This nine-chapter book narrates a writing-centered approach to the teaching of literature and literary research. As the title suggests, the book also embraces a thematic approach to reading and writing about twentieth-century American literature, focusing on the grounds for hope in an age of despair. The first five chapters explore in detail the teaching of the twentieth-century American literature course at the University of Pristina in Kosovo, where the author served as Fulbright Professor of American Literature in the spring semester of 2012. Throughout, these chapters narrate students' in-class interactions to illustrate writing-to-learn strategies for teaching the literature. Chapter six then follows the same cohort of 22 students as they learned to ground their literary research in their own questions about American and Balkans narratives of oppression and liberty, of despair and hope. The last three chapters document the responses of students and their professors to this American theme of liberty and hope as seen through the Balkans lenses of ethnic violence and emerging republican government. Specifically, chapter seven focuses on students' participation in a blog featuring Balkans literature that explores the same issues of liberty and justice examined in the American literature they have read. Chapter eight then celebrates student writing, the fruit of the writing-to-learn strategies narrated in earlier chapters. Finally, chapter nine narrates professors' and students' responses, gathered through surveys and interviewing, to questions about their country's violent past and the value of literary study in preparing citizens to shape a new republic.

As the title suggests, this six-chapter book responds to a question which, in Western culture, goes back to Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian, namely, What should rhetoric teachers ask their students to read? Primarily historical, the first two chapters trace conflicting answers to the question above, focusing on two constructive results of the debate: the re-invention of rhetoric and writing as a discipline, a coherent and growing body of knowledge; and, as a result, the emergence of independent departments of writing, free from departments of English, free, therefore, to develop their own curriculum and to manage their own budgets. Additionally, the second chapter examines two destructive consequences of this debate: the ban of literature from writing courses, where students might profitably study both; and, as a result, the often painful departmental splits, which not only separate former colleagues but also cramp the pedagogy of those trained to teach both writing and literature. More than a survey of key publications, this chapter encourages readers to honor the discipline of rhetoric but to make a place for literature on their composition syllabi. The next four chapters provide pedagogical support for these chief claims: that literature can and should be taught in writing courses, and that such readings need not distract students from the primary text, their own writing. On the contrary, these readings motivate serious writing when students feel invited into a conversation on issues that touch their lives. These pedagogical chapters, then, move entering professionals from the theoretical debate to the application of theory; therefore, the book would serve well professors of courses in composition theory, particularly those who enjoy 'teaching the conflicts' and preparing their graduate students to design assignments and courses that apply theories of learning, reading, and composing.

This nine-chapter book narrates a writing-centered approach to the teaching of literature and literary research. As the title suggests, the book also embraces a thematic approach to reading and writing about twentieth-century American literature, focusing on the grounds for hope in an age of despair. The first five chapters explore in detail the teaching of the twentieth-century American literature course at the University of Pristina in Kosovo, where the author served as Fulbright Professor of American Literature in the spring semester of 2012. Throughout, these chapters narrate students' in-class interactions to illustrate writing-to-learn strategies for teaching the literature. Chapter six then follows the same cohort of 22 students as they learned to ground their literary research in their own questions about American and Balkans narratives of oppression and liberty, of despair and hope. The last three chapters document the responses of students and their professors to this American theme of liberty and hope as seen through the Balkans lenses of ethnic violence and emerging republican government. Specifically, chapter seven focuses on students' participation in a blog featuring Balkans literature that explores the same issues of liberty and justice examined in the American literature they have read. Chapter eight then celebrates student writing, the fruit of the writing-to-learn strategies narrated in earlier chapters. Finally, chapter nine narrates professors' and students' responses, gathered through surveys and interviewing, to questions about their country's violent past and the value of literary study in preparing citizens to shape a new republic.

As the title suggests, this six-chapter book responds to a question which, in Western culture, goes back to Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian, namely, What should rhetoric teachers ask their students to read? Primarily historical, the first two chapters trace conflicting answers to the question above, focusing on two constructive results of the debate: the re-invention of rhetoric and writing as a discipline, a coherent and growing body of knowledge; and, as a result, the emergence of independent departments of writing, free from departments of English, free, therefore, to develop their own curriculum and to manage their own budgets. Additionally, the second chapter examines two destructive consequences of this debate: the ban of literature from writing courses, where students might profitably study both; and, as a result, the often painful departmental splits, which not only separate former colleagues but also cramp the pedagogy of those trained to teach both writing and literature. More than a survey of key publications, this chapter encourages readers to honor the discipline of rhetoric but to make a place for literature on their composition syllabi. The next four chapters provide pedagogical support for these chief claims: that literature can and should be taught in writing courses, and that such readings need not distract students from the primary text, their own writing. On the contrary, these readings motivate serious writing when students feel invited into a conversation on issues that touch their lives. These pedagogical chapters, then, move entering professionals from the theoretical debate to the application of theory; therefore, the book would serve well professors of courses in composition theory, particularly those who enjoy 'teaching the conflicts' and preparing their graduate students to design assignments and courses that apply theories of learning, reading, and composing.