A Common "Theme" Regarding Successful Composition

As a class, we have navigated three weeks of readings and lectures related to theories of composition. Our class discussions have echoed many of the essays presented in our text: The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Essentially, composition instruction at any level of secondary instruction and freshman college composition "rarely accomplishes any of its announced objectives" (12).
While I found the essays included in pages 193-313 to be illuminating, there are two pieces that have helped me develop my pedagogy paragraph. I see a strong connection between Rohman and Wlecke's article "Pre-Writing" (216-227) and Macrorie's article "Telling Writing" (297-313). In both articles, the common theme for successful composition resides in the mind of the student rather than in the mind of the instructor. "Writing is an art of combination of words which fulfills the expectations of a formal design in our heads" (224); Most English teachers have been trained to correct students' writing, not to read it" (297). The emphasis and failure of composition programs have focused on the mechanics of writing i.e. grammar, punctuation, and spelling rather than the content. A successful piece of writing according to Macrorie is one which is written with honesty and "An honest writer makes every word pull its weight" (300).
One final observation: I had personal experience with the issues addressed by Kitzhaber's essay "The Present State of Freshman Composition" (257-270). I taught seventh and eighth grade English in the late 60's and early 70's in Fort Collins. Because the university felt our students were poorly prepared, the Poudre R-1 School District adopted a program where "lay readers" would grade compositions produced by our students in junior high ( 7th, 8th, 9th grade). Unfortunately, I don't remember if this was also done at the high school level but feel it's safe to assume. The students produced a formal "theme" every three weeks. Since the staff had six sections of English averaging 25 students per section, the lay readers made this push possible. Each student wrote a rough draft in class and turned in a completed theme. The staff assisted students during the rough draft stage based on particular instruction. The compositions were returned to the students a week after they were handed in. Each student received a grade for mechanics and a grade for content.
The theory behind this approach was a strong writing program made possible by outside readers and prompt feed-back for the student. Also, it was felt the content portion of the grade which was subjective, would remain unbiased as the reader had no classroom contact with the student and would not be prejudiced by that student's classroom behavior, etc. It seems to me that each lay reader (who had to pass a proficiency test to be hired) was paid 25 cents per theme which was four handwritten pages in length. Unfortunately, I do not know the outcome of this approach because I moved from the area before any of my students entered the university. I do remember seeing real progress with my students in putting ideas down on paper and mastering basic mechanics. Whether their high school teachers agreed is problematic.

Textbooks: Repositories of the Past

As we have seen from tonight's lecture, concepts build on each other. Some survive through the centuries, The Five Cannons of Rhetoric for example, have been handed down from the Ancients and continue to form the basis of contemporary persuasion. Those devices set out for us were recorded and passed through countless generations because they are as effective today as they were for the humanity that preceded us. As mysterious as these great minds remain to me personally, I am comforted by their legacy. That is the connection that links me to a people I can only fathom through what they have taught me about their thought process.
The essay, "from Archives of Instruction: Nineteenth-Century Rhetorics, Reders, and Composition Books in the United States" makes a similar connection; that within those textbooks is very little that is original. Indeed, the ancient past resides in their compilations. Carr and Schultz present a strong case that a textbook is a storehouse of ideas passed through a generational transmission intended to influence future behavior.
If I wasn't doing a creative thesis, I would seriously consider doing research on textbooks as encapsulations of humanity. What marvelous confessions they would offer of cultural and social propaganda from the past. That geneaological sifting would trace and uncover our pedagogy through time, confirming our rhetorical roots.