The religious influence on Kinneavy is of particular interest for me, for Catholicism also made a heavy impression on Walter Ong, the subject of my presentation. We see this with Elbow as well. In a way these authors seemed to look at composition as a spiritual act. Might the anxiety Kinneavy felt towards the transgressive aspects of literature be a result of his conservative social values?
It seems that Kinneavy, at least to some degree, deserves the acknowledgement he receives for his contributions to the field of composition and rhetoric. His ideas may be challenged, just as any other scholar, but the impact he made in helping to solidify a place for rhetoric in the college educational system is significant. I would like to read more of his work; the excerpts which Klayton provided for us were very intriguing. I’d like to find out more specifically about how his ideas in A Theory of Discourse have been used in composition instruction. Also, how and why did he have such a big impact on the standardized testing movement? To me this seems counteractive to the progress he was making in other areas of composition and rhetoric. His consideration of the implications of technology on composition is very important too. He was able to acknowledge the tremendous impact that technology has on language and communication.
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Wow, Eric, what an interesting thought. As a lifelong Catholic and a person with 25 years of Catholic churchwork behind her, I can say that looking for the architecture behind the mystery is a very Catholic pursuit. Makes sense when you consider that Catholics are part of a monolithic and ancient institution that often seeks the "formula" for salvation. Kinneavy probably had a very institutional view of things, and a firm belief in God's hand at work. This perspective tends to attribute human values and motives to the Divine, and usually is uncomfortable with mysticism. It occurs to me (about Kinneavy's model) that a 2-dimensional drawing and some words are probably inadequate to express an idea that might be bigger than language is. That is no different than the inadequacy of language in the task to describing God.
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