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Describes how struggle and conflict are constructive for writers. Examines why this view of conflict had rhetorical power historically for theorists. Explores how and why this view persists among basic writing teachers in the 1990s. (HB)

Argues that Mina Shaughnessy's view of language as a politically innocent vehicle of meaning overlooks basic writers' need to confront the dissonance they experience between academic and other discourses. Suggests educators need to abandon the limitations of the essentialist view of language informing their pedagogy. (KEH)

Relates the author's reflections on her early experiences as a student in China and her recent experiences as a composition teacher in the United States. Reveals how the frustration and confusion the author experienced growing up caught between two conflicting worlds ultimately helped her to grow as a reader and writer. (JD)

Min-Zhan Lu's reactions to comments on her article 'Conflict, Struggle and the Legacy of Mina Shaughnessy' show an inaccurate and distorted use of language. Her efforts to promote the academic study of conflict as a basis for many disciplines fail to recognize the diversity of the current student body and the dangers of polarization. Schools are already trying to integrate ideas and viewpoints they once considered outside their domain.