Rhetorical Genre Theory and the Enactment of Faith in the Composition Classroom

Authors

Heather N. Hill, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Document Type

Integration Paper

Publication Date

1-2014

Keywords

Integration, genre, rhetoric, composition, faith

Abstract

In James Berlin’s Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985 he argues that “every rhetorical system is based on epistemological assumptions about the nature of reality, the nature of the knower, and the rules governing the discovery and communication of the known” (4). Beginning with the debates between Plato and the sophists and running through the history of rhetoric to the likes of Wayne Booth on one side and William Covino on the other, rhetorical theorists have always been interested in debating the nature of reality, knowledge, morality, ethics, and T/truth. How one defines the status of these, what Kenneth Burke calls “God Terms,” has a significant impact on the relationship that rhetoric has to these ideas. Over the years, composition scholars have taken up this debate as well and have discussed how this debate may influence our pedagogical practices within composition classrooms. As Christians, we believe in the objective nature of the Truth of God’s Word (II Timothy 3:16), and therefore do not need to debate that fact. However, the ways that belief influences our pedagogical practices is still in need of discussion. Therefore, in this paper, I will discuss my own composition courses and address how I attempt to integrate faith and learning through the use of rhetorical genre theory.

Recommended Citation

Hill, Heather N., "Rhetorical Genre Theory and the Enactment of Faith in the Composition Classroom" (2014). Faculty Integration Papers. 18.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_integration_papers/18