Physical Eloquence and the Biology of WritingAs a statement about literacy, this book recommends an approach to teaching writing that stresses the neurological foundations of written English, mastered almost like a foreign language. "Physical eloquence" refers to neurological processes of hand, eye, and ear that every writer must control in order to generate and simultaneously to interpret a written text. "Biology of writing" refers to innate or otherwise untaught abilities that all people have for acquiring prose and which are not enhanced by formal learning. Ochsner promotes a realistic writing curriculum that stresses subconscious processes in the biology of the writing process rather than planned, rehearsed, and formally practiced activities for learning to write. He concludes that successful literacy instruction depends on a teacher's willingness to take into account the supremacy of popular culture and the ascendancy of its spoken idiom. |
Contents
Towards a New Literacy | 23 |
A Literacy of Eloquence | 35 |
Rhetorical Delivery as Text Production | 55 |
Memory A Biogrammar of Speaking | 77 |
Agraphia and Style | 107 |
Teaching the Subconscious Acquisition | 127 |
Teaching Students Not to Learn | 145 |
The Morality of Physical Eloquence | 165 |
Appendix | 171 |
Notes | 185 |
| 195 | |
| 217 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acquire prose acquisition of prose agraphia alexia Alfonso Caramazza anti-foundationalism aphasia apraxia audience auditory melody auditory style basic become biogrammar biological biology of writing brain Broca's areas capable writers Chapter Chart classroom cognitive college students composition contrast developmental discourse discuss disorders E.D. Hirsch emphasis ENGL essay explain express freshman English grade grapheme handwriting Hécaen ideas inner language interpretation kinetic melody Krashen learning to write linguistic literacy meaning motive neurolinguistic neurological neurological functions oral-based pace percent perhaps physical eloquence practice print culture problem punctuation reader rhetorical rhythm schismogenesis Second Language Second Language Acquisition sense skills social speaking and writing speech and prose speedwrites spoken language spoken prose stages Stephen Krashen students write studies subconscious subvocalize teach writing teaching of writing text production textbooks Type understand visual melody Wernicke's aphasia words writing ability writing instruction writing process writing teachers written language