In this dissertation, writing as a teacher-researcher, I present my longitudinal explorations (1992-2002) of the area of mathematical and paramathematical writing with grade four pupils (nine- and ten-yearolds) who have been members of my classroom (a public elementary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). Five main writing sites were used: mathematical journal writing, computer research journal writing, pen-pal letter writing (in conjunction with university pre-service students), different forms of in-class extended writing including reports of mathematical investigations undertaken by the pupils and (most significantly in terms of this dissertation) pupil textbook writing. The pupil writing from the last two sites came from one year, 1997-1998. The `writing debate' in English language concerning issues of teaching writing through `creative process' or through explicitly teaching specific `genre features' has a particular connection with this work, although my study is not formulated precisely within those terms. Certainly, during 1997-1998, my pupils were exposed to a variety of mathematical writing genres which contributed to their ability to produce the sophisticated textbook writing they did (even if it took me considerable time and effort in order to appreciate its nature). My analysis of their writing focuses on aspects of five key and interrelated features of writing: audience, purpose, form (genre), content and voice. Within these (increasingly overlapping and blurring) categories, l use certain tools of discourse analysis (in particular, attention to pronouns and general verb tense and mood) to identify and discuss specific features of their writing. In addition, l employ Eco's notion of model reader and Bakhtin's concept of addressivity in order to examine larger-scale features of my pupils' writing. These connect to conventional textbook forms and work reported in the research and professional literature, under the heading `writing to learn mathematics'. I coin the term paramathematical writing, in order to discuss writing that supports mathematics even though it is not directly mathematical by itself. I identify two forms of paramathematical writing: explicit personal text alongside more overtly mathematical writing and certain syntactic choices (allied to `voice') when writing text with the explicit intent of helping another pupil learn some mathematics. Finally, at a meta-level, throughout this dissertation, genuineness, caring and trust are themes that arise and interleave themselves through the discussion. Teacher research is examined as a generative process that produces, along with its particular products, seeds for on-going research.

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In this dissertation I argue that faculty and scholars in rhetoric and composition could improve their pedagogy and scholarship by "reclaiming" the genre at the heart of composition curricula nationwide: the essay. Why do we need to "reclaim" it if it is already so central? Because the closer we examine the essay historically, in all its glorious suppleness and subjectivity, the less it resembles the essay that writing faculty and scholars teach, write, and valorize in academia today.In chapter one, "W(h)ither the Essay?", I contrast the essay with the article and suggest that the former genre is antithetical to and superior to the latter. I make the case that the essay enables writers to explore their thoughts and advance an argument simultaneously. I conclude the chapter by focusing on the development of a compelling essay by an undergraduate composition student.In chapter two, "Psychic Distance and a Call for Craft," I examine the reasons rhetoric and composition has neglected expressivism, and I argue that the discipline should focus more attention on issues of craft--particularly psychic distance, a concept that I contend offers a valuable way for writers to think about their prose essayistically.In chapter three, "Toward a Pedagogy of Psychic Distance," I articulate several strategies for teaching psychic distance to composition students.In chapter four, "Shushes and Whispers in the Parlor: Questioning the 'Conversation' Metaphor in Rhetoric and Composition," I make the case that the ubiquitous metaphor of writing as joining an ongoing conversation masks ulterior disciplinary motives that too often go unexamined.In chapter five, "The Importance of Autopsies: The Death of the General-Interest Magazine in Publishing and the Death of the Essay in Academia," I explore parallels between the two deaths and argue that we should mourn the losses of these bygone forms of literacy. Finally, I reflect on the future of the essay and speculate on the pedagogical promise of the multimedia essay.

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Examensarbete (10 p)

‘Extraordinary Undercurrents: Australian Cinema, Genre and the Everyday’ investigates how the critical uptake of genre-based cinema has been incorporated into the cultural and industrial rubric of Australian national cinema. The thesis offers, in part, a revaluation of theoretically under-emphasized texts (as well as texts that have been the subject of much higher levels of scrutiny), in order to establish recurrent threads within Australian cinema. In doing this, the thesis offers new and original knowledge in the form of developing a perspective for a revised critical and theoretical analysis of genre cinema within Australian cinema, challenging the presumption of the kinds of texts that can be seen as articulating the nation. The groups of films examined herein form nodes through which a network of important and divergent ideas about nation, national identity and social organization come together in the form of narrative and thematic undercurrents. These (generally malevolent) undercurrents are articulated in the filmic representation of a range of conventional personal, social and cultural dichotomies, and of particular interest are the events, characters and narratives in which the everyday is confronted by the abstract, abject and uncanny. The undercurrents I identify are shown as the textual sites in which transgression - both inside and outside the frame - and intertextuality are collocated, representing the convergence of material which simultaneously operates outside of genres, while reinforcing textual similarity. The undercurrents I identify provide a theoretical direction in analysing interaction between national cinema, culture and identity

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Delaware, 1982. / Includes abstract. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 402-430).

