Browsing by Subject "Writing"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 24
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A Grounded Theory of Rhetorical Reflection in Freshman Composition(2011-05) Irvin, Lennie; Rice, Rich; Kemp, Fred; Rickly, RebeccaThe following dissertation presents a grounded theory of rhetorical reflection within the activity of writing performed by freshman writers at Texas Tech University. Influenced by the portfolio letter as a paradigm, composition as a field has predominantly framed reflection as a post-task activity; however, rhetorical reflection asks writers to problem-solve and generate new understandings between drafts. The following research sought to generate a new theory for two reasons: our field’s lack of understanding about reflection’s mechanisms and our field’s attachment to theories of reflection built from other speculative theories. The new theory satisfies each of these gaps by providing a detailed description and explanation of rhetorical reflection created from data following a grounded theory methodology. The grounded theory of rhetorical reflection discovered through this research states that reflection involves comparison, assessment, and judgment in terms of essay success. As the mental conception of what writers believe they should do, essay success is the key determining factor for the rhetorical reflection of freshman writers and undergoes a process of construction as writers engage in a writing task. The theory generated from this research offers an expanded view of reflection for the field of composition compared to the current portfolio-centric perspective. As a teaching activity, rhetorical reflection helps freshmen writers learn rhetorical practice and the flexible application of general concepts, theories, and rules in particular contexts. This research has also recognized and reaffirmed how important writers’ mental models are for the act of writing.Item A Model to Augment Critical Thinking and Create Knowledge through Writing in the Social Sciences of Agriculture(2013-06-04) Leggette, Holli RaNaeThe purpose of this study was to develop a model to augment critical thinking and create knowledge through writing in the social sciences of agriculture. Without a conceptual model or a blue-print of writing in the social sciences of agriculture, teaching writing is hard. This study was divided into three phases, and each phase was reported and analyzed using independent research methods. Not only were the data reported as separate sets of findings, but also the data from each phase of the study were synthesized and reported as a mixed-methods study, which was a model to augment critical thinking and create knowledge through writing in the social sciences of agriculture. Five methods were used to collect the data: qualitative theory evaluation, qualitative interviews, qualitative focus groups, Q-sort interviews, and modeling methods. Using the qualitative theory evaluation, the researcher found three prominent theories and seven conceptual models of writing. Each writing theory and conceptual model brought a unique perspective to writing research. In conclusion, the social cognitive theory of writing was the most complete writing theory and the writing proficiency as a complex integrated skill conceptual model was the most complete. Qualitative interviews with eight faculty members in social sciences of agriculture revealed the writing factors that augment critical thinking and create knowledge. The researcher concluded that the ability to present and defend a topic to a variety of public audiences; opportunities for writing repetition; and rich, timely feedback were the writing factors faculty members believed augment critical thinking and create knowledge. The focus group interviews with 15 students in social sciences of agriculture revealed the characteristics of strong writers. The researcher concluded that adapting prose to fit the audience, applying writing to real-world scenarios, developing a strong argument, having a specific voice, and understanding grammar and mechanics should be used to help students develop writing skills. The data from the review of literature, the qualitative interviews, and the qualitative focus groups were used to develop the Q-sort interview statements. Q-sort interviews with four students, three faculty members, and three administrators revealed three factors that define writing in the social sciences of agriculture. The researcher concluded that writing in college courses can be categorized into three categories: writing as a process, writing as an application and a development of thought, and writing as an advanced skill guided by complex reasoning. The data from the first four studies were collapsed to identify the writing factors that augment critical thinking and create knowledge in the social sciences of agriculture. From this data, the researcher developed the model to augment critical thinking and create knowledge through writing in the social sciences of agriculture. Additionally, the researcher concluded there are 12 writing factors that augment critical thinking and create knowledge in the social sciences of agriculture (e.g., using real-world scenarios; researching and understanding how ideas are connected; and presenting and defending agricultural topics to a variety of public audiences).Item Appeals to reason : negotiating rhetorical responsibility and dialectical constraints in church-state separation discourse(2014-05) Battistelli, Todd