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 an approach for teaching "The Diary of Anne Frank" to secondary school students, focusing on historical and emotional preparation, and writing prompts for the play. (MM)

It is possible to reconcile two supposedly warring viewpoints toward composition pedagogy: that writers know what they want to say before they begin writing (a viewpoint that stresses the communicative function of writing), and that writers discover what they have to say in the act of saying it (a viewpoint that focuses on the heuristic value of…

Suggests teaching characterization in literature classes by having students write an advertisement similar to the Dewar's scotch advertisement, based on each of the characters in the novel "Ordinary People." Examples are included. (HTH)

Deals with teaching a Walt Whitman unit in a high school American literature course. Discusses ways of making the poet's work relevant to the current generation of students. (RBW)

Discusses well-written, moving children's stories that can be used to promote children's writing. (RL)

Suggests giving literature/composition students a set of declarative statements that enable them to define a thematic statement and then write a focused, fully developed analytical essay. Includes such declarative statements from the novel "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" by Anne Tyler. (HTH)

Notes how important it is that any critical writing assignments should take into account the individual reading, and that the teacher's role is to steer discussion that stems from a class of individual readings. Explores some of the aspects of Jane Austen's novel "Emma" to which students readily respond. (HTH)

Describes a unit in which gothic novels are first read and then used by students as models for the writing of an entire "gothic" novel of their own. (JL)

A method of second-language instruction that acknowledges and reinforces the connection between ordinary and artistic uses of language is discussed. The theory, rationale, methods, and some sample activities for the approach are outlined. (MSE)

Suggests a prewriting exercise in characterization using the legend genre as framework. (HTH)

A poet-in-residence discusses some of his teaching techniques for exposing students to a variety of poetry. (MM)

Shares some approaches and suggests poems that can be used to inspire discussion and creative writing in bilingual classes. (RL)

Proposes the newspaper as a source of plots, characters, and motivations that can be used by students for short story material. (FL)

Shows how the regular reading and discussion of rich literary passages builds a respect and interest among students for imagery. Describes a series of classroom exercises designed to build imagery writing skills. (TB)