Multigenre Rhetoric: Where Genre Theory and Feminist Composition Theory Meet

Abstract

My purpose is to argue that multigenre rhetoric could be used as a pedagogical supplement to expository writing, which is taught as the norm in freshman composition. The history and development of genre theory and feminist composition theory are explored. By juxtaposing these two theories, a rationale is provided for introducing multigenre rhetoric as a viable pedagogy in the composition classroom. The pedagogical benefits of multigenre rhetoric are explored in relation to genre theory and feminist composition theory, linking the two theories with a progressive, alternative rhetoric. Multigenre rhetoric is explicated by showing how it is currently being used in English classrooms. Since to date multigenre rhetoric has not been researched in freshman composition, the proposition is made to implement it in freshman composition and to perform empirical research.