Linda Flower (born March 3, 1944, in Wichita) is a composition theorist. She is best known for her emphasis on

cognitive rhetoric Cognitive rhetoric refers to an approach to rhetoric, composition, and pedagogy as well as a method for language and literary studies drawing from, or contributing to, cognitive science. History Following the cognitive revolution, cognitive ling ...

, but has more recently published in the field of

service learning Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs. Service-learning involves students in service proje ...

. Flower currently serves Carnegie Mellon University as a professor of rhetoric.

Biography

Flower graduated with a doctorate degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. Her dissertation was on Charles Dickens. Teaching professional writing to business students at Carnegie Mellon University inspired Flower to study more about

problem-solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

. While studying linguistics, rhetoric, and psycholinguistics, Flower connected with John Richard Hayes, a cognitive psychologist also working at Carnegie Mellon. Flower and Hayes became frequent collaborators. They used think-aloud protocols to learn more about how writers problem-solve during writing tasks. Together, they developed a cognitive model of the writing process. This model prompted discussions of cognitive rhetoric and its role with social constructivism and meaning making processes, including critiques from

Patricia Bizzell Patricia Bizzell, Ph.D. is a Professor of English, emerita, and former Chairperson of the English Department at College of the Holy Cross, United States, where she taught from 1978 to 2019. She founded and directed the Writer's Workshop, a peer tu ...

and

Martin Nystrand Martin Nystrand (born December 28, 1943) is an American composition and education theorist. He is Louise Durham Mead Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Professor Emeritus of Education at the ...

. Flower went on to serve in multiple roles promoting the study of writing. She served as co-director of the Center for the Study of Writing at the Carnegie Mellon. She also served on the Making Thinking Visible Project and developed Pittsburgh's Community Literacy Center.

Works

Independent works

*"Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing" ''College English'', Vol. 41, No. 1. (September 1979), pp. 19–37. *"The Construction of Purpose in Writing and Reading" ''College English'', Vol. 50, No. 5. (September 1988), pp. 528–550. *"Cognition, Context, and Theory Building" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 40, No. 3. (October 1989), pp. 282–311. *"Intercultural Inquiry and the Transformation of Service" ''College English'', Vol. 65, No. 2. (November 2002), pp. 181–201. *''Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing'' * ''The Construction of Negotiated Meaning: A Social Cognitive Theory of Writing'' * ''Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement'' (2008)

Collaborative works

*Linda S. Flower; John R. Hayes. "Problem-Solving Strategies and the Writing Process" ''College English'', Vol. 39, No. 4, Stimulating Invention in Composition Courses. (December 1977), pp. 449–461. *Linda Flower; John R. Hayes. "The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 31, No. 1. (February 1980), pp. 21–32. *Linda Flower; John R. Hayes. "A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 32, No. 4. (December 1981), pp. 365–387. *Irvin Y. Hashimoto; Linda S. Flower. "Bait/Rebait: Teachers Should not Spend Class Time Teaching Students How to Understand Their Audience" ''The English Journal'', Vol. 72, No. 1. (January 1983), pp. 14–17. *Linda Flower; John R. Hayes; Linda Carey; Karen Schriver; James Stratman. "Detection, Diagnosis, and the Strategies of Revision" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 37, No. 1. (February 1986), pp. 16–55. *Christina Haas; Linda Flower. "Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 39, No. 2. (May 1988), pp. 167–183. *"Karen Scriven; Linda Flower; John Schilb. "Three Comments on 'Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class' and 'Problem Solving Reconsidered'" ''College English'', Vol. 51, No. 7. (November 1989), pp. 764–770. *Linda Flower; Victoria Stein; John Ackerman; Margaret J. Kantz; Kathleen McCormick; Wayne C. Peck. ''Reading-to-Write: Exploring a Cognitive and Social Process'' (1990), New York: Oxford University Press *Wayne Campbell Peck; Linda Flower; Lorraine Higgins. "Community Literacy" ''College Composition and Communication'', Vol. 46, No. 2. (May 1995), pp. 199–222. *Kathleen McCormick; Gary Waller; Linda Flower. ''Reading Texts: Reading, Responding, Writing''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower, Linda Carnegie Mellon University faculty Rhetoric theorists Composition (language) 1944 births Living people American women academics 21st-century American women