This paper draws upon a theory of stories that relates particular text structures to particular affective states and then relates the affective states to story intuitions and overall judgments of liking. The first section of the paper outlines the theory as it deals with some important properties of the genre of popular stories in Western…

The third of three studies involving a comparative analysis of transactional and narrative writing of selected samples of students in two Ontario districts, this study addressed questions arising from the earlier studies and examined the writing skills of students in grades 5, 8, and 12. Writing samples were examined for conformity to the norms of…

If Jesus taught most frequently through symbol and story, and the early Church passed on his teachings primarily through story, especially the four Gospels, why is today's catechesis and theological pedagogy not more informed by "narrative theology"--theology which focuses on the narratives told by Jesus and the Gospels precisely as narratives?…

This book explores the many visually oriented activities that can be used to teach the composition process. Chapter one outlines the format of the book and discusses the composition process in terms of visual perception and reaction to visual stimuli. Chapter two introduces the general aspects of composition that are pertinent to all types of…

A theory of textual processing signals--cues to guide the response of any reader to a narrative text--can be evolved from Gerald Prince's theory of reading interludes and William Labov's work on narrative evaluation. An examination of these signals in two personal experience narratives written by students in remedial and freshman writing courses…

A model for assessing student writing achievement uses sets of criteria to chart students' writing progress that are based on a study of exemplary samples of student writing produced at various stages of development. The model provides a viable alternative to assessment methods that call for students to produce lengthy essays on preselected topics…

In order to determine the effects of writing for different audiences and in different modes of discourse on the syntactic complexity of compositions written by sixth and tenth grade students, 240 students were asked to write in three different modes (argumentive, descriptive, and narrative) to be read by a teacher and a best friend. There was a…

This study investigates the effect of mode of expression on the syntactic complexity of writing produced by third-grade children. Approximately 200 samples of writing in the modes of argumentation, exposition, narration, and description were collected from 50 third graders in the Atlanta school district. Syntactic complexity, as measured by length…

Antebellum slave narratives can be valuable literary materials in four different kinds of literature courses. In a survey of American literature, slave narratives serve as records of the attitudes and activities of early Americans, as examples of travel literature, and as examples of late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century adventure…

The hypothesis that male voices are more credible than female voices as narrators of instructional materials was tested with 64 randomly selected elementary school students, half of them male and half female. Students were to observe a point of light in a darkened room, and afterwards to draw a line showing how much their line moved. Four…

The author states that little research has been done to date in the area of audience reaction to Readers Theater stimuli, but some guidelines can be cited for directors and authors in their efforts to involve audiences in Readers Theater productions. Authors of Readers Theater materials are advised to use aesthetic factors inherent in the…

This report considers the problem of constructing an abstract model of story comprehension. The use of questions that go beyond the story as a test of understanding the story raises a methodological problem which is discussed in detail. (Author)

Examines the narrations of several students of one event in order to analyze factors such as suprasegmentals, use of determiners, and verb forms, which contribute to cohesion and coherence in oral narration. (AM)

The Hixkaryana language is discussed concerning its functions and forms of redundancy, and a transcription of the first part of a folktale narrative is shown. (NCR)

Uses Halliday and Hasan's taxonomy of cohesive devices to examine the kinds of cohesive ties used in arguments and narratives at grades 6, 10, and 12. Investigates whether there are differences between both grade levels and modes. (AEW)