Overview

During the 1970s, the National Council for Teachers of English issued a series of res­olutions calling for the teaching of “critical reading, listening, viewing, and thinking skills necessary to enable students to cope with the sophisticated persuasion tech­niques in political statements, advertising, entertainment, and news.” However, in recent decades, under the sway of multi­culturalism and postmodern theory, com­position and rhetoric pedagogies have strayed from these goals. In Political Lit­eracy in Composition and Rhetoric, author and teacher Donald Lazere issues a call to action for the return to an emphasis on critical thinking skills and multidisciplinary approaches in the teaching of composi­tion and rhetoric. Lazere also presents a keen sociocultural observation regarding the majority of the “Middle Americans” demographic—lower-middle class, rural, white students with a conservative leaning and an occasional resistance to change— and their learning behaviors and needs. Finally, Lazere offers a roadmap for a new kind of curriculum, one that he argues will enable teachers of composition and rheto­ric to foster a sense of civic literacy in their students and thus, by extension, American society as a whole.

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9780809334285

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Reviews

Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric is a stunning book, filled with insights that rework the relationship between education and politics on the one hand and critical literacy and pedagogy on the other hand. At a time when critical thinking and civic literacy, if not democratic politics itself, are under attack, Donald Lazere s book is a crucial and brilliant reminder of how important reading, writing, and literacy in general are to developing the formative culture necessary for a substantive democracy. Henry A. Giroux, Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, McMaster University The view that reasoned argument is an instrument of white, male, Western dominance still haunts the field of rhetoric and composition like a guilty conscience, as does the boundless glorification of diversity, marginality, and pluralism. Lazere s book definitively challenges this disdain for rational argument and academic discourse showing that such an attitude can easily undermine the interests of the oppressed groups it claims to speak for while removing a needed counterforce to the prejudices and anti-intellectualism of mainstream American culture. In the process Lazere makes a compelling argument for putting debate about political and civic issues at the center of American education. Among the many strengths of this book are the amusing autobiographical passages based on Lazere s unique view from Middle America. Another is Lazere s ability to summarize and synthesize a stunningly vast quantity of scholarship and social criticism that ultimately defines a distinctive tradition of critical thinking and critique. Both Lazere s story and his polemic speak urgently to teachers and students across all the disciplines, none of which is untouched by the problem of political illiteracy. Gerald Graff, author of Clueless in Academe Simultaneously memoir and manifesto, this brilliant new book by Donald Lazere draws on the author s decades of engagement in both political polemics and composition theory. Its main argument that academic discourse is not the oppressive iron cage that postmodernist comp-rhet theorists make it out to be is articulated with erudite precision and hard-earned passion. The argument he puts forth is long overdue; it could still change the direction of the field in a revolutionary way. Thomas Huckin, professor emeritus, University of Utah With his new book, Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric: Defending Academic Discourse against Postmodern Pluralism, Donald Lazere adds significantly to the field of composition and rhetoric, asking scholars to move away from an uncritical, postmodern view of composition and rhetoric and toward a critical reflection on the value of eloquence by privileging data-driven, well-reasoned academic discourse. Sure to provoke conversation, Lazere s work is a strong voice in the developing chorus telling us that our composition and rhetoric scholarship and practice are in danger, not just of being derivative and stagnant but also of disenfranchising an already oppressed large segment of our citizenry. Albert C. DeCiccio, Laboure College

Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric is a stunning book, filled with insights that rework the relationship between education and politics on the one hand and critical literacy and pedagogy on the other hand. At a time when critical thinking and civic literacy, if not democratic politics itself, are under attack, Donald Lazere s book is a crucial and brilliant reminder of how important reading, writing, and literacy in general are to developing the formative culture necessary for a substantive democracy. Henry A. Giroux, Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, McMaster University The view that reasoned argument is an instrument of white, male, Western dominance still haunts the field of rhetoric and composition like a guilty conscience, as does the boundless glorification of diversity, marginality, and pluralism. Lazere s book definitively challenges this disdain for rational argument and academic discourse showing that such an attitude can easily undermine the interests of the oppressed groups it claims to speak for while removing a needed counterforce to the prejudices and anti-intellectualism of mainstream American culture. In the process Lazere makes a compelling argument for putting debate about political and civic issues at the center of American education. Among the many strengths of this book are the amusing autobiographical passages based on Lazere s unique view from Middle America. Another is Lazere s ability to summarize and synthesize a stunningly vast quantity of scholarship and social criticism that ultimately defines a distinctive tradition of critical thinking and critique. Both Lazere s story and his polemic speak urgently to teachers and students across all the disciplines, none of which is untouched by the problem of political illiteracy. Gerald Graff, author of Clueless in Academe Simultaneously memoir and manifesto, this brilliant new book by Donald Lazere draws on the author s decades of engagement in both political polemics and composition theory. Its main argument that academic discourse is not the oppressive iron cage that postmodernist comp-rhet theorists make it out to be is articulated with erudite precision and hard-earned passion. The argument he puts forth is long overdue; it could still change the direction of the field in a revolutionary way. Thomas Huckin, professor emeritus, University of Utah With his new book, Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric: Defending Academic Discourse against Postmodern Pluralism, Donald Lazere adds significantly to the field of composition and rhetoric, asking scholars to move away from an uncritical, postmodern view of composition and rhetoric and toward a critical reflection on the value of eloquence by privileging data-driven, well-reasoned academic discourse. Sure to provoke conversation, Lazere s work is a strong voice in the developing chorus telling us that our composition and rhetoric scholarship and practice are in danger, not just of being derivative and stagnant but also of disenfranchising an already oppressed large segment of our citizenry. Albert C. DeCiccio, Laboure College

"""Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric is a stunning book, filled with insights that rework the relationship between education and politics on the one hand and critical literacy and pedagogy on the other hand. At a time when critical thinking and civic literacy, if not democratic politics itself, are under attack, Donald Lazere's book is a crucial and brilliant reminder of how important reading, writing, and literacy in general are to developing the formative culture necessary for a substantive democracy.""--Henry A. Giroux, Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy, McMaster University ""The view that reasoned argument is an instrument of white, male, Western dominance still haunts the field of rhetoric and composition like a guilty conscience, as does the boundless glorification of diversity, marginality, and pluralism. Lazere's book definitively challenges this disdain for rational argument--and academic discourse--showing that such an attitude can easily undermine the interests of the oppressed groups it claims to speak for while removing a needed counterforce to the prejudices and anti-intellectualism of mainstream American culture. In the process Lazere makes a compelling argument for putting debate about political and civic issues at the center of American education. ""Among the many strengths of this book are the amusing autobiographical passages based on Lazere's unique 'view from Middle America.' Another is Lazere's ability to summarize and synthesize a stunningly vast quantity of scholarship and social criticism that ultimately defines a distinctive tradition of critical thinking and critique. Both Lazere's story and his polemic speak urgently to teachers and students across all the disciplines, none of which is untouched by the problem of political illiteracy.""--Gerald Graff, author of Clueless in Academe ""Simultaneously memoir and manifesto, this brilliant new book by Donald Lazere draws on the author's decades of engagement in both political polemics and composition theory. Its main argument--that academic discourse is not the oppressive iron cage that postmodernist comp-rhet theorists make it out to be--is articulated with erudite precision and hard-earned passion. The argument he puts forth is long overdue; it could still change the direction of the field in a revolutionary way.""-- Thomas Huckin, professor emeritus, University of Utah ""With his new book, Political Literacy in Composition and Rhetoric: Defending Academic Discourse against Postmodern Pluralism, Donald Lazere adds significantly to the field of composition and rhetoric, asking scholars to move away from an uncritical, postmodern view of composition and rhetoric and toward a critical reflection on the value of eloquence by privileging data-driven, well-reasoned academic discourse. Sure to provoke conversation, Lazere's work is a strong voice in the developing chorus telling us that our composition and rhetoric scholarship and practice are in danger, not just of being derivative and stagnant but also of disenfranchising an already oppressed large segment of our citizenry.""--Albert C. DeCiccio, Labouré College"

Author Information

Donald Lazere, a professor emeritus of English at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, USA, taught as a lecturer at University of Tennessee at Knoxville, USA after retirement. He is the author or editor of five books, including Why Higher Education SHOULD Have a Leftist Bias, which was published in 2013.

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