Composing Ourselves

The essays in this anthology all centre around the premise that the terms writer, teacher, and researcher are inextricably linked. The implications of these statements are reflective of the fact that the field of composition studies is one in which the subject of writing should remain at the forefront of disciplinary conversations.

When movies replaced theater in the early twentieth century, live drama was wide open to reform. A rebellion against commercialism, called the Little Theatre movement, promoted the notion that theatre is a valuable form of self-expression. Composing Ourselves argues that the movement was a national phenomenon that resulted in lasting ideas for serious theatre that are now ordinary parts of the American cultural landscape.

Collects 23 essays, research studies, and personal narratives on topics connected with teaching composition, topics and "voices" rarely found in scholarly journals or at professional conferences. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This text is a study of literacy based upon a set of correspondence, the Osborne Family Papers, 1812–1968, housed in the Special Collections Research Center of Syracuse University. A collection of some 358 boxes, it is particularly well suited for a study on literacy. In addition to the voluminous public and private correspondence of prison reformer Thomas Mott Osborne (1859–1926), a vast and rich store of the family’s literacy "works" have been carefully preserved. In addition to hundreds of letters, many between and among the women of the family, it also abounds with other literacy documents of interest such as ledgers, account books, travelogues, verse, diaries, and notes. Unusually and quite valuably, even scraps of children’s writing have been preserved, making possible studies regarding emergent literacy practices of the times.

The author of Write to Restore shows survivors of sexual abuse how to heal through journaling and personal writing. Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises. When you can find language for the stories that are locked inside, you can change your life. Talk therapy can only go so far for the millions of Americans struggling in the aftermath of sexual abuse and sexual assault. Sexual assault survivors can heal themselves. Sexual trauma survivor communities (and their allies) have the capacity to hold and hear one another's stories—we do not have to relegate ourselves solely to the individual isolation of the therapist's office. What you’ll learn inside Writing Ourselves Whole: How to reconnect with your creative instinct through freewriting How freewriting can help you reclaim the parts of yourself and your history How “restorying” the old myths about sexual trauma survivors can set you free If you have read books such as Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, or Louise DeSalvo’s Writing as a Way of Healing, you will want to read Writing Ourselves Whole. Praise for Writing Ourselves Whole “A raw, powerful, necessary, wise and practiced guidebook to the revolutionary practice of finding the words, language and voice to transform suffering.” —Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues “Rich, intelligent, passionate, intimate, honest and encouraging . . . This book is a treasure trove!” —Ellen Bass, author of The Courage to Heal

Winner of the 2002 Computers & Composition Distinguished Book Award presented by Clarkson University's Eastman Kodak Center for Excellence in Communication The increasing role of computer technology in the classroom has left many teachers searching for resources that will make sense of complex theories and provide them with practical pedagogical direction. Offering instructional stories, histories, and classroom applications, Writing Inventions connects the theoretical aspirations of the field with the craft of innovative composition instruction. Focusing on issues of "invention," the book explores "writing inventions"—the computer technology that students use to research, read, create, and compose. But "invention" also refers to the rich collection of processes that lead to what is not yet known: topics for writing, personal and professional identities, and new pedagogies. Methods for teaching invention using the World Wide Web are also outlined, arguing that the Web allows students and teachers to see into each other's learning processes. In the end, Writing Inventions tells stories—instructional accounts of computers and teaching writing that balance theory and practice.

#1 Amazon Best Seller ─ Creating books that will change your life Healing victims of sexual assault through transformative journaling: One in six women is the victim of sexual assault. Using her own hard-won wisdom, author Jen Cross shows how to heal through journaling and personal writing. Rape victims and victims of other sexual abuse: Writing Ourselves Whole is a collection of essays and creative writing encouragements for sexual trauma survivors who want to risk writing a different story. Each short chapter offers encouragement, experience, and exercises. Sections focus on writing as a transformative practice, embodying our story, how to write trauma without retraumatization, writing joy and desire, and more. How to change your life: When you can find language for the stories that are locked inside, you can change your life. Talk therapy can only go so far for the millions of Americans struggling in the aftermath of sexual abuse and sexual assault, as well as for their partners, families, and caregivers. Survivors of childhood sexual trauma are strong and vulnerable enough to bear witness to each other's truths, to share and learn new languages for our experiences, to throw over the simplistic "victim" and "survivor" narratives that permeate mainstream media in favor of narratives that are fragmented, complicated, messy, and ultimately more whole. Sexual assault survivors can heal themselves: Sexual trauma survivor communities (and their allies) have the capacity to hold and hear one another's stories - we do not have to relegate ourselves solely to the individual isolation of the therapist's office. We do not need to be afraid, as a community of fractured, harmed and healing survivors, of reaching out to and supporting one another. Connect with others who have experienced sexual abuse: Books such as Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones and Louise DeSalvo's Writing as a Way of Healing beautifully describe the power of writing and offer practices for readers to engage with individually. Yet few creative writing or creative recovery books explicitly address sexual trauma survivor struggles to find language for their experience, nor do they describe the empowerment we might find in discovering language and expression for our delight, desire, and joy as well as our loss and pain. Writing Ourselves Whole specifically addresses the power of connecting with others who share our experience and can support us in finding language for subjects we not only are not supposed to talk about in polite company, but aren't even supposed to articulate to ourselves. Transformative journaling: Writing Ourselves Whole acknowledges the radical and profound impact of a creative healing community for trauma survivors, and includes suggestions for those seeking to create a peer writing group in their own communities. Writing Ourselves Whole rises out of the intersection of Natalie Goldberg's groundbreaking Writing Down the Bones, the powerful Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman, and the hopeful, angry struggle of Inga Muscio's Cunt. What You'll Learn Inside Writing Ourselves Whole: How to reconnect with your creative instinct through freewriting How freewriting can help you reclaim the parts of yourself, and your history, that you were never supposed to be able to name How "restorying" the old myths about sexual trauma survivors can set you free How a consistent writing practice can help reconnect you with your creative genius How (and why) to make writing part of your regular self-care routine -- and why, if you don't have a self-care routine, it's time to develop one Why writin

"Composing Myself is a heartwarming story of forgiving the people you love, and finding the strength to stand up and be proud of where you came from. I laughed, I cried, and I had a smile on my face when I turned the last page." ~ Tracey Garvis Graves, author of the New York Times bestseller On the Island The worst kind of lie is the one you tell yourself. Whitney Monroe it's always been easier to lie about who her mother really was than face the shame and judgement that would surely follow the truth. Raised by her grandmother, Whitney had always managed to keep her two worlds separate, even if it meant lying to everyone—especially herself. But those lies suddenly become much harder to keep when Reid Phillips, a struggling musician and her not-entirely-welcome new roommate complicates things by seeing right through her carefully constructed walls and challenging her compartmentalized life. Now with Grams seriously ill, her mother’s life in turmoil and her dream job and relationship on the line, it’s more important than ever for Whitney to hold everything together. But when that means being honest with everyone—starting with herself, is Whitney strong enough to do what it takes?