This report describes the development of grade norms for timed-writing performance in two modes of writing: persuasive and descriptive. These norms are based on objective and automatically computed measures of writing quality in grammar, usage, mechanics, style, vocabulary, organization, and development. These measures are also used in the…

Differences between reporting and classificatory functions in writing were examined in the responses of grade 10 and grade 12 students: 60 who were successful English students, and 60 on the borderline of passing in each of the grades. The reporting tasks required students to write compositions describing their first day in a high school or some…

The purposes of this unit are to help the 12th-grade student understand that language can be used to evoke an experience, to enrich his perception of the evocative language of literature, and to demonstrate that evocation is not limited to either language or literature. The unit begins with a study of the evocative language in a radio announcer's…