Program anthologies, classbooks, and zines: An examination of approaches to publishing first -year students' work

This study examines publications of students' writing in first-year composition programs. Based on a survey of such publications in 1999, I review how program anthologies and classbooks are produced and used and analyze selected examples of the writing they contain. In addition I trace the development of the publications as the field of composition studies evolved. Research for the study indicates that, although composition instructors have recognized these publications as valuable tools in teaching writing since the mid-twentieth century, relatively few schools have them.;The research shows considerable variety in the approaches that writing programs take to publishing students' writing. Moreover, it reveals a strong connection between the publications and the pedagogical orientation of the writing programs that produce them. To illustrate the relationship, I use data from questionnaires and personal interviews to sketch the evolution of approaches to publishing at five schools: two of them aligned with subjective rhetoric, two of them with epistemic rhetoric, and one bridging these rhetorical views.;In chapter six of the study, I analyze eight selected students' texts from the publications. The results show surprisingly little difference in the quality of the compositions they contain. Nevertheless, the subjects the students choose and the structure of their papers suggests that the students' folk culture has a significant influence on their writing. Perhaps more important, the analysis suggests that student experiment with form and style more in their writing when they take responsibility for editing their published texts than when teachers assume that responsibility.;The conclusion of the study calls for writing programs to increase their awareness of the range of possibilities for publishing students' papers in first-year composition and incorporate the publications in their curricula. Texts in program anthologies and classbooks constitute a significant resource for understanding how students write. The compositionists have not yet realized the full potential these publications have for helping students learn to write.