The Authentic I: A Theory of Expressive Writing
Laura Gay Andres
- School: Purdue University (0183)
- Degree: Ph.D.
- Date: 1987 pp: 219
- Advisor: Lauer, Janice M.
- Source: DAI-A 49/03, p. 447, Sep 1988
- Subjects: Language, Rhetoric And Composition (0681)
- ProQuest Document Number:
- ISBN: 0-493-27871-0
- UMI Number: AAT 8807581
Abstract:
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Expressive discourse is probably the most troublesome of Kinneavy's four aims of discourse,
because of disagreement about the definition of expressive writing and about whether it is
distinguishable from the other three aims (referential, persuasive, literary). The major
goals of the dissertation are to demonstrate that there are pieces of discourse which should
be categorized and interpreted as expressive, and to define expression, distinguishing it
from the other aims. The authenticity (as defined by Heidegger) of the "I" in the discourse
distinguishes expressive writing from other kinds of writing. Evidence of authenticity is
provided by the following features: (1) three-part phenomenological self (Being-for-Itself,
Being-for-Others, Being-in-the-World); (2) emotionally valued goal; and (3) style features:
images, vague referents, superlatives and allness terms, and first-person pronouns.
The discourse taxonomies (which include expression) of Kinneavy and Britton are compared
and evaluated; Kinneavy's theory serves as the foundation for the dissertation, because
it deals with mature texts, and it is based on a model of the self which corresponds to
the definition of authenticity. Ten expressive essays are analyzed with their rhetorical
contexts and the three features to determine the authenticity of the "I." The method of
analysis, because it is designed for expressive texts, illuminates such texts better than
other methods. Some of the conclusions are as follows: Expression can be rhetorical,
finished, and mature, not simply prewriting or immature writing. Authenticity distinguishes
expression from the other aims, and the three features reveal the writer's
relationship to her past, present, future; her relationships with herself, others,
the world; and her goal or project, its emotional value, and how she is facing and pursuing it.
This conception of expression can aid teachers of college composition in assigning,
guiding, and evaluating expressive writing.
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