Compares J. Agee's film reviews for "Time" and "The Nation," concluding he assumed a more knowledgeable, sophisticated audience in readers of "The Nation." Analyzes content, style, and structure of reviews, showing loose structure, deductive reasoning, and rambling style in "Nation" reviews, and coherent,…

Argues for using the metaphor of the contract as a principal strategy for teaching students how to craft introductions. (SR)

Describes method in which students write a draft requiring some writing skill before learning about that skill. Concludes that predrafting (1) enforces first-drafting; (2) shows students their natural writing abilities; (3) emphasizes discovery of substance first, rules and form second; (4) promotes an active student role; (5) arranges learning in…

Offers an approach to using film as an object of analysis for writing classes having no previous knowledge of film terms and techniques. Provides 19 study questions to stimulate identification and a description of a director's techniques to facilitate an interpretation of what the film means. (JG)

Describes and compares the major approaches to organizing a writing course, classifying them under the following four terms: traditional modes, process, epistemic, and stylistic. Discusses the basic tenets of each teaching philosophy, suggests appropriate textbooks, and identifies various ways of implementing these approaches in the classroom. (JG)

Arguing that writing must be a construction of reality and a discovery of meaning, proposes a role for the writing teacher analogous to the facilitating relationship of professional writers and their editors. Identifies three principles for the teacher as editor: (1) do not give assignments, (2) do not give grades, and (3) ask writers to talk…

Notes that, although linguistics has had little influence on composition pedagogy, the study of functional grammar or linguistic performance (how language is actually used) is of direct value to composition theory. Offers an extended discussion of a functional approach to punctuation instruction, and proposes a functional approach in other areas…

Describes an in-house writing workshop for mid-level managers, including course design, writing samples (original drafts and revisions), analyses of samples and revisions, and an analysis of a post-workshop survey. Argues that this approach should be used in college composition courses. (MM)

Presents a continuum of composition teaching methods ranging from whole-to-part approaches (stressing free writing and developing voice) to part-to-whole approaches (stressing spelling, vocabulary, and usage). Recounts an evaluation of these methods by preservice teachers who favored the part-to-whole approaches. (JG)

Presents an assignment sequence, based on James Moffett's sequence of narrative types, designed to teach the various points of view most often used by authors. Provides instructions, including names of model texts for students to write pieces imitating such narrative techniques as interior monologue, correspondence, dramatic monologue, diary,…

Introduces three terms--synapsis, synesthesia, and synergy--applied to writing instruction as heuristic concepts. Describes classroom exercises, such as removing transitions from an essay and asking students to restore synaptic life to the paragraphs, viewing painting masterpieces to find analogous aesthetic concepts in written composition, and…

Suggests ways to improve publications writing by alleviating time constraints on advisors and taking advantage of the skills of the publications staff, faculty, and other students. Suggests: (1) building on already gained writing experience; (2) selecting models and posting them for students; and (3) using a formula sheet for gathering…

Argues that writing assignments should (1) specify audience, purpose, and topic, (2) define rhetorical problems, (3) incorporate stages of the composing process, (4) provide timely feedback to avoid cognitive overload, and (5) follow some developmental sequence. Describes several assignments based on letter writing. (JG)

Discusses the heuristic role of yes-no questions in college composition and provides two such methods for brainstorming and focusing. Presents a binary graph device ("Matrix") that correlates subjects and concerns to generate yes-no questions. Also presents a flow-chart model structuring information in the question-evidence-resolution pattern. (JG)

Describes a teaching technique that capitalizes on the individual meanings a piece of literature can have for different students. Explains how it encourages students to concentrate first on facts that they notice in a text and in the inferences they make based on those facts. (FL)