Profiles writer and poet Barbara Juster Esbensen. Discusses her beginnings as a writer, writing and revising, work with children, and classroom uses of Esbensen's books. (SR)

Presents an extended analogy between different styles of gardening (neat, even rows of vegetables versus scattering of flowers) and different styles of writing (academic versus personal essay). Shows that genre boundaries are as questionable as gender boundaries and that all writing is a means of creating self, not for expressing a self that…

Presents the text of an account of the author's research. Notes that the text's four layers (scientific report, reflective analysis, personal history, and deliberative appeal) are each indispensable yet individually inadequate to the task. Considers the tensions among possible accounts of the research and what these tensions say about the reading…

Argues that rationality follows rhetoric and emerges from discourse. Asserts that teachers must empower the students by starting with honest personal writing and move to honest personal writing about public issues. Presents samples of students' writing which illustrate the problems involved in trying to sound rational when arguing personal points.…

Describes how a ninth grade teacher uses short, in-class writing conferences to help students with their writing process. Discusses the writing conferences of specific students and offers suggestions on planning, timing, and organizing the conferences. (PRA)

Examines writers' options in organizing comparisons. Finds that chunking of content in a systematic way is a strong predictor of holistic quality ratings, and that higher rated papers tend to be written by students with higher verbal abilities and more extensive topic knowledge. Demonstrates the complexity of the choices writers must make in…

Argues that, if rhetoricians are to make significant strides forward in understanding writing that takes place both within and external to a single workplace culture, they will need to develop a much more expansive, complex, and sophisticated vision of collaboration across multiple organizational cultures. (SR)

Presents an interview with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the children's novel, "Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind." Discusses Staples' creative writing process, background, and the writer's role as cultural observer. (HB)

Shares two examples of writing, both involving magic and incantation, used as models to help students add energy to their own writing. (MG)

Describes how writing oral history can help students to feel that they are participating in a lively intellectual and cultural process that travels beyond the limits of the classroom. Says students claim that their obligations to the assignment are surpassed by their feelings of gratification in having created living works with lasting vitality.…

Describes the genesis of three children's books to illustrate how the author borrows from the traditions of others to write her children's tales. (SR)

Interviews Linda Flower, who discusses her beginnings as a researcher, her insights into the role of context in the composing process, her work with classroom teachers, her present involvement with community literacy projects, and how her ideas and research have changed through time. (MG)

Discusses the issue of the instructor's role in the classroom with respect to David Bartholomae's "Inventing the University." Suggests an approach informed by the literary and anthropological theories of Rene Girard. Deals with Girard's views on mimetic desire. Asserts the double-bind of this view--"imitate me; don't imitate…

This article presents the process approach as an effective way of teaching braille writing to young children who are blind. The writing process used in the primary grades establishes a foundation for development of future literacy skills, and instills enthusiasm and confidence in children approaching the complex task of braille writing.…

Describes the background for the creation of the 1990 Newbery Award-winning book, "Number the Stars." Relates how the author conceived of the ideas for the book and the experiences she underwent in preparation for writing it. (MG)