The Centrality of Style

PERSPECTIVES ON WRITING: Series Editor, Susan H. McLeod Foreword by PAUL BUTLER In THE CENTRALITY OF STYLE, editors Mike Duncan and Star Medzerian Vanguri argue that style is a central concern of composition studies even as they demonstrate that some of the most compelling work in the area has emerged from the margins of the field. Calling attention to this paradox in his foreword to the collection, Paul Butler observes, "Many of the chapters work within the liminal space in which style serves as both a centralizing and decentralizing force in rhetoric and composition. Clearly, the authors and editors have made an invaluable contribution in their collection by exposing the paradoxical nature of a canon that continues to play a vital role in our disciplinary history." CONTRIBUTORS include Nora Bacon, Jonathan Buehl, Paul Butler, Rosanne Carlo, Mike Duncan, Erik Ellis, William FitzGerald, Crystal Fodrey, Moe Folk, Russell Greer, Chris Holcomb, M. Jimmie Killingsworth, William C. Kurlinkus, Zak Lancaster, Tom Pace, Luke Redington, Keith Rhodes, Denise Stodola, and Star Medzerian Vanguri. MIKE DUNCAN is an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in professional writing and rhetoric. He has published articles on style and related issues in journals including College English, JAC, and Rhetoric Society Quarterly, as well as in edited collections. STAR MEDZERIAN VANGURI is an assistant professor in the Division of Humanities at Nova Southeastern University. She teaches first-year composition and courses in writing and rhetoric at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research interests include style, discourse analysis, authorship, and classroom writing assessment. Her article, "Style and the Pedagogy of Response," in the journal Rhetoric Review, explores the intersections of these interests.