An overlooked framework that allows for clearer understanding of effective teaching is the field of rhetoric. Although the concept has changed over time, Aristotle defines rhetoric as observing the available means of persuasion. These means include ethos, a speaker's credibility; pathos, appeal to emotions; and logos, appeal to reason or…

In order to become empowered and autonomous writers, students need to learn self-evaluation techniques to help them revise their writing instead of simply editing it. Basic writers and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writers especially need concrete aids that can guide them, at least in the initial stages of learning, to write in a mode in…

In the "real" world of writing, people make writing decisions based in part on their analyses of audience expectations and their own purposes. Yet, composition teachers at all levels assign general or abstract topics for essays rather than create writing tasks that require students to reflect on target audiences. Even students are aware…

Compiled by the Action for Children's Television (ACT) committee, this report (1) distills themes from the symposium "ACT on the Constitution" that was designed to bring educators and members of the television industry together to talk about programing opportunities for the 1987 Constitutional Bicentennial, and (2) includes related…

The two chief approaches to teaching argumentation and invention over the centuries have been first presenting a formal, abstract system, such as logic or topic, then emphasizing audience analysis. Sometimes these have been seen as alternatives, and sometimes as complements. Cursory attention is often paid to the ideal of investigating audience…

A series of three experiments obtained objective measures of skilled and unskilled writing that was prepared in response to a potentially hostile audience. The principal differences between the two groups of writers were that skilled writers were far more likely than unskilled writers to go beyond the narrow constraints of the task, to generate…

Outlines the common features of Theatre-In-Education (TIE), and suggests that TIE provides an integrated structure for the heightening of personal, social, cultural, and political consciousness through its commitment to perform and address topics such as sex stereotyping, racism, and child abuse. (MM)

Describes the interpretive elements of literary messages, participants, and interaction settings from a social contexts orientation. Presents a framework, rationale, and an implementation strategy for social contexts component in interpretation education. Claims that such programs help participants, through the sensitive communication of…

Explains how providing a general theme and a varied audience for writing helped improve student research papers. (FL)

Describes a week-long multidisciplinary program (in association with a theatre history survey course) called "Roman Holiday: Classical Comedy/Contemporary Commentary" which featured guest lectures; a student-directed production; a video screening; and the presentation of Hollywood films. Notes that the program addresses the disparity between the…

Discusses collaborative planning as a heuristic for dealing with the rhetorical elements often considered by experienced writers when they plan and prepare documents. Defines collaborative planning, identifies its benefits, discusses its implementation in upper-level business communication courses, and presents a series of examples of students…

Describes a course in which students were assigned to read magazine articles, label sections according to informative discourse types, mark cohesive ties and cue words, and pick out details. Reports that, by reviewing the articles, students gained an understanding of the "general audience" and of how to read their own writings more objectively.…

Wigginton's Foxfire program requires that students and teachers collaborate on important, intriguing issues and use certain experiential methods to address and assess them. Wigginton handed out copies of Georgia's 92 language arts objectives to his ninth and tenth graders and allowed them considerable flexibility in learning them. Cooperative…

Examines three assumptions evident in the practice of art criticism models: (1) the connection of first impressions with the viewer's past experience; (2) the connection between sequential procedures and learning; and (3) the use of judgment as a necessary step in understanding. Describes a new criticism model that stresses understanding and…

Rereading the history of basic writing can serve as a context for and a springboard to a reading of selected contemporary basic writing textbooks. For critical scrutiny, articles by Joseph Harris and David Bartholomae offer retellings of the history of basic writing, retellings that challenge the more "heroic" tellings that have become…