Joseph; Roberts-Miller, Patricia, 1959-This dissertation explores how argumentation theory can supplement models of responsible persuasion in rhetoric and writing studies. In particular, it demonstrates how reasoning as envisioned in the pragma-dialectical approach of argumentation can provide an alternative to exclusionary, unethical operations of reason. Despite longstanding work with models of argument from Aristotle to Stephen Toulmin, rhetoric and writing has paid little attention to the potential uses of dialectical argumentation theory. Such theory deserves greater consideration given its ability to meet the ethical demands voiced by rhetorical critiques of traditional ways of arguing. Critiques of reason demonstrate how the abstractions necessary for logical certainty exist in tension with the inherent ambiguity of human arguments. In attempting to strip away that ambiguity, some discussants unfairly exclude relevant details from others and may exclude entire populations who should be included in a fair deliberation. Goals of understanding and inclusion unite the variety of calls for new ways of arguing made in rhetoric and writing under titles of Rogerian, non-agonistic, listening, and invitational rhetorics. Nevertheless, as Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca describe, even as our arguments involve irresolvable ambiguities, they must also function as stable and coherent viewpoints such that our interlocutors can hold us accountable to agreement or disagreement. In this way, we responsibly argue questions of ethics, politics and law. Though no final resolution of ambiguity is possible in such questions, we can reason together for a better understanding of each other's positions and craft pragmatic policies to deal with our disagreements. In order to explore the disciplinary questions about the relationship between rhetoric and argumentation, the dissertation examines a series of case studies drawn from judicial disputes over church-state separation in the United States. In examining problematic rhetoric of these disputes, the dissertation builds an understanding of responsible reason informed by dialectical argumentation and demonstrates its utility for both critical and pedagogical applications.Item Audience and the writing development of young bilingual children(2015-05) Durán, Leah Gordon; Martínez, Ramón Antonio; Toribio, Almeida Jacqueline; Bomer, Randy; Worthy, Jo; Palmer, DeborahThe purpose of this dissertation was to explore how young Latina/o bilingual children’s skill at codeswitching might be leveraged in service of their (bi)literacy learning. This study drew on a cultural modeling framework, guided by sociocultural and translingual theories of literacy. Using a design-based research methodology, I worked with a first grade teacher to implement a pedagogical innovation in her ESL classroom. This innovation involved a curricular focus on audience awareness, including interaction between writers and bilingual audiences. Students’ writing and writing-related talk was ethnographically documented and analyzed in order to see how such an emphasis on audience mediated children’s (bi)literacy development. Such analysis suggested that children’s language choices in speech and writing were influenced by their experiences with the curriculum, as they moved towards using more Spanish, codeswitching and codemeshing. Students articulated metapragmatic awareness that built on their interactions with readers. Students’ awareness of their audience also mediated their rhetorical astuteness, guiding them in choosing between a range of languages and modalities in response to their intended readers. Together, these suggest that writing instruction for young bilingual children should include opportunities to write for real purposes and readers.Item Braving the elements: the writing process of “The Big Empty”(2015-12) Scott, Colin Symmonds; McCreery, Cindy; Kelban, StuartThe following report details the writing process of the feature screenplay “The Big Empty” from conception through outline, first draft, field research, subsequent rewrite, and future plans. I will examine these steps in order to better understand the creative choices made between initial inspiration and current screenplay draft, and address the differences.Item Curriculum-based measurement in writing : predicting success and estimating writing growth for English language learners and Non-English language learners(2011-12) Porterfield, Jennifer Allison; Bryant, Diane Pedrotty; Falcomata, Terry S.; Ortiz, Alba A.; Rieth, Herbert J.; Roberts, Gregory J.Curriculum-based measurement in writing (CBM-W) has been proposed as a means of screening general education and special education students for writing difficulties and as a tool for monitoring the progress of struggling writers. CBM-W involves the administration of multiple probes of equivalent difficulty over time to monitor student progress toward academic standards (McMaster & Espin, 2007). The purpose of this study was to determine the technical adequacy of multiple CBM-W measures and how well the measures predicted writing performance. Additionally, this study examined how well CBM-W measures predicted student growth in writing over time. This study also extended the work of previous research by including a sample of 5th grade Hispanic students (n = 167), including English language learners (ELLs), former ELLs who were being monitored, ELLs with disabilities, and non-ELLs. Students were given