Transitioning to Writing about Writing: A Consideration of the Metawriting Teaching Approach at the University of Arkansas

Author

Katie Michelle Smith, University of Arkansas, FayettevilleFollow

Date of Graduation

8-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

English

Advisor/Mentor

Elias Dominguez-Barajas

Committee Member

David Jolliffe

Second Committee Member

Patrick Slattery

Keywords

Composition, First-Year Composition, Metawriting, Pedagogy, Teaching Assistants, Writing

Abstract

This thesis uses case studies of six Teaching Assistants and Instructors to analyze the curricular and pedagogical shift from a writing-through-literature model to the Composition II course to a metawriting approach during the 2014 spring semester at the University of Arkansas. The administrative decision from the Program in Rhetoric and Composition to make this transition came in response to the 2007 article by Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs in College Composition and Communication outlining a "Writing about Writing" approach to teaching composition.

Citation

Smith, K. M. (2014). Transitioning to Writing about Writing: A Consideration of the Metawriting Teaching Approach at the University of Arkansas. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2197