Reviews the relationship between law and art in the litigative context. Explores ways in which the methodologies of the novelist and other artists can be invoked by the lawyer in structuring and developing a case and presenting it to the court. Suggests that freewriting, Hemingwayesque word choice and syntax, and harnessing symbolism are valuable…

Outlines time-saving strategies developed for teachers in liberal arts colleges to achieve balance in the areas of (l) teaching and research; (2) professional and personal life; (3) teaching writing and evaluating writing; (4) teaching and technology; and (5) high standards versus realism. (NH)

The director of the South Burlingame (Vermont) High School Imaging Lab shares hard-won lessons on raising money. Grant-seeking educators should be succinct, realistic, and thorough and remember the kids. Using colorful language, real-life stories, and resonating program descriptions increases chances for success. (MLH)

Considers how to help middle school students grow in competence and confidence as writers while addressing their spelling difficulties. Presents a research study that examined instructional histories, analyzed results of spelling and visual memory inventories, and mapped the strategies and habits the challenged spellers used as well as those they…

Examines how students decide how to approach spelling questions in their writing. Suggests several strategies to help students improve their spelling abilities. Concludes that all of the strategies place the burden of responsibility on the writer--the student--to communicate effectively. Notes the importance of students shifting from inventive…

Argues that a piece of fictional writing could be counted as a doctoral thesis, focusing on qualities that are critical for a fictional doctoral thesis (particularly the self-conscious method) and on writing techniques that could enable those qualities (e.g., direct explanation, authorial intervention, and character intervention). (SM)

Notes that the college writing style model is based on a wide range of research conducted in the United States and abroad. Notes the writing style model is comprehensive because it explains strategies writers use in relation to writers' beliefs, writing environments, and written products. Concludes with recommendations for instruction that…

The experience of two teachers in teaching persuasive writing to their students is narrated. Persuasive writing can be taught in a principled way while also preparing students for high-stakes tests.

Mastery of content area reading in science and social studies is demonstrated through writing as well as reading. Integrating writing with reading enhances comprehension because the two are reciprocal processes. Therefore, teachers who implement a variety of writing strategies help students better understand content area texts. This article offers…

It is sometimes assumed that the strongest opportunities for developing imagination and empathy through children's writing lie in narrative starting points, whereas other less obviously literary writing forms are more readily associated with functional literacy. Consequently, writing regarded as non-literary is rarely analysed with these qualities…

In this article, the author discusses the five-paragraph essay, a way of organizing ideas into an introduction with a main argument, three body paragraphs that develop that argument, and a conclusion that advances the argument a step further by way of application or tantalizing suggestion. She stresses the importance of teaching the five-paragraph…

Among Swales' (1996) list of occluded academic genres, retention-promotion-tenure (RPT) evaluations have been little studied. These evaluative reports, however, can inform EAP researchers, teachers, and students about ways that writers both follow and transgress discourse conventions to fulfill various purposes through an institutional text.…

We compared 56 eighth-grade students who, 28 months previously, had received instruction in strategies for planning and revising their writing, with 21 students of similar academic ability from the same school who had not experienced the intervention. Both groups wrote an expository essay whilst logging their writing activities and completed…

Extending S. Graham and K. R. Harris's (2003) self-regulated strategy development model, this study examined whether self-regulation procedures would increase the effectiveness of a writing strategies training designed to improve 4th graders' (N = 113) composition skills. Students who were taught composition strategies in conjunction with…

The under-achievement of boys in the language components of standardised tests, together with a perception of boys as having negative attitudes towards the English curriculum, has led to boys being positioned as struggling writers. This article reflects critically on this construction, drawing on data from an Economic and Social Research Council…