Intended for secondary teachers and student writers but useful for anyone interested in poetic forms, this book defines 74 basic poetic forms, summarizes their histories, quotes examples from noted poets, and offers professional tricks of the trade on how to use each form. The book covers the following poetic forms: abstract poem, acrostic,…

The first of two volumes, this book is primarily concerned with the teaching of creative writing at any grade level, although some ideas may not be applicable in teaching very young students. Although concentrating on the writing of free verse poetry and short "expressive" prose, much of the material presented can be applied to any…

The teacher of elementary level gifted students discusses successful creative writing activities. Among the reasons for students to learn writing early in the educational program are that written expression complements oral communication, heightens awareness of ordinary experiences, and helps students become more appreciative of language.…

Presents a technique for teaching poetry to disadvantaged youths. (RB)

Twenty-six poetic forms are discussed in this paper, with suggested activities for teaching these patterns to students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve. The forms that are discussed include the couplet, quatrain, triplet, limerick, free verse, haiku, cinquain, sijo, septolet, diamante, acrostic, sonnet, parody, dramatic monologue, and…

This book contains comments by ten authors of children's literature concerning the influences they feel account for the particular qualities that define their books and about creative writing and children's literature in general. In the first article, P. L. Travers stresses the importance of fairy tales, myths, and legends in shaping her work,…

The purpose of this book is to provide a reasoned account of narrative structure, the elements of storytelling, and their combination and articulation. As explained in the introductory chapter, the "what" of narrative is the story, its events (actions, happenings) and existents (characters and settings); the "way" of narrative is discourse, or…

THIS STUDY BEGAN AN ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE MOTIVATING STIMULI FOR USE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WRITING PROGRAMS. IN PARTICULAR, IT DEALT WITH THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZED AND UNORGANIZED STIMULI ON THE CREATIVE WRITING ABILITY OF THIRD- AND SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS. THE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO SIX GROUPS. ONE GROUP OF…

A guide to the development of a class project in novel writing is provided in this paper. A seven-week production schedule is suggested with projects including: (1) setting, plot, beginning character development, and selecting editors; (2) continuing character development and outlining plot; (3) working on the rough draft; (4) filling in the rough…

This paper recommends that poetry rather than other literary forms be used to teach creative reading and writing to young children. The advantages of using poetry are described as follows: inhibitions are overcome quickly; opportunities for a wider range and more complex level of student achievement are created; high quality pieces of writing are…

The beginning creative writer usually needs to learn the distinction between creative writing and purely informational or reportorial exposition. This can often be accomplished through writing assignments incorporating the concepts of New Journalism--the method of rendering realistically, from the point of view of an outsider who has temporarily…

This paper presents a tentative model of the writing process that has been developed according to the technique of protocol analysis. (A protocol is a description of the activities, ordered in time, in which a subject engages while performing a task.) The model identifies subprocesses of the composing process and their organization; minor…

Students who are not writing, or not writing well, may have a second chance to do so if they are able to receive the counsel of published writers to write before writing. These students should be told of the importance of prewriting. Most writers need time to wait for ideas to formulate. In this preparatory stage, writers feel four pressures that…