Reports on the difficulties a teacher had while trying to compose her first poetry assignment at the Bread Loaf School of English. (RL)

Suggests that, in helping students understand the process of composing, teachers share their own personal experience. (TJ)

Discusses the "static, insular" view of composition that is found in many composition textbooks. Notes how students might misconstrue arbitrary prescriptions in writing textbooks as rigid rules. Laments that textbook structures deemphasize the composing process. (RL)

The rhetorical principles of Aristotle and Carl Rogers are compared and contrasted. (HTH)

Augments seven rules for teaching composition with suggestions for class activities. (RL)

Patterns writing instruction after the contemporary quest for weight control: lots of exercises, dedication toward achieving a goal, and developing slowly through carefully planned stages of the whole process. (RL)

Presents examples to substantiate the observation that children experiment with and benefit from writing long before they receive formal instruction, and suggests ways for parents and teachers to avoid obstructing this natural and healthy tendency. (HTH)

Demonstrates key concepts of transformational generative grammar that can be applied to a discussion of the composing process. Discusses relevant linguistic concepts and selected transformational processes to illustrate how writers achieve certain effects. (RL)

Demonstrates that the second law of thermodynamics imposes a fundamental constraint upon the process of composition; examines the consequences of this constraint for writers and teachers of writing. (DD)

Suggests that a written text and its revisions are documents of decision processes controlled by the writer's outlook on information priorities. (DD)

A study of topic choices and inductive/deductive development methods among 1,000 Oakland University students taking writing placement tests revealed significant differences in male/female thinking patterns and ability to communicate effectively. (DD)

Shows how photography and photographic processes can be used as a metaphor for describing writing and writing processes and, thus, can be a useful teaching tool. Discusses subject, focus, arrangement, and style. Describes how a writing teacher can use all this as a means of illustrating various aspects of the writing process. (SR)

Analyzes three examples of research in technical communication to illustrate the distinctions among modernism, antimodernism, and postmodernism. Suggests that antimodern rejections of the scientific enterprise within composition studies and technical communication are valuable in a culture in which science seems to have unlimited authority. (RS)

Points out that a carefully developed checklist is a valuable writing aide that can help students and instructor focus on successful writing throughout the writing process. Shares five how-to steps as a guide for developing a writing checklist. (SR)

Offers advice on surviving while trying to make a career as a writer after having been a writing teacher. Outlines the typical writing process students are expected to follow. Questions whether writer's workshop demands the impossible of students. Finds that the best writing process is to write every day at a time that works for the particular…