Special issue on contemporary Spanish American literature. (DS)

A history of classical Greek rhapsodes": reciters and interpreters of Homeric epics. (RD)

Investigated whether narrative job descriptions could be converted to quantitative rating scores using job analysis questionnaire techniques. Detailed written descriptions of 121 job categories were rated using the Position Analysis Questionnaire. Indices of interrater agreement suggested acceptable levels of agreement for job dimension scores…

A teacher and her students explore the structure of "bubbles" in comic books. Evaluating the use of narration in comics led to the use of narration in books and how characters relate in stories. (Author/RK)

Describes a unit of study for a basic writing class that incorporates the writing of a dramatic monologue as a first step in learning to write a narrative essay. Discusses how one student's monologue changed as the unit progressed. (RS)

Compared the oral narrative skills of 31 school-aged children diagnosed at 24 to 31 months with expressive language delay with those of 23 typically-developing peers. Suggests that the use of narrative structure may be a specific area of underachievement for late talkers, in addition to their continuing weakness in syntactic and lexical abilities,…

Examines the concept of intellectual development, focusing on how differences in writing reflect different developmental models, such as those developed by Piaget and Vygotsky. Discusses the consequences of developmental models on theories of composition and the function of narrative. (MM)

Offers a critique of the narrative perspective as it relates to the National Debate Tournament (NDT) and suggests that an alternative "expert" model would better satisfy the goals of the activity while simultaneously remedying the primary shortcomings of NDT debate. (MS)

Examines six common problems that can interfere with the effectiveness of multimedia information delivery when combining narrated words and still images, including pictures not translating well to the screen; more information than the screen can display; distracting elements; contradicting messages; not enough pictures; and script difficulties.…

Discusses narrative-style research writing which uses narrative, storylike framework, and includes elements of both expressive and expository writing. Describes examples and advantages of narrative-style research writing and variations of it. Suggests what teachers must consider before encouraging students to use narrative style for a…

Social research resembles moral theology: both discover nothing but, rather, rediscover truths of social life and use stories to help people understand them. "The Bell Curve" and Wells'"Time Machine" have similar "story-lines" about intelligence and social stratification. Academics should turn away from "The Bell…

Analyzes the utility of narrative as a legitimate educational research tool, reviewing major research paradigms; comparing sociolinguistic (narrative) and empirical research methods; discussing conceptions of narrative; exploring the sociopolitical, conceptual, and theoretical frameworks guiding narrative and empirical research; examining…

Advances two processes describing the relationship between message behaviors and narrative comprehension that differ in the likelihood that specific interpretations will be drawn given the presence of message cues. Finds that, in general, cues biased young children toward drawing a particular representation but that fifth graders delayed choosing…

Compares the narrative abilities of mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded children (20 each). Results show no differences between the groups in narrative length, use of tense and conjunctions, and use of narrative devices. Differences were found in use of reference. Control of reference in narrative is discussed. (45 references) (GLR)