English teachers, as well as teachers within other disciplines, often boil down abstract principles to easily explainable bullet points. Students often pick up and retain these points but fail to grasp the broader contexts that make them relevant. It is therefore sometimes helpful to revisit some of the more common of these "rules of thumb" to…

Describing the Harlem Riot of 1935, black author and poet Claude McKay wrote, "On Tuesday the crowds went crazy like the remnants of a defeated, abandoned, and hungry army. Their rioting was the gesture of despair of a bewildered, baffled, and disillusioned people". By nearly all accounts, the riot marks the historical end of the Harlem…

This article describes a research project in which William "Bill" Thelin, who directs the writing program at the University of Akron, was looking to uncover student reaction to English courses in which the professor carried through with a political agenda. Through the participant-observation method, Bill hoped to glean information that…

Even a quick tour through the professional literature of composition and rhetoric reveals that the profession has failed to bring about any real change in first-year college composition. The truth is that today the political and material conditions of first-year composition programs are not much different from that they were over a half century…

Students enrolled in composition classes may provide the answer to the dilemma of coming up with a writing topic: work--the "four letter word." Most, if not all, students have already become part of the labor force. The theme of "work" is naturally successful because it centers around a topic students know well, something that…

Examines the efficacy of main idea clues in four English composition texts, logging main idea statements, tallying main idea clues, and comparing results with those of a similar study of sociology texts. Concludes that main idea statements exist and are pointed to by clues as frequently in English composition texts as in sociology textbooks. (JG)

Intuition is a mode of thinking based more on sense and instinct than on logic and reason. It is somewhat suspect ability because it undermines our faith in reason and empirical research. But intuition can play a valid role in the design of the freshman composition curriculum. As a stereotypically feminine attribute, it complements current…

An instructor of freshman composition at Ohio University always teaches a section on music in her courses because freshmen jump at the chance to discuss a part of their youth culture that they readily identify with. The problem, however, has been how to incorporate rap music successfully into these discussions with a classroom full of white…

Contends that service learning--community service linked to academic courses--adds a valuable experiential dimension to composition classes. Describes service learning at Raritan Valley Community College where in composition it fits as an optional alternative for the research paper assignment that is the culminating course project. Discusses how…

Considers how including the study of poetry in freshman composition, particularly contemporary poetry with no critical history, sometimes leads to a dilemma. Suggests that because of the diversity of freshman and the nature of poetry itself, they need less specialized instruction, which requires the tangle of trying to teach analytical terms while…

Describes an assignment that bridges the gap between research on disciplinary discourse and the curricular goals of a first-year composition course, which, in this case, was linked with a section of first-year history. (TB)

Presents a 151-item annotated bibliography of writing textbooks appearing in the 1989-90 academic year. Includes developmental and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) texts; freshman writing texts; and advanced writing texts. (RS)

Argues that composition theory and classroom practice demonstrate that validating oral discourse during the composing process is a necessary, effective, and theoretically justifiable means of transforming experienced speakers into experienced writers. (RS)

One teacher devotes a portion of the college freshman composition course to an archetypal approach to literature, presenting students with basic story elements (archetypal patterns and characters) in myth and literature to which they can relate their own lives. Students create puppets and puppet plays in highly imaginative and entertaining ways.…

Discusses problematic elements in the theoretical correspondence between composition teaching and psychoanalysis. Goes on to explore ways psychoanalysis can illuminate teaching and help composition teachers do their work. (JAD)