Explores the physical characteristics of text and how they help the reader, suggesting that if teachers encouraged students to experiment with visible features of written texts, it would increase their ability to understand and use hierarchical and classificatory arrangements in their own writing. (HTH)

Describes the development of a freshman English program based on the analogy of film as composition and discusses implications of this program for other teachers of writing at a time when television and movies are giving unprecedented competition to the printed page for students' attention. (HTH)

Examines how a technical writing textbook defied its own writing prescription to use short concise sentences, noting that this and other such prescriptions oversimplify. (HTH)

Proposes as a follow-up to an article on controlled composition for basic writers a necessary bridge between strict copying and independent composing. (HTH)

Claims that computer programs are needed that operate on commonly available microcomputers and provide guidance in the generation and interrogation of a writer's ideas. Discusses Hugh Burns' program "TOPOI" as an example. Describes ways in which a computer and operator can interact. Criticizes those who view open-response software merely…

Argues that teachers can help bring writing-for-assessment and writing-as-process into closer interplay by helping students develop their overall writing skills and learn how to adapt them to timed situations. Claims that taking advantage of the latest composition research will help teachers do this. (JD)

Discusses the possibility that a writer's audience may be more malleable than it is normally assumed to be and describes how one researcher worked with several advanced college writers to learn more about the dynamics of their composing processes. Suggests that the use of these writing strategies may benefit both teachers and students. (JD)

Discusses the dangers of writing instruction that encourages "voice" (expressiveness of style) by capitalizing on the same kinds of fears that power evangelism. Claims this approach is not appropriate for all students, may cause problems when a piece is to be written by a committee, and may not be essential at all in factual, informative…

Describes a college composition course in which the class read and evaluated newspaper articles from the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" as it critically addressed the operations of subtexts, genres, target readers, and class interests. (JD)

Describes an historical narrative assignment that stimulates students' interest in questions of rhetoric and scholarship as it requires students to combine role-playing, research, and revision. Discusses how students' role as participant/persona in writing the story prompts an intricate multiplicity of decisions as it forces them to filter data…

Explores student and teacher behavior in writing instruction as the "underlife" (behaviors that undercut the roles expected of participants in a situation) of the current educational system. Suggests that the identities students develop in writing classrooms are more conducive to academic success than the traditional identity of the…

Examines reasons for discourse communities becoming a subject of writing research. Provides a brief example of the kind of analysis possible, focusing on the composing environments of two similar organizations. (AEW)

Examines one element of rhetorical history--the sorts of subjects teachers have assigned students and their change from objective, centripetal writing tasks to subjective, centrifugal tasks. Documents the historical evolution of rhetorical tradition. (AEW)

Focuses on two programs that anticipated current writing across the curriculum programs: the Functional Writing Program at Colgate (1949-1961) and the Prose Improvement Committee at the University of California at Berkeley (1950-1965). Discusses how both programs viewed writing as an activity to unify the intellectual community and link…

An interview with a well-known writer reveals how he writes and how he feels about the way writing is being taught. (FL)