Visions and Revisions Continuity and Change in Rhetoric and Composition Edited by James D. Williams   March 2002 ISBN 0-8093-2429-6, $27.00 paper 288 pages, 4 illus., 6 x 9 Rhetoric and Composition A history of contemporary rhetoric, Visions and Revisions: Continuity and Change in Rhetoric and Composition examines the discipline’s emergence and development from the rise of new rhetoric in the late 1960s through the present. Editor James D. Williams has assembled nine essays from leading scholars to trace the origins of new rhetoric and examine current applications of genre studies, the rhetoric of science, the rhetoric of information, and the influence of liberal democracy on rhetoric in society.   Given the field’s diversity, a historical sketch cannot adopt a single perspective.  Part one of Visions and Revisions therefore offers the detailed reminiscences of four pioneers in new rhetoric, while the essays in part two reflect on a variety of issues that have influenced (and continue to influence) current theory and practice. In light of the recent shift in focus of scholarly investigation toward theory, Williams’s collection contextualizes the underlying tension between theory and practice while stressing instruction of students as the most important dimension of rhetoric and composition today. Together, these chapters from some of the most influential scholars in the field provide a range of perspectives on the state of rhetoric and composition and illuminate the discipline’s development over the course of the last forty years.   “Within a relatively short period, from the early 1960s through the beginning of the millennium, we witnessed the emergence of the field; the influence of linguistics and psychology in shaping an empirical agenda; the waning of that influence as the field aligned itself more closely with the goals and objectives of traditional English departments; the shift toward postmodern perspectives on language, place, and self; and, more recently, a movement toward what might be called post-postmodern concerns. Visions and Revisions: Continuity and Change in Rhetoric and Composition examines continuity and change from several perspectives as it concerns the rise of new rhetoric and what followed.”—James D. Williams, from the Preface     James D. Williams is a professor of rhetoric and linguistics and the writing program director at Soka University. He is the author of The LEA Guide to Composition, The Teacher’s Grammar Book, Preparing to Teach Writing: Research, Theory, and Practice, The Interdisciplinary Reader, and Literacy and Bilingualism.    Contents and Contributors   James D. Williams, Introduction Richard Lloyd-Jones, “Omnivorous Study” W. Ross Winterowd, “Fragments of History, Personal and Institutional” Frank J. D’Angelo, “Looking for an Object of Study in the 1970s” John Warnock, “The Discipline and the Profession” Irene Clark, “Reconsideration of Genre” David Fleming, “The End of Composition-Rhetoric” James D. Williams, “Rhetoric and the Triumph of Liberal Democracy” Randy Allen Harris, “Knowing, Rhetoric, Science” George Hillocks, Jr., “Rhetoric in Classrooms”