This in-process report discusses the writing development of a student from first grade through mid-eighth grade. An analysis of the student's T-unit length averages from third grade to mid-eighth grade reveals a leap of syntactic complexity from the fifth to the sixth grade. Among the other findings are the following: two modes of…

High, middle, and low readers in kindergarten, second, and fourth grades participated in a study of inferential comprehension. The Jett-Simpson Classification System for Verbalized Inference was developed, its reliability was established, and children's open responses to a wordless picture book, "Frog Goes to Dinner," were analyzed using…

The ten selections in this journal were among papers presented at two scholarly meetings on research on film conducted at the Center for Twentieth Century Studies. The papers deal with the following topics: narrative patterns in "Only Angels Have Wings"; "King Kong" and the ideology of spectacle; introducing narratology to film students via…

Using formal devices of language (grammar and phonology) and sociolinguistic norms, the study looks closely at the way in which narrative competence is recognized within the Navajo peer group. Children used in the study analysis are 10- and 11-year old Navajo children attending a Catholic school on the eastern part of the Navajo reservation. The…

Basic writers can be taught to write effective expository prose if they are taught to revise, and they can make considerable progress if they are given opportunities to write narration before tackling the complexities of exposition. Narratives come easily to basic writers and allow them complete control over subject matter and language. The…

A structural analysis according to narrative rules and common content elements was made of stories on an identical theme in three different foreign language texts. The purpose of the analysis was to highlight some of the elements by which an educational institution influences its students through the world view it espouses. The three texts chosen…

This dissertation explores the storytelling abilities and story repertoire of children from a sixth-grade class in Gosport, Indiana. The history and present nature of Gosport are first examined, to indicate community and social influences on the children's story repertoire. The children's repertoire, presented in an annotated collection, includes…

Miguel de Cervantes' capture by the Turks and his imprisonment in Argel (Morocco) during the Battle of Lepanto in the sixteenth century have been studied by literary critics who have endeavored to determine fiction and reality in certain episodes of "Don Quijote" and in the drama, "Los banos de Argel". Twelve documents…

The purpose of this study guide is to provide students of anthropology with an ethnographic accompaniment to Robert Gardiner's film about the Dani tribesmen, "Dead Birds." The first section offers an ethnographic profile of Dani culture, describing its most important features. These include: 1) their material culture, covering matters…

A course presenting projects designed to foster invention and develop a sense of logical ordering is given. Performance objectives include: (1) The student will select ideas for development in an orderly manner; (2) The student will convey this message via an expository piece; (3) The student will select appropriate supportive elements to develop…

Analyzes radio program in which host Garrison Keillor fabricates fictional community of Lake Wobegon, thus addressing another fabricated community, the baby boomers. Concludes Keillor's persona moves from nostalgia and bitterness to acceptance of conditions of community, reflecting and encouraging a passive, uncritical approach toward community…

Communication breakdowns occurring in the speech of seven language learning-disabled children (aged 9-11) were examined in conversation and narration and compared to normal peers. Length of communication unit and rate of communication breakdowns per communication unit were greater in narration than conversation compared to controls. No differences…

Notes that although fiction writing is a somewhat problematic part of upper elementary/middle school writing, it is important for children to be able to compose good fiction. Suggests two methods to benefit young writers: (1) expose them to a wide range of good fiction, and (2) preserve their right to create personal fictions. (NH)

Presents some of the general goals in story grammar research and examines its major issues. Then describes a study in which the effects of text content and order on narrative recall were investigated in intermediate and advanced readers of English as a foreign language. (SED)

Reports the results of a study showing that one stylistic feature, the inclusion of connectives other than "and/then" is a good predictor of explanation in five- to ten-year-olds, but a straightforward lack of linguistic resources is not necessarily what limits older children's achievement of explanatory narrative. (HTH)