Teaching Writing

By its arrangement and its contents, this collection of essays performs at least two important functions for teachers of writing: it demonstrates that the work of our recent past is still valuable, and it contributes to the efforts of recent years to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Such a new vision of our history and a new level of understanding between practitioners and theorists could provide the foundation for a more productive, enlightened disciplinary future, explains Gary Tate in the foreword to this collection. Teaching Writing: Landmarks and Horizons, edited by Christina Russell McDonald and Robert L. McDonald, is designed to present an overview of some of the major developments in the establishment of composition studies as a field during the past thirty-five years. The essays are theoretically grounded but are focused on pedagogy as well. Divided into two parts, the first presents nine landmark essays, selected and introduced by distinguished composition scholars, and the second brings together eight new essays by emerging scholars.