A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers [Paperback]

Erika Lindemann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195088441 | ISBN-13: 978-0195088441 | Publication Date: February 23, 1995 | Edition: 3

From answering the question "Why teach writing?" to offering guidance in managing group work and responding to assignments, this remarkably successful text provides a comprehensive introduction to the teaching of writing. Now updated to incorporate the latest developments in the field, A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers describes in straightforward terms the cross-disciplinary scholarship that has reinvigorated composition teaching. Reflecting current views of writing as social interaction, this edition emphasizes workshops, collaborative learning, and holistic evaluation. Chapters on prewriting techniques, organizing material, paragraphing, sentence structure, words, and revising describe how the teacher can guide students through composing, while sections on rhetoric, cognition, and linguistics discuss theoretical principles that support classroom practices and make the teacher's performance effective. Treating both the theory and practice of writing, the author encourages teachers to adopt the methods that best meet their students' needs and to develop a style of teaching informed by knowledgeable decisions. Over forty percent of the text's material is new to this edition, offering composition scholars a broad range of techniques to encourage and motivate their students. Complete with an updated bibliography and a table of important dates in the history of composition, this classic work offers both prospective and seasoned writing teachers convenient access to recent scholarship in the field and inspires them to examine what it means to teach well.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent text with practical, useful suggestions for teaching writing."--Brenda Ameter, Troy State University

"I have used this book before and I find the Third Edition a must as a resource text for those who teach writing and composition. It has a comfortable balance of theoretical and practical discussions."--Sandra Jackson, DePaul University

"Erika Lindemann should include a subtitle: "...or, What Every Writing Teacher Should Know". Lindemann's book is admirable in its scope and accessibility for neophytes. I'm going to suggest that it becomes required reading for all of our TA's."--Ross Winterowd, University of Southern California

"An excellent book for beginning teachers or TA's who want a concise introduction to theory and practice in composition studies."--Bennett A. Rafoth, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

"The third edition is even better than expected....[T]he earlier editions worked very well in my methods classes. I look forward to teaching this edition."--Duane Roe, Arizona State University

About the Author

Erika Lindemann, Professor of English, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (February 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195088441
• ISBN-13: 978-0195088441
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very straightforward approach to teaching comp, April 23, 2004

By 

Amy Krug "amykk25" (Centerville, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers (Paperback)

Lindemann's book is well organized and developed, and provides many practial examples of the theories she discusses. If you had to pick one book to use for a teaching comp class, this would be the one to pick. For a more in-depth study, combine this book with Irene Clark's "Concepts in Composition," which is a more theoretical and historically-based explanation of composition concepts.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful and Readable Review of Composition Theory, August 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers (Paperback)

I have found this book to be well received by students preparing to teach HS English classes, as well as people already in the classroom. It covers thoroughly all the major aspects of composition theory in a succint and careful way, with lots of examples and good bibliography. For anyone who really wants to know what we have learned from comp theory in the last 25 years, this is a good book. It is not a how-to, and does not offer detailed ideas for the classroom; it is based on principles and research.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well-intended, but sedulous and dull, March 15, 2011

By 

Randolph A. Burgess "Randy Burgess, author an... (Woodstock, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers (Paperback)

As a composition teacher in a continuing ed program, I saw this book on Amazon & ordered it in hopes it would give me many new ideas about not only what to teach but how to teach. I was dismayed, then, to find the writing dull rather than inspirational, with wooden prose and far too heavy a reliance on excerpts from academic research papers. In addition, anyone who is qualified to teach writing to begin with (by virtue of ability and interest, not mere credentials) will find much of the material obvious and some of it irrelevant.

Beyond that, as another reviewer noted, there is no mention of ESL issues, which to me are quite interesting especially as more and more non-native English speakers enroll in university-level courses. It is not vital that a book of this sort tackle ESL - but it would have been nice, especially since the author claims to take a comprehensive approach.

I will keep this book on the dusty end of my bookshelf to flip through now and then, but overall the most inspirational and useful authors on composition still seem to be those who themselves are good writers - e.g. Donald Hall, Carol Bly, John Gardner, etc.