Describes the problems some basic writing students have had generating ideas for writing in response to timed essay tests. Proposes a technique based on the classical notion of the "topoi," which enables students to generate ideas and equips them for participation in the social and political dialogs they encounter in higher education.…

Contends that creative nonfiction is about voice. Notes that creative nonfiction teaches students the power of voice and how to modulate it. Concludes that motivation is higher to tell one's own stories than to write a lab report, analytical essay, or term paper. (PM)

Reviews: a volume of 11 essays on the history of Sheldon Jackson Museum and its Eskimo, Aleut, Athabaskan, Tlingit, and Haida collections; and a book analyzing the geometric design, technique, and imagery of 15 "raven's tail robes," early Northwest Coast textiles predating the more familiar Chilkat blankets. (SV)

It is ironic that we have coined a phrase "wilderness" to describe a natural state devoid of people, but we have no word to describe a natural state that includes people. A new word, "natominess", is offered that incorporates the notion of balance between humans and nature on a global scale. (TD)

Discusses the inaccuracies and distortions found within the Portland Baseline Essays, one of the most widespread Afrocentric teacher resource materials in use. Specific distortions examined are that ancient Egypt was a Black nation and that the achievements of ancient Greece had African origins. (GLR)

Essay tests are easily constructed, relatively valid assessments of higher cognitive processes but are harder to score reliably. Teachers using essay tests are advised to follow clearly designed objectives, construct all-inclusive, pilot-tested questions, develop a checklist of specific scoring points and a model answer for each question, and use…

Defines and discusses literary nonfiction in terms of its current history. Outlines three types of motives which may account for the rise in interest in the essay as literature: nostalgic, territorial, and ideological and power-full. Asserts that writing essays empowers students. Stresses the importance of reflective stewardship--reading…

Describes how a writing teacher uses an exit essay in which students describe the strengths and weaknesses of their writing to examine how the course has shaped (or not shaped) student attitudes toward writing. (SR)

A theoretically based structure-mapping model of writing from sources was proposed and tested with 34 male and 50 female undergraduates who wrote a comparison-contrast essay about 2 passages. Results suggest that the model, adapted from work of D. Gentner, is useful in describing use of sources in writing. (SLD)

Provides a technical analysis of the factors involved in the ability of latent semantic analysis to assess student knowledge (grading essays and matching students with appropriate instructional texts). Addresses the role of technical vocabulary, how long the student essays should be, and how one deals with the directionality of knowledge in the…

This study addressed the feasibility and validity of dictation using speech recognition software and dictation to a scribe as accommodations for tests involving extended writing. On the issue of feasibility, high school students with and without learning disabilities (LD) learned to use speech recognition software with acceptable accuracy. Total…

The relevance effect refers to the facilitative effect of relevance instructions on learning. The authors examined the effect of general prereading relevance instructions on fact and concept learning, essay quality, and reading time. College students either did or did not receive relevance instructions before reading an expository text.…

A comparison between composition and literature is presented in Harriet Malinowitz's "Business, Pleasure, and the Personal Essay". The importance of praising and analyzing various interpretations of a text to English studies is emphasized.

Students' out-of-school literacy practices can complement in-school speaking and writing, if the teacher knows how to instill them. A professor analyzes how one student writes an essay and a rap on the same subject and recommends bringing hip-hop culture into the classroom to help students become academically successful.

In this article, the winning essays of the Cliff Weiss Memorial Essay Contest are presented. In the two winning essays, the authors describe how to explain the value of career and technical education (CTE) to a new student. Shi Meicheng, Secondary Winner, states that CTE has provided her with a toolbox for success while Ginnie Bushong,…