Researching and Writing in Communities

Rhetorical Engagement answers instructors’ increasing demands for raison d'etre in composition by emphasizing the rhetorical situation (and its components) in the context of community and public issues, along with a focus on primary research. This approach is warranted and logical given post-911 concerns, the current political climate, the bipartisan call for community engagement, and the "transferability" of skills acquired in a learning environment based on civic rhetoric.

This text is designed to help students become community intellectuals, to understand the various components of a given academic, political, or home group and to then find a way to become rhetorically active within that community. It is intended for beginning writers—not basic writers—along with and advanced rhetoric/composition students, communication, and history students interested in archival research and community engagement.

Lynee Lewis Gaillet is Professor of English at Georgia State University where she directs the Writing Studio and Lower Division Studies. She is author of numerous articles addressing Scottish rhetoric, writing program administration, and composition/rhetoric pedagogy. She is editor of Scottish Rhetoric and Its Influences (1998), Stories of Mentoring (2008), and The Present State of the History of Rhetoric (2010).

Michelle F. Eble is associate professor of rhetoric and professional communication at East Carolina University where she serves as Director of Graduate Studies. She has published in Computers and Composition, Technical Communication, and Technical Communication Quarterly on professional writing theory and practice, especially as it relates to rhetorical engagement, technology, and design. She is the co-editor of Stories on Mentoring: Theory and Praxis (2008).