| Abstract | The theme course has been a part of Composition¿s history since the 1970s if not before, yet this practice is only now through my project coming together under a synthesized study of scholarship, current practice, and self-reflection of personal theme course practice. I define the theme course as a course that uses idiosyncratic content to support how students learn about writing: by ¿idiosyncratic,¿ I refer to content that is not explicitly about writing or in any way typical to composition courses. To guide instructor reflection on the relationship they create between theme and writing, I offer a four-part framework that calls for 1.) Increased overall approachability by use of a theme 2.) Supporting learning about writing through a theme 3.) Using the theme to demonstrate or engage students in a feature of writing in the course 4.) Having students engage in a metacognitive process that reinforces the relationship between theme and writing. I developed this framework as a synthesis of scholarship, which I examine in local practice through both a survey and a study of my own theme course practice. The framework, survey, and classroom study ultimately argue that while writing is the primary subject matter of composition, theme content can still do meaningful work in the composition course if it serves to support how students learn about writing. |
