Constructive Texts: Theory, Practice, and the "Self" in Composition" (1998)
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 1998 Constructive texts: Theory, practice, and the "self " in composition Deborah Lynne Hodgkins University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Hodgkins, Deborah Lynne, "Constructive texts: Theory, practice, and the "self" in composition" (1998). Doctoral Dissertations. 2043. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2043 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CONSTRUCTIVE TEXTS: THEORY, PRACTICE, AND THE “SELF” IN COMPOSITION BY DEBORAH L. HODGKINS BA, College of the Holy Cross, 1987 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 1989 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English September, 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9907585 UMI Microform 9907585 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director, Patricia A. Sullivan Associate Professor of English ’ / / . ^ V -A - i £ ■ — .^*■ r i ■ ---------- ■■■■■ Elizabethabet J. Beflamy, Associate Professor of English Diane P. Freedman, Associate Professor of English Thomas R. Newkirk, Professor of English (P _______________ Paula M. Salvio, Associate Professor of Education Date ' Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family, especially my parents and sister, for whose love, confidence, and unquestioning support I am especially grateful, and to my husband, Ron LeVasseur, whose patience has proven he is in this for the long haul. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the department of English at the University of New Hampshire, particularly my dissertation committee members Jane Bellamy, Diane Freedman, Tom Newkirk, and Paula Salvio of the Education department. Special thanks go to my committee director, Pat Sullivan, for her belief in the merit of my project and for her long term support and encouragement. I would also like to thank past and present members of the English department’s dissertation workshop, particularly Susan Schibanoff, whose gift of her time makes this community possible. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER PAGE I. READING AND WRITING THE “SELF" IN COMPOSITION AND AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY................................................................ 1 Postmodernism ..................................................................................... 5 Postmodern Theory and Composition Scholarship .................... 10 Historical Context................................................................................ 20 Personal Context ................................................................................. 28 Postmodern Theory and Autobiography.......................................... 39 II. THEORY AND PRACTICE: SECRET (AND NOT SO SECRET) AGENTS IN THE TEXT/CULTURE...........................................................53 Autobiographical Criticism and Scholarship...................................58 The Personal and the Political, or, Rhetoric, Poetics, and Experience ....................................................... 64 The Personal and the Academic .......................................................... 96 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. III. AUTOBIOGRAPHY AS A DIALOGIC ACT: ENTERING UNRULY CONVERSATION................................................ 102 PART I: Theory and Pedagogical Goals of English 501, "Constructions of the Self: Reading and Writing Autobiography”................................................................................... 102 Constructions of the Self. ............................................................... 107 Crazy Quilts and Life Lines ............................................................. 117 Narrative as a Form of Knowing.................................................... 129 Part II: Student Writing Ice Breakers ........................................................................................ 134 Self-Disclosure as a Means to Agency, Not Confession or Therapy............................................................................................... 141 Critical Conversations...................................................................... 151 There's too Much Composition in this Conversation (or, Thanks for the Invitation, b u t. ) ......................................... 155 Answerability....................................................................................... 165 Gabrielle .............................................................................................. 168 R ic k...................................................................................................... 174 Meta-Reflection ................................................................................... 188 IV. CRITICAL NARRATIVES: AGENCY, ETHICS, AND RHETORIC INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.......................................................... 193 A Cautionary T ale.............................................................................. 197 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Writing as Action............................................................................... 204 Moral Agency...................................................................................... 208 Present Crises, Future Students .................................................. 217 APPENDIX A..................................................................................................... 227 APPENDIX B ..................................................................................................... 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................232 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A b s tra c t Constructive Texts: Theory, Practice and the “Self” in Composition by Deborah L. Hodgkins University of New Hampshire, September, 1998 The influence of postmodern theory on studies in composition and rhetoric has led to important questions for the teaching of writing: In light of/after postmodernism, what role does/should theory play in classroom practice and how can it best inform pedagogy? In writing and in the world at large, how do we define and where do we locate agency? I argue that the goal of composition courses should