This case study examined both the implications of using genre pedagogy on students’ writing performance in IELTS-like tests as well as students’ perceptions of the genre method in the context of IELTS preparation course. The data were writing samples and the interviews with the students as well as the instructor’s teaching daily field notes. The implications and students’ perceptions of genre method were found relating to a variety of factors, such as students’ prior experience in IELTS preparation course. This study also proposed some future research directions such as the integration of IELTS preparation into the ESL courses. / Graduate

Les garçons prépubères qui manifestent une masculinité non normative sont fréquemment ostracisés dès un jeune âge, aussi bien par leurs pairs que par les adultes responsables de leur développement. Contrairement à d’autres enfants provenant de groupes minoritaires, ils ne bénéficient pas systématiquement de la protection de leurs parents qui, eux-mêmes, vivent fréquemment un sentiment de marginalisation. La recherche nous informe que ces parents effectuent des pressions parfois abusives afin d’influencer les comportements non normatifs de leur fils dans la direction d’une plus grande conformité. Le manque de soutien, qui s’ajoute à la pression à se conformer, a des conséquences négatives sur la santé mentale du jeune. Si les parents se tournent vers les professionnels de la santé, la controverse qui marque ce domaine d’étude tend à contribuer à la confusion ressentie. Cette étude qualitative avec analyse par théorisation ancrée a pour but de donner la parole aux parents afin de mieux comprendre leur expérience. Plus précisément, l'auteure cherche à répondre à la question suivante : quel rapport existe-t-il entre l’explication du parent quant à l'expression non normative de masculinité de son enfant, les émotions vécues par rapport à cette différence et les comportements qu’il démontre envers celui-ci? Cinq parents de trois garçons non normatifs dans leur expression de genre ont été interviewés par l'auteure à partir d'une grille d'entrevue semi-dirigée. Bien qu'il s'agisse d'un nombre restreint de participants, l'analyse révèle que tous les parents contactent des sentiments de craintes pour le bien-être, l'épanouissement et la sécurité de leur enfant. Leurs peurs motivent les limites qu'ils peuvent parfois leur imposer, mais aussi le soutien d'un certain nombre de comportements non normatifs, car ils reconnaissent que d'interdire toute expression pourrait davantage vulnérabiliser leur enfant en limitant le développement de leur estime de soi et de leur confiance en eux. L'intervention de professionnels bien renseignés sur ce phénomène sert à rassurer les parents sur l'issue identitaire de leur enfant, à valider l'importance de réfléchir aux lieux où s'exprimeront ces comportements non normatifs et à encourager le soutien d'expressions non normatives chez leur enfant. Les parents évaluent le domicile familial comme étant le lieu le plus sécuritaire pour leur enfant, et l'école, comme le plus dangereux. Assurer la sécurité fondamentale de son fils est la préoccupation première du parent pour l'avenir de son enfant, particulièrement à partir de l'école secondaire. Des recommandations sont proposées afin de rendre les milieux qui accueillent les jeunes plus ouverts à la diversité des expressions de genre.

This project argues for rethinking the western as a global genre, rather than one rooted in a particular construction of the American West. First, by considering the western's global origins through an examination of early cinema, I challenge the singular connection to an American origin. Through tracing an alternative history of the genre in early cinema, we can see that the assumed connections between America and the western can be challenged by way of examples from France, Argentina, and Australia. Moving to the post-war and contemporary periods, this project highlights the popular and political uses of the genre by way of examples from Germany, Latin America, Spain and Italy, and Australia. These case studies identify how considering the western as a global popular genre allows it to address local political concerns across a range of national and transnational contexts. To situate the different contexts, this thesis relies on the broad theoretical framework of transculturation, following Mary Louise Pratt, to consider how the western 'selects' and 'invents' from particular historical, cultural, and political moments, often as part of asymmetrical power relations. Each case study also seeks to provide a theoretical framework specific to the local context, such as the theories and practices of Third Cinema in Latin America, in order to suggest ways of addressing the western outside of Hollywood. By shifting the western away from a central origin point, this thesis shows how the genre becomes meaningful on a global scale in terms of key issues of identity, political critique, and representations of space.