Silvestro publishes article about ‘viral’ literature in Composition Forum

Feb. 2, 2024

John Silvestro, a Slippery Rock University associate professor of languages, literatures, cultures, and writing, recently wrote an article that was published in the Composition Forum titled “These Posts Would Circulate Because People Love Complaining;' Adjusting Composition Pedagogies in an Era of Virality.”

The article is about a study conducted during the 2018 and 2019 academic years, using surveys, interviews and data-driven textual analysis to study the credibility, value and cultural significance students place on literature that has “gone viral.” The results of the study found students place trust in literature with virality. Silvestro takes this information and goes on to propose several ways teachers can recognize and build upon students' thinking about and valuing of virality/circulation.

Composition Forum is a leading, peer-reviewed journal for the teaching of and theory behind writing courses.