Political science faculty have access to a wealth of innovative pedagogies thanks to a comprehensive literature on teaching and learning in the discipline and related fields. Yet, from among the hundreds of documented possibilities, how does one go about deciding which to incorporate into a given course? Few articles have much to say in response…

During the fourth year of Amy Phillips' teaching assistantship in the spring semester of 2008, she was asked to teach a 300-level advanced writing course in which she was given the creative freedom to design the syllabus, choose the textbooks, craft all assignments, and organize the course content. However, there was one stipulation: the course,…

Recent scholarship in rhetoric and composition has come to identify the English teaching assistant preparation seminar as a polemic site. In general, the seminar exists for the purpose of preparing graduate students to teach first-year composition. The fuel igniting this research lies with the teaching assistants and their educators who have…

The 1,175 composition topics that appear in this special edition of the "Illinois English Bulletin" are suggested as possibilities for high school student writing assignments. After a brief statement about how secondary English teachers might use the topics in their classes, the topics are categorized by subject matter and types of composition.…

Asks what can an advanced composition course offer its students that is both new and valuable to all of them despite the diversity of students' fields and career goals? Argues that job-related writing requires special attention to audience. Suggests ways to organize course content to develop audience awareness. (JG)

Rhetoric, the persuasive use of language to influence public thought and action, is experienced in advertising, and advertising can be used as a medium for teaching rhetoric. Advertising demonstrates both admirable and creative use of English and despicable corruption of both language and thought. Both aspects can be employed in teaching…

Discusses style-developing assignments in which students simulate the characteristic features of a distinctive manner of speaking. Suggests using impersonation as an invention strategy (e.g., by adopting a controversial persona position), and to encourage stylistic fluency through parodies, dialogues, or polyphonic essays. Also suggests using…

Describes a writing project, based on the reader's guide, that helps students get an overview of the literature on a psychology topic. Highlights the five components of the reader's guide (content outline, theorists and contributors, central concepts, hot topics, and major resources). Addresses the role of the assignment and student reactions.…

This article describes the increasing pressures on those who teach graduate seminars in composition pedagogy to cover a broad range of texts, topics, and techniques. It argues that in response, pedagogy instructors may need to deliberately (re)design their courses in order to continue to help new writing instructors engage in inquiry and…

Beginning with the premise that writing cannot be separated from the subject written about, composition teachers should address themselves to what their students are learning in the process of writing. Some writing courses introduce students to great books but those books are usually written only by white men. Others open students to multicultural…

As the semester progresses, students in an autobiographical writing class at Slippery Rock University (Pennsylvania) develop a new awareness of themselves and their own places in a larger universe as well as an appreciation of themselves as writers. Language theory supports what the instructor observes in her students' writing development. A…

Describes a research paper project for high school students that requires them to incorporate source information into a conversational letter. Builds topic around an imaginary class reunion aboard an ocean liner. Notes that the students internalize the assignment, find a practical reason for using reference books, and actually enjoy the research.…

Describes a writing assignment in which students collected oral histories from Vietnam veterans in their community, edited the transcripts of their interviews, prepared manuscripts for a booklet of ten interviews, and composed cover letters for the final product. Notes positive effects of both the revision work and the primary research. (JG)

Provides suggestions for creating a writing-intensive course. Focuses on meeting course goals or objectives with student writing, describing the different types of writing assignments and discussing the mixture of assignments, amount of writing, and ensuring success. Includes a syllabus for a writing-intensive undergraduate sociology course. (CMK)