story starters and completed narrative writing samples that were scored using words written (WW), words spelled correctly (WSC), correct word sequences (CWS), and correct minus incorrect word sequences (CIWS). The criterion measure was the Test of Written Language, Fourth Edition (TOWL-4). Results indicated inconsistent alternate-forms reliability for WW and WSC, and high alternate-forms reliability for CWS and CIWS. CWS and CIWS were the best predictors of one-time writing performance on the TOWL-4 for the overall sample, ELLs, former ELLs on first year monitor status, and ELLs with disabilities. CBM-W was not a significant predictor of student growth over time for most scoring procedures. However, a promising finding is that the scoring procedure of CWS was a significant predictor of student growth for the overall sample and for former ELLs on first year monitor status. Limitations, practical implications and future research will be discussed.Item DIFFERENCES IN DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION ENROLLMENT AND PERFORMANCE AT TEXAS 4-YEAR UNIVERSITIES: A MULTIYEAR, STATEWIDE STUDY(2017-03-21) Priesmeyer, Kimberly; Slate, John R.; Moore, George W.; Lunenburg, Frederick C.Purpose The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to analyze the numbers and percentages of students enrolled in developmental education in reading, mathematics, and writing at 4-year universities in Texas from the 2002-2003 through the 2009-2010 academic years. In addition, students who were enrolled in developmental education in reading, mathematics, and writing and who then completed a college-level course were analyzed. Specifically, the differences from the 2002-2003 to the 2009-2010 academic years were examined. The multiple academic years analyzed determined which trends were present in numbers and percentages of developmental education students in reading, mathematics, and writing at 4-year universities in Texas. Method A longitudinal, exploratory investigation was used herein (Johnson, 2001). Archival data were downloaded and analyzed from the Texas Higher Education Board Interactive Accountability System in each of the three empirical studies in this journal-ready dissertation. Specifically, archival data were obtained for the 2002-2003 through the 2009-2010 academic years for the numbers and percentages of students enrolled in developmental education in reading, mathematics, and writing at Texas 4-year universities. Findings Statistically significant differences were present in all academic years for students enrolled in developmental education in reading. Numbers and percentages of students enrolled decreased, and students who completed a college-level course in reading increased. Statistically significant differences were present for numbers of students enrolled in developmental education in mathematics and for percentages of students who completed a college-level course in mathematics. Both the numbers of students enrolled and the percentages of students who completed a college-level course in mathematics increased. However, a statistically significant difference was not present for percentages of students enrolled in developmental education in mathematics. Statistically significant differences were present for percentages of students enrolled in developmental education in writing and for percentages of students who completed a college-level course in writing. The percentages of students enrolled decreased and the percentages of students who completed a college-level course in writing increased. However, a statistically significant difference was not present for numbers of students enrolled in developmental education in writing. The numbers of students remained nearly the same over the years of the study.Item Fat Camp : the development of a half hour series(2015-08) Mahoney, Chelsea Taylor; Kelban, Stuart; Lewis, RichardThis report describes the journey of Chelsea Mahoney as a writer, along with the development and evolution of the half hour series Fat Camp. It analyzes the start of the writer's development, to her time at the University of Texas, and the teachers that impacted her strongly. The writer investigates her insecurities and their impact on her writing. Additionally, the paper examines the initial concept of Fat Camp, the process of re-writing the script, as well as the finished product.Item Fostering Agency and Writing Self-Efficacy: The Making of a Writer(2011-08) Mascle, Deanna M.; Still, Brian; Kemp, Fred; Rickly, RebeccaWriting is an essential professional skill as well as important life skill. The goal of writing instruction is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully meet future writing challenges. However, despite years of writing instruction, many writers struggle to transfer skills and knowledge from one context to another. One reason for this struggle is that even after years of instruction most people are highly apprehensive about writing and do not consider themselves writers. In order to overcome the problem of transfer, we must improve our understanding about writing apprehension and the role it plays in the transformation to writer. Writing research and theory has brought us to the current understanding that writing is a set of complex skills that is contextually situated and socially influenced, and yet most writing instruction focuses on general, basic skills. As a result, instruction does little to lessen writing apprehension and foster the transformation to writer. This mixed methods