CONCEPTUALIZING COMPOSITION: HOW COLLEGE-WRITERS (AND INSTRUCTORS) USE FIGURATIVE THINKING TO CONCEPTUALIZE, ACQUIRE, AND ENACT LITERACY A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jason A. Sharier May 2020 © Copyright All rights reserved Dissertation written by Jason A. Sharier B.A., Kent State University Stark, 2011 M.A., Kent State University, 2014 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2020 Approved by ______________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Sara Newman ______________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Derek van Ittersum ______________________________ Dr. Keith Lloyd ______________________________ Dr. Lori Wilfong ______________________________ Dr. Miriam Matteson Accepted by ______________________________, Chair, Department of English Robert W. Trogdon ______________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences James L. Blank TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ III DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. VIII LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: A PROPOSAL FOR WHY METAPHOR MATTERS FOR THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM ............................................................................................................................................... 1 OPENING REMARKS ................................................................................................................................... 1 APPLICATION TO THE FIELD ...................................................................................................................... 4 A METAPHORICAL LITERACY ................................................................................................................... 6 THE NEW RHETORIC OF METAPHOR ......................................................................................................... 8 METAPHORICAL DISCOURSE ................................................................................................................... 16 EARLY RESEARCH ON COMPOSITIONAL METAPHORS ............................................................................ 18 CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE ................................................................................. 21 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: MOTIVATIONS, DIFFICULTIES, NEW DIRECTIONS, AND RESOLUTIONS ........... 28 STUDY OVERVIEW: CHAPTER SYNOPSES ................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 33 A BRIEF HISTORY OF METAPHOR THEORY IN THE RHETORICAL TRADITION ........................................ 33 A REVIEW OF METAPHOR ANALYSIS IN COMPOSITION STUDIES ........................................................... 45 CALLS FOR RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................ 50 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ................................................................................. 56 EPISTEMOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 56 iii METHODOLOGIES .................................................................................................................................... 57 METHODS ................................................................................................................................................ 63 DATA-COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................. 66 DATA-REDUCTION AND REPRESENTATION ............................................................................................. 73 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................. 75 CHAPTER 4: SARA’S TEXT AND TALK DATA ................................................................................... 84 SARA’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 86 SARA’S LITERACY NARRATIVE ............................................................................................................... 90 SARA’S PEER-TO-PEER MARGINALIA ..................................................................................................... 95 SARA’S REFLECTION MEMO AND REVISION LETTER .............................................................................. 99 SARA’S OPEN-ENDED SURVEY .............................................................................................................. 103 SARA’S CONFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 105 INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 5: DAVID’S TEXT AND TALK DATA ............................................................................... 111 DAVID’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 113 DAVID’S LITERACY NARRATIVE ........................................................................................................... 115 DAVID’S INSTRUCTOR MARGINALIA .................................................................................................... 117 DAVID’S REFLECTION MEMO AND REVISION LETTER .......................................................................... 119 DAVID’S OPEN-ENDED SURVEY ............................................................................................................ 121 DAVID’S CONFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 123 DAVID’S ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH ................................................................................................. 124 INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................................................... 127 CHAPTER 6: METAPHOR INVENTION EXERCISES ......................................................................... 129 AN ANALYSIS OF SARA’S MIES ............................................................................................................ 130 AN ANALYSIS OF DAVID’S MIES .......................................................................................................... 134 iv AN ANALYSIS OF JASON’S MIES ........................................................................................................... 137 COMPREHENSIVE MIE RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 140 CHAPTER 7: METAPHORICAL PROFILES ......................................................................................... 156 ALIGNMENT WITH CURRENT PRACTICES IN THE FIELD ........................................................................ 156 CHAPTER REVIEWS ................................................................................................................................ 158 THE INSTRUCTOR’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY ........................................................................... 160 SARA’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY .............................................................................................. 164 DAVID’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY ............................................................................................ 166 CONTRIBUTIONS: RESEARCH AFFORDANCES ....................................................................................... 168 LIMITATIONS: RESEARCH CONSTRAINTS .............................................................................................. 172 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 172 REFLECTING ON MY EXPERIENCE ......................................................................................................... 173 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 176 APPENDIX A – SARA’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS RESULTS .......................................................... 176 APPENDIX B – SARA’S LITERACY NARRATIVE RESULTS .................................................................. 177 APPENDIX C – SARA’S PEER-TO-PEER MARGINALIA RESULTS ......................................................... 180 APPENDIX D – INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK FOR SARA RESULTS ...........................................................