Describes in diary form the transition from being a lawyer to becoming an English teacher. Discusses volunteer teaching, serving on the school board, student teaching, teacher models, and the first year of teaching. (EL)

Offers three explanations drawn from language and literature theories about what happens when people read: (1) receiving sense, (2) finding sense, and (3) making sense. (EL)

Describes the reaction to his "English Journal" article on gay teens. Discusses loss of job, invitations to give speeches, requests for interviews, and the response of individuals and the administration at the community college where he teaches part time. (EL)

A noted author of Westerns answers questions about how he got started, why he is still writing, what problems he has had in writing, what his needs and problems are as a writer, and where he is going with his writing. (EL)

Uses the film version of Bernard Malamud's "The Natural" to show how archetypes and irony make their appeal to a serious audience without in any way making the film less entertaining. (EL)

Illustrates how the punchline finds the flaw in the system, but the system remains operable. (EL)

Lists writing exercises based on observations students can make in a shopping mall. Notes that the exercises are intended to become a springboard for study, description, conjecture, evidence, example, and innovation, and can be combined, expanded, or shortened. (EL)

Discusses syntactic and stylistic errors in the language of advertising and the reason for these linguistic irregularities. Suggests ways of dealing with the problem. (EL)

Presents ideas on writing instruction for teachers of mathematics, physics, accounting, biology, and social studies. Contains guidelines for designing writing assignments in various content areas. (EL)

Humorously discusses the recent practice of rewriting plays so that the leading roles can be played by members of either sex and considers what might happen if poets and novelists follow suit. (EL)

Discusses the benefits of reading young adult novels. Remarks on their serious intent, careful craftmanship, effective expression, as well as their ability to illuminate the human condition and provide insights. (EL)

Discusses the issues of finding a current film acceptable to local standards and justifying it as literature. Gives teaching suggestions for dealing with the setting, characters, themes, ending scenes, and visual poetry using the films "Places in the Heart" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." (EL)

Describes the writing evaluation of an 11th-grade English class in which precourse and postcourse samples are graded by a team of English teachers. (EL)

Traces how the author inspired a popular poem. (JL)

Presents a set of "neutral" language guidelines as a way of pointing out the problems of using language guidelines in the first place. (JL)