ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical overview of the discipline that is now known as Writing Studies. It begins by reviewing what is often referred to as the “process movement” and explains several competing views or theories of composing. In the history of post-secondary education in the United States, it is only recently that serious consideration has been given to writing. As writing became more important, the task of teaching writing was assumed by various educational institutions. The writing classes developed were viewed as “a device for preparing a trained and disciplined workforce” and for assimilating “huge numbers of immigrants into cultural norms, defined in specifically Anglo-Protestant terms”. The saying “writing is a process” thus became a slogan for the enlightened and like all movements (or political parties), one can retrospectively note antecedent influences.
