Definition and Discussion of Reader-Based Prose

Definition and Discussion of Reader-Based Prose Definition Reader-based prose is a kind of public writing: a text that is composed (or revised) with an audience in mind. Contrast with writer-based prose. The concept of reader-based prose is part of a controversial social-cognitive theory of writing that was introduced by professor of rhetoric Linda Flower in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing (1979), Flower defined reader-based prose as a deliberate attempt to communicate something to a reader. To do that it creates a shared language and shared context between writer and reader. See the observations below. Also see: AdaptationAudience AnalysisAudience Analysis Checklist Your Writing: Private and Public Observations The concept of egocentrism was much discussed in composition studies in the late 1970s. . . . By Flowers terminology, reader-based prose is more mature writing that meets the needs of the reader, and with the help of the instructor, students can turn their egocentric, writer-based prose into prose that is effective and reader-based.(Edith H. Babin and Kimberly Harrison, Contemporary Composition Studies: A Guide to Theorists and Terms. Greenwood, 1999)In reader-based prose, meaning is clearly specified: concepts are well articulated, referents are unambiguous, and relations among concepts are presented with some logical organization. The result is an autonomous text (Olson, 1977) that adequately imparts its meaning to the reader without relying on unstated knowledge or external context.(C.A. Perfetti and D. McCutchen, Schooled Language Competence. Advances in Applied Linguistics: Reading, Writing, and Language Learning, ed. by Sheldon Rosenberg. Cambridge University Press, 1987)Since the 1980s, [Linda] Flower and [John R.] Hayess cognitive-process research has influenced professional-communication textbooks, in which narrative is viewed as distinct from more complex types of thinking and writingsuch as arguing or analyzingand narrative continues to be situated as the developmental starting point.(Jane Perkins and Nancy Roundy Blyler, Introduction: Taking a Narrative Turn in Professional Communication. Narrative and Professional Communication. Greenwood, 1999) Linda Flower has argued that the difficulty inexperienced writers have with writing can be understood as a difficulty in negotiating the transition between writer-based and reader-based prose. Expert writers, in other words, can better imagine how a reader will respond to a text and can transform or restructure what they have to say around a goal shared with a reader. Teaching students to revise for readers, then, will better prepare them to write initially with a reader in mind. The success of this pedagogy depends upon the degree to which a writer can imagine and conform to a readers goals. The difficulty of this act of imagination, and the burden of such conformity, are so much at the heart of the problem that a teacher must pause and take stock before offering revision as a solution.(David Bartholomae, Inventing the University. Perspectives on Literacy, ed. by Eugene R. Kintgen, Barry M. Kroll, and Mike Rose. Southern Illinois University Press, 1988)

A Group of Baboons Is Not a Congress

A Group of Baboons Is Not a Congress A popular meme contains a picture with several baboons playing in the snow captioned: Did you know that a large group of baboons is called a Congress? As the meme goes on to explain: We are all familiar with a herd of cows, a flock of chickens, a school of fish and a gaggle of geese. However, less widely known is a pride of lions, a murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an exaltation of doves and, presumably because they look so wise, a parliament of owls. Now consider a group of baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? Believe it or not ... a Congress! I guess that pretty much explains the things that come out of Washington! The meme does explain one thing: The person who posted or sent it does not know what a large group of baboons is called. It’s a ‘Troop’ National Geographic says, baboons form large troops, composed of dozens or even hundreds of baboons, governed by a complex hierarchy that fascinates scientists. According to the Oxford Dictionaries list of proper terms for groups of things, organized gatherings of kangaroos, monkeys, and baboons are all called â€Å"troops,† while the only group called a â€Å"congress† is Congress.   An Expert Weighs In In an email to PolitiFact, Shirley Strum, director of the University of Californias Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project in Nairobi, Kenya, agreed that a group of baboons is known as a â€Å"troop.† â€Å"I have never heard the term congress used for a group of baboons! she wrote, adding, I would prefer to be governed by baboons than the current Congress! They are more socially committed, abide by the golden rule and are generally nicer people. Baboons are socially sophisticated and incredibly smart and among primates, no species is as dangerous as humans. Only baboons who have been spoiled by humans feeding them are dangerous and are never as aggressive as humans. The Point The point the meme is trying to make is that the U.S. Congress has pretty much degenerated into a largely ineffectual collection of lifetime professional politicians, typically  trusted by only 10% of the American people, that spends more time arguing, running for re-election and on vacation than it does tending to its real job of carrying out the legislative process in a way that helps Americans happily pursue life and liberty.   In 1970, for example, the troop called Congress passed its very own Legislative Reorganization Act, which among other things â€Å"required† both the House of Representatives and the Senate to take the entire month of August off every year unless a â€Å"state of war† or â€Å"emergency† exists at the time. The last time Congress decided to take a break from its break was in the summer of 2005 when lawmakers returned to Washington just long enough to pass legislation authorizing aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina. But the fact remains that a gathering of baboons is not a congress.