study focused on the transformation into writers of 17 teachers attending a National Writing Project (NWP) Summer Institute and addressed the impact of immersion in this learning community on writing apprehension. This research spanned a year and studied the writing apprehension of the participants before, during, and after their transformation by focusing on the role that agency and self-efficacy played in the transformation to writer. NWP’s mission is to improve the teaching of writing, and central to that goal is the belief that teachers who write are better writing teachers. This makes the transformation of teacher into writer the primary purpose of the NWP Summer Institute. The Summer Institute is organized as a learning community focused on professional development, research, and leadership as well as writing. Most of the 17 women involved in this learning community experienced a decrease in writing apprehension while undergoing the transformation to writer and maintained that confidence level during the following year. The writers’ reflection journals reveal that as apprehension decreases evidence of self-regulating activity, such as goal setting and metawriting, increases as does agency and self-efficacy. These findings contribute to our understanding of the transformation to writer and how this transformation connects with writing apprehension as well as how this transformation can be fostered in a learning community which attends to agency and writing self-efficacy.Item Generative metaphor: filiation and the disembodied father in Shakespeare and Jonson(2009-12) Penuel, Suzanne Marie; Bruster, Douglas; Loehlin, James; Moore, Timothy; Rebhorn, Wayne; Chapelle Wojciehowski, HannahThis project shows how Jonson and Shakespeare represent dissatisfactions with filiation and paternity as discontents with other early modern discourses of cultural reproduction, and vice versa. Chapters on six plays analyze the father-child tie as it articulates sensitivities and hopes in remote arenas, from usury law to mourning rites, humanism to Judaism, witchcraft to visions of heaven. In every play, the father is disembodied. He is dead, invisible, physically separated from his child, or represented in consistently incorporeal terms. In its very formlessness, the vision of paternity as abstraction is what makes it such a flexible metaphor for Renaissance attitudes to so many different forms of cultural cohesion and replication. The Shakespeare plays treat the somatic gulf with ambivalence. For Shakespeare, who ultimately rejects a world beyond the impermanent material one, incorporeality is both the father's prestige and his punishment. But for Jonson, the desomatization more often indicates paternal privilege. Jonson wants filiation and fathering to counteract the progression of history, and since time destroys the concrete, abstraction and disembodiment are necessary for the process to work. His plays initially envision a paternally imagined rule of law achieving permanence for those under it. But Volpone undermines Every man in his humour's fantasy of law, and The staple of news dismantles it still more. Ultimately, in Staple's schematically represented father and son, a pair whose reunion allows them a courtroom triumph, Jonson resorts to an abstractly figured paternity itself to justify other abstractions, legal and literary. As with law in Jonson, so for religion and the supernatural in Shakespeare. Shakespeare's body of work eventually renounces the religious faith whose representation it interweaves with portraits of children and fathers. It does so first in Merchant's intimidating Judaism and hypocritical Christianity, then in Twelfth night's more subtly referenced Catholicism, mournful and aestheticized, and finally in The tempest's various abjurations. Monotheism vanishes altogether in the last play, replaced by a dead witch and multiple spirits and deities who do the bidding of a conjuror who plans to give them up. Both playwrights ultimately reduce their investment in other forms of cultural transmission in favor of more intimate parent-child structures, embodied or not.Item God says no : a novel ; &, You must remember this : a screenplay(2006-05) Hannaham, James; Magnuson, JamesGod Says No is a novel purporting to be the testimonial of Gary Gray, a young black man coming of age in Charleston, South Carolina. Gary cannot reconcile his Christian faith with his homosexual desires. Eventually, before a suicide attempt, he asks God for a sign. The following day, his Amtrak train derails outside Atlanta and a vision of Christ inspires him to run away from his old life. While hiding out, he joins a dance/theater company and continues to explore and battle his sexuality. Eventually, his wife tracks him down and he agrees to attend a reparative therapy center in Memphis. While there, he rooms with Nicky, a former hustler, with whom he falls in love. Nicky dies tragically. Though the therapy center gives Gary a job setting up a new branch in Atlanta, his faith in the possibility of changing his sexual orientation is severely shaken. He tries to reconcile with his wife and family and is forced to make painful compromises and accept himself. You Must Remember This is a prequel to Casablanca (1942) that focuses on the love story between Ilsa Lund and her husband, Victor Laszlo. When the Nazis capture Victor, Ilsa must find and save him by posing as a reporter for a Nazi newspaper. Victor, in the meantime, devises a way to escape from a concentration