A Limerick--- for Mary

Limerick for Writers

We’re limerick writers of wonder With humor we pen without blunder. When we send a zinger, Each joke seems to linger, With flashes of lightning and thunder. Our audience just sits and waits To hear how each line berates. We’re sure to malign The next guy in line, The one that we just love to hate. Our game plan should hold no surprise. A verse form that just satisfies. We slam-dunk our rhyming With impeccable timing Then wait to claim our first prize. So here’s to each limerick we write. Sending it up like a kite. It dips and it swerves As we gather our nerves To watch it soar to new heights. By Raynette Eitel

In her comment Marry said she hasn't heard a limerick in a long time. I found this one... the first clean one I found... and loved it as a commentary on our readings this week.

Readings: Order counts!

Wow, do I wish I would have done our readings in the order they were on the Syllabus! "A Brief History of Rhetoric and Composition" in the Bedford Bibliography gave such a great and comprehensive overview, including Kinneavy's importance and motivation. I know this would have not made me like his paper any better, I really do not like when writers miss their own stated aims (especially in a paper about aims), however it certainly brought a much brighter light to the historical aspects that he was trying to emphasize. The changes of rhetoric and composition over time, seem to follow many of the same "evolutionary" changes in other areas of pedagogy. What will be interesting to follow will be the how dynamic changes in rhetoric and composition will be with the huge technological boom that has just occurred. It seems that these areas will receive the greatest impact due to the availability of email, texting and related "writing" technologies. People of all ages are spending more and more time writing and reading. Even though they are not composing compositions, there is sure to be an impact, whether positive or negative on composition.

Contemporary Composition

James A. Berlin's paper, "Contemporary Composition:The Major Pedagogical Theories", was a complete change from Kinneavy's confounding one. It was refreshing to read Berlin's systematic approach to explaining and exploring the four different groups of theories that he lays out. I also enjoyed that he lay his agenda, promoting the New Rhetorician approach to teaching writing, right out in his introduction. Even with this agenda clearly stated, Berlin proceeded to fully divulge into the other three groups as thoroughly as he did the New Rhetoricians.

As one who has little to no background information about the history of composition (A Brief History of Rhetoric and Composition is next on my reading list), I found his information extremely informative, as well as interesting and pertinent. What really made the most impact with me was his very last line about teachers knowing which approach they are taking to writing , AND being able to justify- to themselves as well as their students- why they had made that specific choice. This is certainly something I will reflect on when it is my time to teach.