Part 1 of the thesis, ‘The Balance of Where We Are: A Theory of Composition in Relation to Cognitive Poetics’, considers a compositional theory of poetry, with particular attention to the creative process, the poetic line, and trope. Drawing on from the disciplines of creative writing and cognitive poetics, this thesis asserts basic and important considerations for writing poetry. Chapter One seeks a model for the creative process that will aid in sustaining poetic composition but without dictating a specific method of writing. In presenting several theories of creativity it discusses ways of understanding these mental processes in preparation for the actual poem. It suggests an approach to poetry that will keep the writer focussed and aware of his or her limitations. Chapter Two establishes what it means to be writing poetry in an ‘age of cognitive science’ where some literary scholars have made a ‘cognitive turn’, by explaining the field of cognitive poetics. It considers specifically the cognitive poetics of Reuven Tsur as an important theory to enhance poetic composition. It connects some of Tsur’s discussions on poetic elements to enhance the craft-oriented approach to poetry. Chapter Three examines the poetic line as the basic unit of a poem which any compositional theory must consider. It reiterates the neural theory of the line as a ‘carrier wave’ of conceptual information that is both pleasing to the ear and the mind. It then re- evaluates specific poetic experiments concerning the line, and suggests a method of scanning to help the contemporary reader’s awareness of poetic rhythms. Chapter Four examines trope, specifically poetic metaphor in relation to the assumption of conceptual metaphor theory that poetic metaphors are extensions of everyday metaphors. It welcomes an alternative cognitive-literary explanation by re-iterating metaphor theories from Reuven Tsur and Don Paterson. Finally, it argues that the practitioner is always writing the variation of the ‘one’ poem that he or she has discovered. Part 2 of the thesis, ‘The Secret Uncles: Poems’, consists of my own poems.

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This study investigated teachers' attitudes towards four specific strands isolated from views propounded in recent literature and research on the teaching of written composition. Much discussion in this field has focused on a "new paradigm" in that educators and researchers alike have come to view writing from a new perspective. Certain aspects of this new perspective on the teaching of writing appear to be shared by various sources in the literature. From this body of writing the researcher identified and isolated four distinct, though interwoven, shared values or "strands." These concerned Control on the part of the student-writer, Respect for what the student-writer has to say in his or her writing, Sharing the writing process, and Learning from writing by using writing as a tool for learning. A questionnaire was constructed to probe teachers' attitudes to each of these strands. Two sample populations, one with a whole-language and one with a non-integrated orientation towards teaching language, were identified. Twenty-five teachers from each population answered a three-part questionnaire. The main body of the survey probed attitudes to each of the strands. T-test results indicate that, while the whole-language oriented group reacted more favorably to all four strands in general, statistically this was highly significant in only two of the strands. That is, CONTROL on the part of the writer, and SHARING the writing process as in a community of writers appeared to be valued more highly amongst teachers with a whole-language orientation. This suggests that there may be a relationship between a whole-language orientation and these two aspects of teaching writing. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Middle schools--Writing apprehension--Adolescent motivation--Peer interaction--Student letters--Writing workshops--Literature logs--Student self-evaluation.

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The primary focus of this thesis was to find out what makes workable topic sentences different from inadequate ones. A group of topic sentences was collected from the author's eight grade students and reviewed.

Uses Edward Corbett's theory of style to help define Chopin's style and expose her rhetorical strategies (sentence and paragraph length, diction, tropes, scheme, etc.) in the short story "The Story of an Hour ." Examines the controversy over using literature to teach composition and provides an analysis of the reasons for and against using literature in composition classes. Finally, defends the use of literature in writing classrooms.

Examines how the cognitive and biological perspectives of Intrinsic Motivation (IM) could collaboratively engage second language (L2) students in the university writing classroom. Brain-structures and body systems specifically associated with intrinsic motivation are detailed, and brain-based learning strategies are outlined. Concludes with a sample application for the university writing classroom that reflects a brain-based approach to L2 learning.

published_or_final_version / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy