A rhetoric of being: enthymemes, nationalism, and writing consciousness

Abstract

Based on cross-cultural studies of Euro-American and Chinese rhetoric, of national identity, and of literacy, my dissertation analyzes politics and conflicts in composition caused by multi-national identities and discourses. It investigates why national identity prescribes foreign students' rhetorical reasoning and how national values affect process-writing instruction to these students. Analyses of the academic literacy acquisition process and examples selected from composition classes provide evidence for the argument that conflicts in composition may be a result of the convergence of nationalisms: a rhetoric of being predetermines the rhetoric of teaching and writing.