and composition in historical texts as well as in journals published by the National Council of Teachers of English, concluding that the hierarchies often created between rhetoric and composition or theory and practice arehighly contextual.The second section of the dissertation examines the role of departmental and institutional structures in the development of doctoral programs in rhetoric and composition, and argues that the discipline needs to take a proactive role in addressing these influences. The author demonstrates this need through an historical examination of the formation of doctoral programs in rhetoric and composition and the disciplinary identity represented by TA training texts. The second section then argues that conscious and considered representations of disciplinary identity are important to the continued growth and development of rhetoric and composition. The dissertation concludes with an argument that rhetoric and composition needs to develop undergraduate majors and minors. The concluding chapter highlights the role of departments and undergraduate majors in the American university and urges scholars and administrators in the discipline to work toward the establishment of undergraduate curricula.