Reflection and revision are the result of knowledge, experience, and the willingness to risk; they are essential, says Wilhelm, to "play[ing] out the big possibilities" in "something as complex and intensely human as teaching." Even as a contributor to the national standards project, various literature anthologies, and reading and composition…

Notes that George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is frequently encountered in textbooks that ignore the existence of the original audience. Argues that textbook editors thereby misinform students by failing to show how writers recognize and write to particular audiences, and how writers' specific audiences determine many of the authors'…

A writing instructor, who informally surveyed 11 current essay anthologies to determine why such anthologies discourage students from reading and writing, suggests problems relating to three aspects of physical design. First, many anthologies alienate composition students by their distinctive textbook-styled covers. These covers do not suggest…