Home The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition by Margaret A. Syverson (ISBN: 9780809322510)

Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition Hardcover - 1999

Name: The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition
Price: 121.04 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Syverson Ph.D., Margaret A
ISBN: 9780809322510

by Margaret A. Syverson

Browse more copies for sale ↓

From the publisher

Margaret A. Syverson discusses the ways in which a theory of composing situations as ecological systems might productively be applied in composition studies. She demonstrates not only how new research in cognitive science and complex systems can inform composition studies but also how composing situations can provide fruitful ground for research in cognitive science.

Syverson first introduces theories of complex systems currently studied in diverse disciplines. She describes complex systems as adaptive, self-organizing, and dynamic; neither utterly chaotic nor entirely ordered, these systems exist on the boundary between order and chaos. Ecological systems are "metasystems" composed of interrelated complex systems. Writers, readers, and texts, together with their environments, constitute one kind of ecological system.

Four attributes of complex systems provide a theoretical framework for this study: distribution, embodiment, emergence, and enaction. Three case studies provide evidence for the application of these concepts: an analysis of a passage from an autobiographical poem by Charles Reznikoff, a study of first-year college students writing collaboratively, and a conflict in a computer forum of social scientists during the Gulf War. The diversity of these cases tests the robustness of theories of distributed cognition and complex systems and suggests possibilities for wider application.

From the jacket flap

Syverson concludes with a discussion of some implications of an ecological approach for composition research, pedagogy, and assessment, presenting the Learning Record model as one practical application of the theory. Finally she argues that technological changes have created new environmentsfor composing, providing an opportunity to reconsider conventional environments as well.

Details

Title The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition
Author Margaret A. Syverson
Binding Hardcover
Pages 304
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Southern Illinois University Press
Date 1999-10
Illustrated Yes
ISBN 9780809322510 / 080932251X
Weight 1.48 lbs (0.67 kg)
Dimensions 9.58 x 6.49 x 1.03 in (24.33 x 16.48 x 2.62 cm)
Reading level 1370
Library of Congress subjects Cognition, Human ecology
Library of Congress Catalog Number 98-37550
Dewey Decimal Code 808.042

About the author

Margaret A. Syverson is the director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab in the Division of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the web editor for the Computers and Composition Journal Online and also president of the Board of Directors for the Center for Language in Learning.