Presents a comparative reanalysis of two studies into why some story events are more memorable than other events. Also proposes a theoretical account of the identified variables (story-grammar category, causal chain, causal connectivity factors to recall, and other measures of story understanding) and their influence on the comprehension of…

Explains how to involve students in a composition unit that requires them to complete writing assignments from various points of view. (DF)

Describes a study that compared the language abilities of first and third grade children. The children's narratives were analyzed for differences in T-units and the use of reference and conjoining. Results indicate that the older children used longer T-units and generally had more cohesive ties within their narratives. (Author/SED)

Two studies were conducted to determine how well story grammar predicted recall of televised stories. In Experiment 1, prechoolers viewed a nonnarrated televised story from "Sesame Street." In Experiment 2, preschoolers and adults were administered a narrative via television or radio. In both studies, subjects' retention reflected recall…

Reports findings of one study that reanalyzed research data allegedly demonstrating a substantial relationship between social cognitive ability and narrative writing skill, and another that collected original data. Reveals no relationship between social cognitive ability and rated quality of narrative essays. Discusses finding in terms of a…

Proposes a schema for categorizing interpretive research in organizational communication by analyzing four interpretive texts on organizational life: Terkel's "Working," Kanter's "Men and Women of the Corporation," Kidder's "The Soul of a New Machine," and Heller's "Something Happened." (PD)

This study examined how people use inferences to aid comprehension of connected discourse. (Author/RM)

Many traditionally held academic views of personal writing have myths embedded in them. These myths include: (1) anything written in the first person singular is autobiographical; (2) personal writing can only exist in an expressionist classroom and is often uncritical and unproblematic; (3) student personal writing is a dying genre, and college…

Noting that traditional approaches to biology education do not take full advantage of the narrative nature of biology when introducing students to its subject matter, this paper argues that students in biology courses could benefit from being asked to write narratives and that this activity could fit into either a fairly traditional curriculum or…

Paper to be presented at the Seventh International Congress of Slavists in Warsaw, Poland, August 1973. (DS)