Creative Imitation is an alternative strategy to help students improve their expository writing in college composition. It combines writing by imitation with process modeling to increase student fluency with both the products and processes of writing. For centuries, a technique of "imitatio" was used to teach oral and written language traditions. Isocrates, Quintilian, and Cicero shaped the tradition of imitating writing models. Their principles were revived in the 60s by two neo-classical educators, Corbett and D'Angelo. Objections to the principles of imitation to teach writing are analyzed: models intimidate students, imitation focuses on the products instead of the processes of writing, and imitation reduces individual creativity. Some teachers have reported success with student-centered writing-by-imitation exercises in college composition classrooms. They assert that imitation exercises increase student awareness of correct usage, grammar conventions, rhetorical strategies, and paradoxically enable students to develop an "authentic" voice in their own writing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/291444 |
| Date | January 1988 |
| Creators | Poindexter, Wanda, 1946- |
| Contributors | Fleming, Margaret |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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