214 Faigley, Lester. A Critique and a Proposal. The expressive theory embodies a neoromantic view of process that invokes the ideas of integrity, spontaneity, and originality. Cognitive theory created a science consciousness in composition researchers. 215 Flower, Linda.
Literacy is a constructive process, an attempt to create meaning as part of social action.
Literacy is shaped by literate, social, and cultural practices of a community, but, at the same time, it is a personal attempt to communicate. The issues of positioning within a community, communicative intent, and mediating social practices overshadow the mechanical concerns usually associated with literacy. A social-cognitive view of literacy, which situates the individual within a social context, explains more of the diversity and complexity of literate action. To examine an individual's thinking within the context of literate action can reveal the underlying logic of literate performance. Other metaphors for meaning-making, such as reproduction and conversation, are too limited to account for the individual's engagement in the process.