Linda Flower (born March 3, 1944, in Wichita) is a composition theorist. She is best known for her emphasis on cognitive rhetoric, but has more recently published in the field of service learning.[1] Flower currently serves Carnegie Mellon University as a professor of rhetoric.[1]
Flower graduated with a doctorate degree from Rutgers University.[1] Her dissertation was on Charles Dickens.[2] Teaching professional writing to business students at Carnegie Mellon University inspired Flower to study more about problem-solving.[2][3] While studying linguistics, rhetoric, and psycholinguistics, Flower connected with John Richard Hayes, a cognitive psychologist also working at Carnegie Mellon.[2][3] Flower and Hayes became frequent collaborators. They used think-aloud protocols to learn more about how writers problem-solve during writing tasks.[4][3] Together, they developed a cognitive model of the writing process.[5] This model prompted discussions of cognitive rhetoric and its role with social constructivism and meaning making processes, including critiques from Patricia Bizzell and Martin Nystrand.[6][7][8]
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.[1] She also served on the Making Thinking Visible Project and developed Pittsburgh's Community Literacy Center.[3][1]
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
Heller, Carol (1991). "An Interview with Linda Flower" (PDF). The Quarterly of the National Writing Project and Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy. 13 (1): 3–5, 28–30.
Nystrand, Martin (1982). What writers know: the language, process, and structure of written discourse. Academic Press.
Hayes, John R. (2017-10-30), Portanova, Patricia; Rifenburg, J. Michael; Roen, Duane (eds.), "Foreword. Are Cognitive Studies in Writing Really Pass?", Contemporary Perspectives on Cognition and Writing, The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado, pp. vii–xv, doi:10.37514/per-b.2017.0032.1.2, ISBN 978-1-64215-003-2, retrieved 2022-08-10