Suggests several short, manageable activities for teaching writing, such as writing cereal box copy, characterizations, test items, and obituaries. (JL)

Ponders plagiarism. Proposes a "personnoting page," a place where students acknowledge everyone who helped them as a way of avoiding plagiarism. (JL)

This book intervenes in current debates about the future of English studies as business interests reach deeper into the domains of higher education. By recognizing that economic pressures keenly manifest themselves in curricula, the essays in the book explore possibilities for curricular reform in English to serve the interests of students,…

Intended for teachers at all levels, but especially the junior high and high school levels, this book offers a rationale and practical ideas for teaching grammar not in isolation but in the context of writing. Chapters in the book are: (1) Grammar and the Teaching of Grammar: An Introduction; (2) Teaching Grammar: Reasons for, Evidence Against;…

Designed for instruction in letter writing for secondary English classes, this article suggests that students write for free items. (DF)

Guides to assist students in evaluating and revising or rewriting their written works are presented and discussed. (HTH)

Discusses film-oriented writing classes as a way of expanding student vocabularies and illustrating such literary devices as metaphor, irony, and imagery. Offers guidelines for writing instructors wishing to add films to a course plan, using "King Kong,""The Godfather," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as examples. (DMM)

Presents a humorous technique for teaching students about apostrophes. (FL)

Relates one teacher's experiences while teaching literature and composition to prison inmates. (HOD)

Offers advice and techniques for poetry writing in high school English classes. (RL)

Presents four brief suggestions regarding methods for teaching poetry writing, descriptive writing, and vocabulary. (TJ)

Addressing the possibility of making positive change in education, this book explores the way that American pragmatism and the rhetoric of North American romanticism work together to create a method for restoring hope to composition and English teachers and responsiveness to the systems they work within. What the book calls…

Describes a teaching method in which high school sophomores (1) read A. Munro's "Connection," a short story connecting the author to her family origins; (2) interview relatives about their personal history; and (3) compose vignettes based on the notes collected during a three-week period. Provides numerous questions and prompts used to help the…

Describes a lesson designed to lead students to explore the language structure of the language rather than merely memorize grammatical rules. (FL)

Offers advice to sufferers of "textbookitis:" (1) writing textbooks are not necessary for high school classes; (2) the best language textbook is a dictionary--money not spent on a writing textbook could be spent on sets of dictionaries; and (3) literature anthologies can be useful additions to the writing classroom. (RL)