The writing process has helped define students as autonomous writers within the composition classroom. Yet, our writing identities are not stable and shift throughout the writing process. I argue that composition instructors should enhance students' awareness to their own dynamic, writing subjectivities through a more expansive view of rhetorical…

This article presents the rationale for and implementation of the family message journal as a writing tool. The family message journal provides multiple opportunities for students to develop as writers while strengthening the school-home connection. This article provides examples of rhetorical moves that indicate young writers are aware of their…

Quickwriting, a method for teaching writing to second language learners, features concentrating on content; not worrying about form; and writing without stopping. The process has the key advantage of aiding invention by separating the creating process from the editing process. Other advantages and some disadvantages of this method are discussed.…

Argues the relative merits of using in-process and retrospective journals, during and after the writing process, to empower students to explore and use their own ways of constructing knowledge to make connections as they write. (KEH)

Offers a sequence of writing assignments that provide experience for managerial communication students who must learn to organize thoughts and data efficiently to present information in a professional manner. Focuses on understanding context, developing points, analyzing texts, and creating an authoritative, committed voice. (KEH)

Imitation of organizational and sentence patterns is an ancient technique for teaching rhetoric, but to be effective, imitation must be informed, deliberate, and creative. Students must first learn to recognize the characteristics of a given style and then to appreciate the connection between specific stylistic qualities and their cumulative…

Rhetoric and mathematics have much in common that can help explain the composing process. Common elements of rhetoric and mathematics important to the teaching of writing are (1) relationships between syntax and semantics, (2) practices of representation, and (3) focus on problem solving. Recent emphasis on "repair processes" in mathematics is…

In the area of composition, computer assisted instruction (CAI) must move beyond the limited concerns of the current-traditional rhetoric to address the larger issues of writing, become process-centered, and involve active writing rather than answering multiple-choice questions. Researchers cite four major types of interactive CAI, the last of…

Teaching invention strategies on the computer offers solutions to the problems of selection and presence by providing a variety of invention strategy alternatives. These strategies inform the teacher of the rhetorical task at hand and allow communication to exist at all stages of writing. A writer using a computer and a pool of heuristic…

Explains that rhetorical invention can be viewed as an invitation to openness, whereas structure can be a closure. Describes a writing instruction method in which students write replies to the instructor's weekly letters, providing a genuine need that must be genuinely answered. Argues that rhetoric can enhance and enrich life. (SG)

Advocates an adaptation of Raymond Geuss's critical methodology to help students become critical theorists in the composition classroom. (MM)

Most freshman composition textbooks promote one discourse structure, usually stressing early placement of the points of an essay. This can lock rapidly changing writers into composing according to only one format. In addition, adhering to a prescribed structure rather than focusing on meaning too often causes structure--not meaning--to control the…

A protocol study investigated whether computer tutors (programs that interactively guide writers while they freewrite with a word processing program) promote or hinder a richer understanding of the composing process. The analysis focused on writers' attitudes toward computer tutors in the invention process. Data were collected by tape recording a…

Distinguishes between using microcomputers for wordprocessing, drills, and repetitive tasks in mechanics and vocabulary and using them for alternative methods of presenting, reviewing, and testing course materials. Argues software for computer assisted writing instruction should address significant writing problems, approach writing from a true…

Arguing that practice without theory is destructive, this books deals with the theory, philosophy, and application of a variety of subjects within the area of composition. The nine chapters of the first section of the book constitute a state-of-the-art essay and discuss such topics as J. Emig's 1971 study of the composing process and the more…