camp. The couple cross paths at just the wrong moment, and Ilsa believes that her husband is dead. She returns to Paris and has an affair with Rick Blaine. Victor makes his way through the Sudetenland and has an affair of his own. Eventually the two find each other and make their way to Morocco, and they must untangle their pasts and find their way to America.Item The impact of using high-probability request sequence interventions to increase compliance behaviors, writing production, and writing quality in students with emotional and behavioral disorders(2013-08) Chavez, Melissa Marie; Bryant, Diane PedrottyThe writing performance of all students is a critical factor for school success. In order for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) to have increased positive social and academic outcomes, it is imperative to continue intervention research that addresses noncompliance behavior and completion of writing tasks. This study examined the effects of high-probability request sequence interventions on the compliance behaviors and writing outcomes of two students with EBD using a multiple-baseline-across-participants design. Additionally, this study examined the social validity of the intervention procedures through the use of questionnaires for both the teachers and the participants. Results indicated that the intervention is effective in increasing both behavioral and cognitive engagement in a writing task. Educational and research implications, measures of social validity, and measures of intervention effectiveness are discussed.Item Killing realities, phantoms and darlings : the creative slayings of "Finishing school"(2010-08) Cote, Jennifer Rounseville; Kelban, StuartThis report chronicles the creative inspiration, writing, and rewriting processes that went into the development of Jennifer Rounseville Cote’s screenplay “Finishing School.” The following pages additionally examine issues in the horror movie genre and screenwriting practices in general.Item Learning to write in (networked) public: children and the delivery of writing online(2014-12) Roach, Audra Katherine; Bomer, Randy; Hoffman, Jim; Maloch, Beth; Schallert, Diane; Hodgson, JustinThis investigation explored how three children (together with parents) developed networked publics that were diverse, well-connected, and powerful in the world. It was framed in response to calls in the field to better understand the new literacies young writers develop online and outside of school, and to increase literacy educators’ attention to the role of public audiences in writing and how writing is circulated. Performative case study methodology, ethnographic methods, and digital methods were employed to track and describe the online networks of three children (ages 11-13). These focal children were actively involved with their parents in social media, and had developed widespread networks with shared interests in children’s books and book reviews (Case 1), baseball (Case 2), and helping the homeless (Case 3). The children’s online networks were conceptualized as networked publics, drawing on Warner’s (2002) notion of publics as ongoing discursive relations among strangers, and on Actor-Network Theory’s notion of networks as assemblages of diverse interests that mobilize toward a common goal (Callon, 1986) and that develop stability in relation to ongoing circulations of texts (Latour, 1986; Spinuzzi, 2008). Research questions were framed broadly around the rhetorical canon of delivery [now digital delivery (Porter, 2009)], and were concerned with how writers distributed texts online, how those texts circulated, how the networked publics become more stable and powerful, and what instabilities children and parents had to negotiate in order to accomplish all of this. Data sources included interviews with 15 children and 28 adults, and fieldnotes observations of approximately 1,700 screen-captured webpages and other online artifacts. Findings showed that the young writers and their parents initiated and sustained networked publics through distribution practices that were oriented toward building trust; their texts displayed: interest, appreciation, reliability, service, credibility, and responsiveness. Both grassroots and commercial entities circulated texts in these networks, as they were sources of the ongoing renewal these different groups all needed in order to thrive. Sources of instability included conflicts over standards of writing quality, matters of profit, and the constancy of the demand to generate new interest and writing online. Children and their parents responded to these instabilities by welcoming and negotiating heterogeneous perspectives and partnerships. Implications of the study call for further research and teaching about the art of networked public discourse and digital delivery.Item The literacy ecology of a middle school classroom : teaching and writing amid influence and tension(2013-08) David, Ann Dubay; Bomer, Randy; Skerrett, AllisonThis embedded case study of an eighth-grade English language arts reading classroom employed an ecological perspective based on Ecological Systems Theory (EST) to examine the ways in which a myriad influences, often conflicting and originating in a variety of settings external to the classroom, intersected in that classroom. The findings from this research point toward the reality of literacy classrooms buffeted by conflicting Discourses around writing that originate in official school structures, as well as the difficulty students