I am a cartographer of words. When I write, I first explore new areas with the wonder of imagination. Using tools like letters, sentences, grammar, and models, I observe the world and strive to make what I see navigable to others. Teaching writing is the sharing of the word map. As others arrive, they bring with them backgrounds and audiences of their own. Together, we step into the adventure of collaborative cartography.
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Through the history of composition, many other “cartographers” have invited students to step into an ancient map and appreciate the rhetorical aspects necessary for composing. Teaching the ideas of invention for thought and effectiveness of logic first taught by Aristotle, Isocrates, and other classical philosophers roots students in the persuasive tradition. Cultivating rhetorical knowledge enables a student to create new ideas with authority and purposeful process. Recent scholars echo the older mapmakers; research as presented in A Guide to Composition Pedagogies: Rhetoric and Argumentation by David Fleming shows the theoretical benefits to the application of a rhetorical pedagogy. John Duffy, for example, claims that teaching students to consider their audience develops awareness of other points of view, other ways to see the world. Maps are no longer limited to paper, and neither is writing. Jackson and Wallin show how rhetoric acclimates students to argumentation in their current multimodal world. At the same time rhetoric offers a currently powerful approach, it is a pedagogy that has been well tested by history.
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When personal background meets rhetoric, the balance is effective in leading students to successful orientation within the map while also offering the invitation for the students to be cartographers as well.
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To achieve these lofty goals, as a teacher, I rely on the maps that have been handed to me as well as the notes I’ve sketched by the places I’ve visited, so to speak. For example, echoing Elbow’s theory, these pedagogical approaches will require reflection. Through this personal view of words blended with the political view of ideas, I hope to demonstrate that language influenced the creation of societies and that it maintains individual relevance for the day-to-day life. Furthermore, as a teacher, I hope to cultivate a passion for noticing details that makes both composition and any other subject supremely interesting because it is relatable, transferrable, and influential. This is seen in the way I assign and teach the literacy narrative. Empowering students through developing authority in their writing as they think critically towards expression, I aim to create a community of respect that changes the way students see words, ideas, and persuasion. I strive to create tools that are approachable and helpful. For example, this very website hosts videos I have created to help students envision the writing process and navigate various resources online. In many ways, I realize my map is not yet complete. Along the way, I am confident that interactions I have with students will provide valuable lessons that continue to shape the map I offer to others.
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G.K. Chesterton stated, “There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.” By adopting an expressive rhetorical pedagogy. This interest—a true map-like magic—is the first step in inviting others into this world of words.
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Teaching Philosophy
Historically, maps have played important rhetorical roles in claiming new territories and even winning wars. Today, maps and GPS systems continue to persuade countless individuals navigating unfamiliar areas. In the same way that the well-made map convinces someone they can get from here to there, in my teaching, I believe much of writing hinges on persuasive ability and critical skills. A rhetorical foundation offers transferrable tools that fulfil many WPA standards for first-year composition including impacting students through “the ability to analyze contexts and audiences and then to act on that analysis in comprehending and creating texts”. This ability to analyze and act is the process of moving beyond understanding the map and actually going on the adventure.
Miles Harvey, in his book The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime, states, “ Sometimes a map speaks in terms of physical geography, but just as often it muses on the jagged terrain of the heart, the distant vistas of memory, or the fantastic landscapes of dreams.” In a similar way, I believe words also form powerful argumentation internally. Thus, a modern expressivist pedagogy complements my rhetorical pedagogy. The difficult ideas of rhetoric are best met with reflection. This process follows the research of Paul Kameen who imagines the classroom as an area for students and teachers to become ideologically stronger thinkers through examining their personal experiences. Inspired by Burnham and Powell, expressive pedagogy seeks to see each student as an individual with a story in a way that helps them become morally aware citizens.
The student’s role is to actively engage in their own arguments to better understand the value of their thoughts. Critically thinking should cultivate a nonjudgmental openness to peers and ideas. Following the suggestion of David Fleming, the class will be a place where students can safely deliberate together. Through respect of the counter-argument and in the pursuit of the best solution and idea, practical problem solving will be enhanced by reflection. Students will also be encouraged to take creative risks as they express their ideas in larger papers and also through daily writing practice. This encouragement will come primarily from echoing the ideas of Bartholomae, Elbow, and Murry that students are already writers (and thinkers) with profound ideas to communicate (Exploring Composition Studies: Reimagining the Nature of FYC). Practically, a mini-ethnography assignment in which students view a place and write a definition of their country based on their observations of the location combines this rhetorical, expressivist pedagogy.
