"Voice" is no longer a hot term in composition journals. Yet it continues to deserve scholarly attention, in part because it is still often referred to in classrooms and seems applicable to new forms of electronic communication. At the same time, we should avoid taking an either/or stand on the usefulness of "voice" as a term. This is a case where…

Contract grading has achieved some prominence in our field as a practice associated with critical pedagogy. In this context we describe a hybrid grading contract where students earn a course grade of B based not on our evaluation of their writing quality but solely on their completion of the specified activities. The contract lists activities…

Writing is an effective way to teach and learn when compared to reading. The combination of reading and writing helps children to learn fast.

Explores the author's experiences with freewriting. Argues that freewriting has gradually given the author a profoundly different experience of and relationship to writing. Concludes that freewriting is at the root of the author's sense of his progress in writing. (RS)

Addresses the argument that private writing is not really private. Explores the role of empirical evidence. Offers arguments that acknowledge private writing as different from public or social writing. Discusses methods of researching private writing. (CR)

Considers the problems with ranking students' written work and some of the benefits of evaluating. Argues that teachers should do less ranking and more evaluation. Discusses the limits of evaluation. Asks teachers to foster a "liking" for their students' writing. (HB)

Describes the rationale and procedure for using student writing portfolios in lieu of proficiency writing exams to determine student placement at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. (HTH)

Discusses problems of collaborative writing. Introduces the "collage" as a teaching activity and lays out directions for its use. Suggests several methods for helping solo writers get comfortable collaborating with other writers and improve their solo writing. Attempts to make collaborative writing easier, more inviting, but more complex, and…

Presents an account of the authors' shared explorations and efforts to name some important variables or criteria that bear on the question of whether or not to invite students to write in a home dialect or language. Offers conclusions in the form of a list of 10 variables to consider. (SG)

Provides a complete text of Peter Elbow's speech on the debate with compositionist David Bartholomae regarding the pros and cons of teaching either academic discourse or personal writing modes to undergraduates. (HB)

Argues that reading has dominance over writing in the academy and that this imbalance is unnecessary. Explores the site of conflict between reading and writing. Suggests how to end this conflict and thereby create a more productive interaction between reading and writing. (HB)

Argues that grading and evaluation need not be as pervasive as they seem. Explores ways teachers can step outside grading: nongraded writing assignments, portfolios, and grading contracts. Explores how it is possible to go further and step outside the mentality of evaluation by using certain descriptive and analytic responses to student writing.…

"Voice" has become a dangerous term. It has tended to imply romanticism, expressionism, and individualism--dangerous things. There are, however, two safe or prudent thoughts that can be expressed about voice and writing and four dangerous or adventuresome thoughts. The first point is that the choice between the use of terms such as text…

Examines the cognitive processes associated with speech and writing. (HOD)

Both first-order creative, intuitive thinking and second-order critical thinking can and should be encouraged in writing instruction. The first helps generate ideas, and the second is useful in refining expression. The two kinds of thinking enhance different writing skills and can be mutually reinforcing. (MSE)