The case approach to academic writing requires a student to use subjects in an active way while writing. This approach, appropriate in content courses as well as in composition classes, improves a writer's logic more quickly and effectively than concentrating on logic alone. In the case approach, a student is given a body of information about a…

Despite a growing trend to split the two areas, literature belongs in the composition class. In responding to literature, students can trace their own developing thought. They acquire, through literary discourse, a tool of discovery. This tool closely resembles expressive discourse, the mode, as James Kinneavy suggests in "A Theory of…

This collection of papers, from a conference on reading and writing connections held at the University of Illinois in October 1986, reflects the value of demonstrating connections between reading instruction and writing. The book shows practitioners how writing can be blended with reading instruction and how writing activities can be used not just…

Given that very little is known about the kinds of writing experiences students have in content areas beyond writing for evaluative purpose, a study investigated how writing tasks interact with learning and also how the instructional context in which writing is embedded influences what students contribute to and take from writing. The effects of…

The supplementary information on "Alberta Essay Scales: Models" presented here includes similar models to employ in grading essays, the background and development of the scales, and the rationale for developing two scales of English mechanics and style/content. A standard is presented for evaluating current writing achievement by…

Prepared as part of a project designed to provide an objectively measured indication of the quality of student writing in one school district, this paper presents analyses of the syntactic complexity of the argumentative and narrative writing of more than 500 seventh and eighth grade students and of the mechanical errors found in that writing.…

In order to minimize the dread which students and teachers alike often feel toward freshman composition courses, it is important to involve students in reading and writing assignments which are of interest and importance to them. Autobiography, as a subject for study and a focus for writing, can be a great motivator and an expediter of the…

A sequential writing program is described that has adapted James Moffett's ideas in "Teaching the Universe of Discourse" to suit the needs of a seventh and eighth grade school system that emphasizes expository writing instruction. The introductory chapter explains Moffett's ideas and how they were adapted for this program. Subsequent…

Because public relations (PR) writing is different from the writing required in journalism, broadcasting, and advertising, PR practitioners require a background in editing, graphics, planning, campaigning, special events, public opinion, and evaluation beyond that required of a newswriter. Responses to a survey of 38 PR educators across the nation…

The 18 essays in this volume originated as talks given at the Yale Conferences on the Teaching of English. The first nine discuss where and how to begin writing, the subject matter and organization of student compositions, the relation of writing to reading and grammar, methods used to mark papers, and the evaluation and function of both…

The purposes of this bulletin are (1) to help teachers understand that evaluation is an essential part of the total composing process and involves both teacher and student, and (2) to establish evaluative criteria which reflect realistic objectives for the teaching of writing to students of varying abilities and age groups. Charts for both…

With the growing belief that any style of speaking and writing is as good as any other, English teachers must, on the one hand, admit the connection of so-called "correct" English with snob appeal, and, on the other, defend the intellectual and aesthetic superiority of clear, well-written English and learn to express contempt for circular…

Some of Professor Kenneth Pike's tagmemic theory is explained, and an attempt to apply it in freshman English classes at the University of Michigan is described. Two writing subjects (a concrete object and an abstraction) are examined from the aspects of contrast; range of variation; and distribution with respect to class, context, and matrix. The…

Addresses the problem of how to motivate revision of papers, such as informational reports, whose topics generate low student interest. Suggests stimulating activities, varied approaches to assigning and presenting topics, and gives examples of some successful assignments. (JG)

Uses text processing (computer) and pen and paper protocols to compare the revising process of professional writers and experienced writers (PhD students). Concludes tentatively that (1) professional and experienced writers do not differ in their approach; (2) the interaction between human and machine influences the writing process; and (3) that…