A study explored the notion of writing as a sociocultural act in order to discover whether and how native cultural literacy and literary influences manifest themselves rhetorically and stylistically. Data were collected from 223 students in Australian grades 6 through 11, and representing three linguistic and cultural groups: Vietnamese, Arabic-speaking Lebanese, and native English speaking (NS). Each subject wrote a simple narrative bedtime story which was rated using a holistic/analytic evaluation scheme, and rhetorical and stylistic patterns. The results indicated the following: (1) stories from all three groups contain attributes of settings, character, and action, although the manner in which these are presented differs; (2) the groups place different emphases on action and event, with the Vietnamese students appearing more concerned with presenting context for their stories than did the other groups; (3) when a plot is present, the stories show characteristic beginnings and happy endings; (4) the Vietnamese prefer including the events which bring about the telling of the story in the first place; (5) the Arabic students prefer using more detailed description than the other two groups, and (6) the native speaking subjects in both grades showed the same pattern for storytelling--little introductory detail, little digression to attributes of characters or setting, little evidence of reflection on action, and a clear forward movement as the sequence of events occurs. (Tables of data are included and a 50-item reference list is appended.) (HTH)