Lyman Barner 1 Luke Jordan Lyman Barner Dr.

Lauren Mason ENGL 1101H 9 September 2013 A Summary of The Cultures of Literature and Composition: What Could Each Learn From the Other? Dr. Peter Elbows essay is largely designed to highlight the strengths of the academic field of composition and prove its equality with the field of literature. Elbow explains that composition is often neglected in favor of literature in terms of funding and recognition. The essay makes an effort to expose flaws in both fields and show how the practices of one field could be applied to the other to cover those weaknesses. However, when compiled, the list of literatures weaknesses is substantially longer than that of composition. The essay makes no pretense of being based on scientific study; Dr. Elbow introduces it by admitting openly that the statements and generalizations that he makes are based on a general sense of the state of the academic fields. He justifies this sense with several decades of teaching experience, however, and believes that, regardless of a lack of methodical study having been done on the topics that he addresses, his arguments should still feel true and accurate. The bulk of the essay is a fairly fluid motion from topic to topic, often criticizing literature culture for its pretension and tendency to reject or look down upon composition and teaching, instead valuing research as a higher priority. He occasionally brings up

Lyman Barner 2 weaknesses or failings of composition and methodologies characteristic of literature that could be used to alleviate them. These weaknesses, however, tend to be minor relative to the problems that Elbow perceives in literature culture and addresses in the essay. He also discusses fronts on which both scholarly fields show a need for improvement, such as their unwillingness to stray from their preferred forms of writing (rhetorical and figurative, specifically) and their hesitance to embrace pluralism within their academic communities. He does this because he feels that the two fields are, or should be highly interconnected, and that addressing these issues with his prescribed solutions would bring them closer together. The essay presents a strong case for greater legitimization of the field of composition and affording it equal recognition to the field of literature. It appears to try not to do so at literatures expense, but it is unyielding in its criticism of the field, suggesting that while literature is a valuable field, it is in its current state, perhaps, not quite as valuable as composition.

Lyman Barner 3 Works Cited Elbow, Peter. The Cultures of Literature and Composition: What Could Each Learn From the Other? College English, Vol. 64, no.5, (2002): 533-546. Web. 11 September 2013.