Offers a definition of explanatory text, and summarizes research on why abstract concepts and principles are difficult for lay readers to understand. Describes a three-week unit for composition classes on spotting difficult ideas, diagnosing the type of difficulty they pose, and selecting the text features most likely to make them less difficult.…

In teaching students to write extended definitions it is essential for writing instructors to teach students the concept of criteria. Without such a concept students will never be able to write effective definitions on their own. The criteria they establish for a particular definition allow them to judge which items support their positions on an…

Intended for writing teachers, from middle-elementary level through college, this booklet describes a teaching method that lets students write their own way into ideas, merging personal experience with intellectual thought in expository writing. The booklet first describes in greater detail the concept of writing to think as focused free…