PERSPECTIVES ON WRITING
Series Editor, Susan H. McLeod
The Perspectives on Writing series addresses writing studies in a broad sense. Consistent with the wide ranging approaches characteristic of teaching and scholarship in writing across the curriculum, the series presents works that take divergent perspectives on working as a writer, teaching writing, administering writing programs, and studying writing in its various forms.
The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press are collaborating so that these books will be widely available through free digital distribution and low-cost print editions. The publishers and the Series editor are teachers and researchers of writing, committed to the principle that knowledge should freely circulate. We see the opportunities that new technologies have for further democratizing knowledge. And we see that to share the power of writing is to share the means for all to articulate their needs, interest, and learning into the great experiment of literacy.
Recent Books in the Series
Steven J. Corbett, Beyond Dichotomy: Synergizing Writing Center and Classroom Pedagogies (2015)
Christy I. Wenger, Yoga Minds, Writing Bodies: Contemplative Writing Pedagogy (2015)
Tara Roeder and Roseanne Gatto (Eds.), Critical Expressivism: Theory and Practice in the Composition Classroom (2014)
Terry Myers Zawacki and Michelle Cox (Eds), WAC and Second-Language Writers: Research Towards Linguistically and Culturally Inclusive Programs and Practices, (2014)
Charles Bazerman, A Rhetoric of Literate Action: Literate Action Volume 1 (2013)
Charles Bazerman, A Theory of Literate Action: Literate Action Volume 2 (2013)
Katherine V. Wills and Rich Rice (Eds.), ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios (2013)
Mike Duncan and Star Medzerian Vanguri (Eds.), The Centrality of Style (2013)
Chris Thaiss, Gerd Bräuer, Paula Carlino, Lisa Ganobcsik-Williams, and Aparna Sinha (Eds.), Writing Programs Worldwide: Profiles of Academic Writing in Many Places (2012)
Andy Kirkpatrick and Zhichang Xu, Chinese Rhetoric and Writing: An Introduction for Language Teachers (2012)
Beyond Argument: Essaying as a Practice of (Ex)Change
Sarah Allen
The WAC Clearinghouse
wac.colostate.edu
Fort Collins, Colorado
Parlor Press
www.parlorpress.com
Anderson, South Carolina
The WAC Clearinghouse, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1052
Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, South Carolina 29621
© 2015 by Sarah Allen. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Allen, Sarah, 1975-
Beyond argument : essaying as a practice of (ex)change / Sarah Allen.
pages cm. -- (Perspectives on writing)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-60235-646-7 (pbk. : acid-free paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-650-4 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
1. Persuasion (Rhetoric) 2. Essay--Authorship. 3. Self in literature. 4. Persona (Literature) I. Title.
P301.5.P47A45 2015
808.4--dc23
2015006892
Copyeditor: Sarah Brooks
Designer: Mike Palmquist
Series Editor: Susan H. McLeod
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
The WAC Clearinghouse supports teachers of writing across the disciplines. Hosted by Colorado State University, it brings together scholarly journals and book series as well as resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. This book is available in digital format for free download at http://wac.colostate.edu.
Parlor Press, LLC is an independent publisher of scholarly and trade titles in print and multimedia formats. This book is available in print and eBook formats from Parlor Press at http://www.parlorpress.com. For submission information or to find out about Parlor Press publications, write to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, South Carolina 29621, or email [email protected].
I dedicate this work to my students.
Contents
Chapter 1: Meeting the Real Self in the Essay
Chapter 2: Meeting the Constructed Self in the Essay
Chapter 3: Cultivating a Self in the Essay
Chapter 4: Imitation as Meditation
Chapter 5: Self Writing in the Classroom
Acknowledgments
I was fortunate enough to have studied with Paul Heilker at Virginia Tech and, then, with Christy Friend, John Muckelbauer, and Pat Gehrke at the University of South Carolina. I am intensely grateful to all of them for their persistent influence on my work. This manuscript, in many ways, is shaped by (and, thus, is only possible because of) their influences. Christy Friend, in particular, continues to serve as a guide and an inspiration for my work not only as a scholar, but also as an administrator and teacher.
I would also
