Lisa Ede

In Situating Composition, Lisa Ede questions much about the politics of the location of composition studies within university institutions. She questions "ideologies of the 'new'" (Evan Watkins's term) that pervade recent histories of composition studies that narrate a progress narrative and a revolution (from process theories to social theories, for instance) that might not match up well with the actual material practices of what happens in many composition classrooms (44). She charges that show more as scholars in the field critique different perspectives, they all too often create caricatures of each other (50). One such critique is of the "writing process movement," a term she claims is a "floating signifier," a term that we recognize but cannot pin down (63). She expresses suspicion of theoretical terms and positions, especially when they propose a new paradigm or critique an "old" paradigm, which is often too simplistic. Ede is most interested in practice, and wants to call attention to scholarly writing as itself a practice (119). She argues that theory should be "situated practice" (128). show less

I first bought this book in middle school for a CTY course on writing. I'm not sure how much I read it then, although I've toted it around ever since. Perhaps that means that I thought it was a good book or perhaps I thought I was going to need as much writing assistance that I could get.

It's a very practical book, with all kinds of useful advice on getting yourself into the mood for writing, figuring out your writing strategy and reading your audience and the assignment correctly. The dated show more sections on Using a Word Processor are humorous, rather than ludicrous. I like Ede's approach to writing as a craft rather than a talent. show less