Notes that one of the hardest parts of writing for beginning reporters is the lead. Contends that news stories need to have a clear focus that is reflected in the lead. Provides steps to help student writers with leads. (PM)

Notes that the youth market is one of the most important in helping to stop newspapers' declining circulation. Explains that some newspapers have taken youth content online because Web sites can be customized based on individual interests of specific age groups. Examines a sample of Web sites for teens and preteens sponsored by daily newspapers.…

Explains that "counter-text" describes the results of a period of independent dramaturgical research and development and the contribution this makes to a theatrical production. Contends that the counter-text presents an alternative site of authority in performance. Describes the uses of research on a production of Iizuka's…

Provides a brief account of some of the philosophical, social, educational, and artistic factors that initially shaped theatre for young audiences (TYA). Examines how the rhetoric of theatre for the young has both reflected the changing nature of childhood as well as helped shape ideas of what childhood is. (PM)

Explores what advanced student writers could be told about audience based on current principles of reading theory. Discusses reasons why teachers may not want to introduce students to these reading-based concepts of audience. (RS)

Examines the "ethos" (the perceived trustworthiness of authors by readers) gained for Charles Darwin by means of the interpersonal metadiscourse he used in two chapters of the "Origin of Species." Concludes that Darwin used metadiscourse to create an "ethos" for his readers that informs, impresses, and wins them over…

Suggests alternatives to marginal comments on students' papers as a way to encourage them to think more about the revision process. Recommends that teachers make no marks on the student's paper (only on a separate sheet), and ask leading questions in conference to guide the student to a focus. (RAE)

Examines the relationships between Irna Phillips, the most powerful woman in soap opera production from the 1930s through the 1960s, and the sponsors of her radio soap operas. Explores how Phillips represented women both in her scripts and in her public relations efforts. (MM)

Describes a prewriting activity in which students form questions about their classmates' research topics. Notes that this activity provides students with multiple questions concerning their topics, and conveys the message that they will be writing for a real audience of peers. (MM)

Applies general semantics to a public speaking communication apprehension (CA) lab and divides the lab into four main frames or semester sections. Suggests that CA has been treated elementalistically up to now, and that programs need to view the person holistically. States that general semantics applied to CA teaches awareness of the natural order…

Suggests that technical writing is the most challenging profession in the world and sometimes the most boring. List 35 things that the field knows about technical communication (on such topics as audience, editing, writing style, graphics, and training). Suggests that there may be nothing left to invent in the field of technical communication. (RS)

Describes how, in a unit on Russia's history, culture, and future, eight high school students with writing difficulties presented their work to small student groups, a teacher alone, one student, and finally themselves via videotape. Notes that students' reactions to these audience options show how student writers can develop a sensitivity to…

Proposes that writing pedagogies focused on models of audience analysis stultify invention and in doing so compromise the epistemic dimension of the writing they influence. Claims that classical audience analysis assumes a determinism that the separation of reader and writer denies. (HB)

Argues that current forensics contest constraints deemphasize the role of the audience. Examines Barbara Bush's 1990 commencement address at Wellesley College as an example of rhetorical sensitivity and acute awareness of her audience. (SR)

Asserts that the means by which student achievement in reading are reported should be a focus rather than an afterthought. Discusses key questions related to developing report cards that serve a variety of audiences. Provides guidance and models of report cards that are more closely aligned with the literacy curriculum than traditional report…