Recent articles by August Kleinzahler, Joseph Epstein, and Diana Gioia question the value of contemporary poetry, particularly that which comes from graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs. Ron McFarland, in a recent issue of "College English," argues against these articles and advocates teaching craft as the only essential…

This introduction to prosody--the art and science of metrical composition in poetry--teaches the reader how good poems work. The guide discusses the basic building blocks of poetry, such as rhyme, rhythm, meter, and form. Each of the 10 chapters is a progressive, step-by-step presentation with illustrative examples. The guide does not deal with…

The author shows how one child's creativity is destroyed in the pursuit of correct capitalization, neat margins, and good punctuation. (BD)

A writer of children's literature tells of the difficulties inherent in writing fictionalized accounts about Abraham Lincoln whose life has been widely researched and documented by scholars. (RB)

The diamante form--a seven-line, diamond-shaped poem--was successfully used to encourage students' poetry writing. (JH)

Phonics, vocabulary, main idea, etc. - the daily paper can make skill-building more fun. (Editor)

Designed to guide students through the process of writing a film script, this book is an analysis of eight classic screenplays and one novel written in cinematic style, which may serve as models for screenwriting. Each chapter in the book, except the last, is devoted to one script emphasizing a certain aspect of screenwriting. The focus is on how…

Intended for teachers interested in promoting writing and young authors at their schools, this booklet contains guidelines and suggestions for creating a young authors club. Included are a plan for creating the club, a sample fact sheet for promoting it, a parent letter, guidelines and suggestions, timelines for planning club meetings, activities…

Examines varying views of the children's writer's relationship to his readers. (See CS 701 511). (RB)

Discusses whether the children's book is an art form, distinct from other fiction, or just a novel made easy. (See CS 701 510). (RB)

Examines the role of the creative writer in influencing people in ways that drastically change lifestyles or lead to social and political efforts to reform society. (RB)

A writing instructor discussed the processes of thought that accompany students learning to write. (RK)

Author invited creative writing in many forms as an extension and natural follow-up in the sharing of literature. (Author/RK)