Topic: Creative Writing in Composition

10-second review: In teaching expository writing, we have the opportunity to incorporate creative writing.

Title: “The Place of Creative Writing in Composition Studies.” Douglas Hesse. College Composition and Communication (September 2010), 31-52.

Summary: The author essentially makes the case that composition studies emphasize argument and exposition as opposed to creative writing that is sometimes called, negatively, “expressivism,” or personal narrative. This is another one of those “either-or” issues that the NCTE loves to engage in—process vs. product, anyone?—but the author of this article is suggesting that the two types of writing be incorporated within the mainstream of argument and exposition.

Comment: I completely agree. In fact, I think we already use narrative in argument and exposition. Who hasn’t used anecdote (stories) in argument and exposition? Anecdotes are everywhere in newspapers, and not just in feature stories, either. In fact, the whole idea of the traditional lead—who, what, when, where, and why—seems to have disappeared from front pages of newspapers. Of course, the author thinks much more can be learned from the techniques of creative writing in an expository or argumentative mode. It will be fun to explore how. RayS.