Publications
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Books
Metaphor
and Writing: Figurative Rhetoric in the Discourse of Writing.
Contract pending.
A
War of Words in the Discourse of Trade: The Rhetorical Constitution of
Metaphor.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000.
Essays
“An
Analysis of Corporate Rule in Globalization Discourse: Why We Need
Rhetoric to Explain Conceptual Figures.”
Rhetoric
Review.
July 2008 (27.3).
With
John Schaeffer. “A
Kind Word for Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing.”
College
Composition and Communication.
59.3
(2008): 372-88.
"Globalization,
"Corporate Rule," and Blended Worlds: A Conceptual-Rhetorical
Analysis of Metaphor, Metonymy, and Conceptual Blending." Metaphor
and Symbol
20.3 (2005): 173-197.
With
Christine Abbott.
"How Academics and Practitioners Evaluate Technical Texts: A Focus
Group Study." Journal
of Business and Technical Communication
19.2 (2005): 171-218.
With
John Schaeffer.
"A Dialogue Between Traditional and
Cognitive Rhetoric." Rhetoric
Society Quarterly
34.2
(2004): 53-70.
"Poetics
and Narrativity: How Texts Tell
Stories." in What
Writing Does and How It Does It: An Introduction to Analysis of Text and
Practice.
Eds. Charles Bazerman
and Paul Prior. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004.
With
Christine Abbott.
"Using Focus Groups to Supplement the
Assessment of Technical Communication Texts, Pedagogy, and
Programs." Technical
Communication Quarterly
12.1 (2004):
25-46.
"Understanding
Metaphors for Writing: In Defense of the Conduit Metaphor." College
Composition and Communication
53.1
(2001): 92-118.
"The
Story of Conceptual Metaphor: What Motivates Metaphoric Mappings?" Poetics
Today
20.3
(1999): 419-42.
"Conceptual
Metaphor as Rhetorical Response: A Reconsideration of Metaphor."
Written
Communication 16.2
(1999):
171-99.
"Genre
and Technical Translation: Social, Textual, and Educational Exigence."
Journal
of Business and Technical Communication
12.1 (1998): 150-70.
Courses
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English 300a,
Advanced Essay Composition (Undergraduate)
English 300a gives accomplished student
writers the opportunity to pursue these objectives: to write more
elegantly, to write more persuasively, and to write more interestingly.
Typically, students will write four non-fiction essays, one short
(approximately 500 words) and three long (approximately 1250 words). In
addition, students will write frequent readers' notebook entries and an
extensive annotated bibliography. Although the course is about
"writing," it also involves significant amounts of
reading--interesting reading, one hopes.
English 308,
Technical and Professional Writing (Undergraduate)
This course focuses on the fundamentals
of technical writing: what it is, how it works, and why it works. Many
students in this class hope to find careers in technical writing. Other
students take this course because, increasingly, all kinds of careers
require strong writing and communications skills. Students do a variety
of projects such as instructions, manuals, brochures, newsletters,
reports, and websites. For students aspiring to careers in technical
communication, the course provides an excellent opportunity to create
portfolio pieces.
English 403,
Technical Editing (Undergraduate)
In this course, students develop the
skills needed to prepare technical documents for publication. It takes a
"levels of edit" approach. In other words, the course helps
students develop professional competence in matters of mechanics and
correctness, and it also asks students to consider big-picture questions
about communicative strategy and document design.
English 510,
The Rhetoric of Prose Composition (Graduate)
English 510 focuses on the rhetorical
dimension of "rhetoric and composition." Naturally, no course
can claim to present a comprehensive view of either rhetoric or
composition, so we pursue this modest goal: to read some important
rhetorical commentary and, in turn, to read some current, rhetorically
informed work in composition studies. The aim is for all of us to gain
an improved understanding of rhetoric and composition that will serve us
well as teachers of writing, as readers of rhet-comp research, and
perhaps as contributors to rhet-comp research.
English 525,
Research Methods in Technical Writing (Graduate)
English 525 focuses on the ways scholars
and practitioners do research about technical and other workplace
writing. The course surveys both experimental and qualitative research
methods. It has two main goals: first, to enable participants to better
understand and critique published research; second, to enable
participants to design and implement their own research projects.
English 526,
Technical and Professional Writing (Graduate)
In this course, traditional graduates
students and people currently in the workplace (1) develop professional
technical communication skills and (2) learn to reflect upon technical
writing as a rhetorical process. Students create documents in several
genres, read and present textbook material, and discuss a variety of
commentary about technical writing, from academic studies to articles
published by working professionals.
English 527,
Technical Editing (Graduate)
In English 527, traditional graduate
students and people currently in the workplace become familiar with the
processes of technical editing. These processes range from accurate
copyediting to envisioning the appropriate form and purpose for a
technical document. The course emphasizes not just particular skills
(such as using standard markup symbols) but also how editing tasks fit
into the larger process of preparing a technical and professional
documents for publication.
English 530,
Theory and Research in Technical and Professional
Communication (Graduate)
In English 530, students will examine
important and current trends in research into technical and professional
communication, including (1) empirical research about the practice of
technical communication, (2) rhetorical inquiry about the nature of
technical communication, and (3) research and commentary about the
teaching of technical communication. Class members will read and discuss
published research and commentary, write weekly reaction papers, make
informal presentations, make a presentation about a selected topic,
and--what else?--write a final paper.
English 398/531,
Visual Rhetoric
English 398/531 is about
looking—looking carefully at the details of page and screen layouts,
and looking insightfully at the what visual presentations can mean. In
this course, students will work to create visually appealing and usable
designs for print and screen. Students will also write two analytical
papers. Other tasks—such as compiling a resource file and making brief
oral presentations—will be required also. Graduate students will make
one teaching presentation based upon a reserve reading. The course is
not about software applications but rather about visual ideas; however,
students will need to gain some competency in such software applications
as Word, PageMaker, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. Previous experience with
these software applications is not necessary.
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