and teachers have navigating the tensions created by those conflicts. The focal teacher for this study, a master teacher, navigated these conflicting discourses by being thoughtfully adaptive and balancing policy mandates with her own knowledge of and beliefs about literacy instruction, though she often made instructional decisions at odds with her knowledge and beliefs because she feared lack of compliance with administrative or district mandates risked her job. In this contested atmosphere, the teacher supported students in navigating the myriad literacy practices within the classroom, and the literacy practices from their lives outside of school, using writer's notebooks. These notebooks served as boundary objects because they incorporated a variety of influences and Discourses in a single tool. Even in creating a robust literacy ecology in her classroom through the use of writer's notebooks, thoughtfully adapting to the myriad policy mandates, and having departmental and professional support for her work, she left the school at the end of the year because she could not be the type of teacher she wanted to be in that school. The broader implication of her decision, and the research more generally, is that classrooms are not isolated from the settings within which they are embedded, and those settings often influence the classroom in ways that conflict and create tensions. Teachers and students, then, must make decisions about how to navigate those tensions, often at odds with their knowledge or beliefs. These conflicts and tensions within a classroom can be reduced, or mitigated through communicating, building trust, working toward consensus, and avoiding exercises of power.Item More than skin deep : the writing process of Roadkill(2016-08) Silberman, Magdalen Anna; Kelban, Stuart; Thorne, BeauThe following report describes the writing process of my feature screenplay Roadkill. By looking back on the process and all its stages—including inspiration, planning, first draft, feedback, revision, and rewriting—I attempt to communicate my creative process and show how my time spent in the MFA program has influenced that process.Item The need for (digital) story : first graders using digital tools to tell stories(2010-05) Solomon, Marva Jeanine, 1964-; Maloch, Beth; Salinas, Cynthia; Worthy, Jo; Hoffman, James; Schallert, DianeThe purpose of this study was to explore the process and product of African American First Graders as they participated in digital storytelling. Of interest was the role digital tools played in the creation process. Eight participants participated in 18 study sessions during which they composed, recorded, and then shared their digital texts with their peers and at home. Data sources included classroom observations, parent and teacher questionnaires, participant pre and post interviews, field notes, video and audio tapes of sessions, and story screenshot captures and print outs. Study questions focused on the nature of the texts the student produced, the role of the digital in the creation process, and the meanings and purposes the participants had for the texts they produced. This study’s findings challenge teachers to offer students authentic experiences with writing so that children can construct their own ideas and interests, their own writing personalities. Digital texts were a particularly engaging medium for these young children and allowed them to produce texts that reflected their identities as well as their attitudes toward using digital tools. The nature of the texts varied depending on the child, his or her attitude toward using the digital tools, and likely their previous experiences with composition. One unique type of text was identified as a hybrid text that seemed to capitalize on both the ability of the child storyteller and the affordances of the digital. Due to the study’s emphasis on sharing these texts with peers and at home, the first graders were introduced to a sophisticated view of audience. This transactional role of the audience made them aware of audience as a living, breathing entity that gains ownership of the texts’ meanings once they are shared.Item Short fiction creative writing: storytelling with a film perspective(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Francis, JamesThe research and material contained in this thesis will examine short story theory from current perspectives in the field and provide a response to questions posed about the composition of short fiction. A critical introduction will take into account these theories and lead into a collection of five short stories written from a filmmaking perspective. The collection of work provided represents an attempt to break stereotype in the construction and formatting of what is considered standard short story material. Focus for the collection concerns sensory perception, elements of film (flashback sequencing and extended exposition) and gender/race identity. Through the critical introduction and short story collection, the completed thesis will prove that the study and practice of creative writing cannot be regulated by a set of technical guidelines.Item Straight out the gait : the writing process of Mallwalkers(2014-08) Reeves, Autumn Rebekah; McCreery, Cindy"Straight out the Gait: The Writing Process of Mallwalkers" documents the writing process of Mallwalkers, a feature-length comedy script about competitive mall walking. The report connects the writer's personal life to the process of writing three drafts of the film.