Careful use of analogy can create interesting and sharp writing. Some of the problems are that an analogy imposes an attitude, there must be a counterpart, details may or may not correspond point-for-point, and an analogy starts in difference and is then brought into the realm of likeness. (TJ)

Describes using the beginning of a Western story in a story completion exercise to stimulate writing. (TJ)

Describes an activity in which students must invent graffiti that might have been written by one of the characters studied in the class's literature assignments. (HTH)

Describes a teaching game for bibliographic formatting that emphasizes the importance of noting author, title, and publication information precisely while using accurate formatting and punctuation. (HTH)

Suggests writing exercises which involve composing the solution to a mystery. (JM)

Emphasizes classroom study of poetic patterns and images to enable students to see how poems work without overwhelming them with terminology. (MS)

Describes an assignment in which students are taught to develop poetry using the ideas and words found in newspaper or magazine stories. Includes model poems. (HTH)

Describes a method for encouraging students to develop a reflective/exploratory essay. Students are asked to freewrite or brainstorm on several famous quotations, exploring the disparity between the appearance and the reality. Students then write essays on some of the ideas conveyed by one of the quotes. (HTH)

Describes several activities for generating writing ideas and writing assignments to capitalize on those activities. Assignments include recording the experience, describing a reaction to the experience, or forming a generalization based on the experience or a principle formalized as the result of the activity. (HTH)

Presents seven writing exercises designed to (1) convince students they have something to say, (2) produce work that students enjoy writing, (3) demonstrate that good writing does not have to be dull, and (4) help acquaint students with their own ability to use various personnae. (FL)

Describes a project in which students write research papers about a chosen career. Explains that the project is successful because the students view it as a practical exercise. (FL)

Presents a writing exercise which involves students in their own and their peers' writing. Claims validity in that it personifies one of the most persistent blocks to expression--the inner critic which causes the writer to reject too soon and discriminate too severely. (RAE)

Describes an assignment in which students sharpen their punctuation skills by arranging poems without punctuation in a prose form with appropriate punctuation. Suggests using the poetry of a fictional character from Don Marqui's "archy and mehitabel." (TB)

Offers a nonverbal prewriting strategy, writer-based sketches, intended to help students turn their thoughts into words. (MS)

Describes a meditation assignment as a way for students to find connections between two levels of experience, the reader's level of transaction with the text and the level of the reader's own life. Leads students from close analysis to holistic consideration, and finally to philosophical implications. (MS)