Argues that journal writing expands students' discoveries about themselves as writers, and extends their abilities to take charge of writing assignments in both English and non-English courses. (MS)

Claims that library research is more profitable for students if teachers do not focus on the activity as relevant only for the writing of the research paper, but rather treat research as part of the recursive generative process of writing. Suggests principles to incorporate the activity of research into a number of writing assignments throughout…

Suggests that generational cliches exist, and that it is necessary to redefine both the conception of cliches and pedagogical approaches to them. (MS)

This paper looks at an idea that the fundamental "social" purpose of college composition is not to expand but to contract students' capacities to function in and transform their world. The paper manifests interest in this conception of composition for intellectual, historical, and political reasons--historically, it addresses the…

Most educators' ideas about academic discourse and critical thinking are confined by social constructionist assumptions. Working with historical texts, in such a way that these texts empower students to imagine alternative futures, opens up the freshman writing course to three-dimensional critical thinking. Freshmen at one particular college must…

In 1994, the situation of one writing teacher changed when she joined others at her institution to collaborate on the design and follow through of the Portfolio Composition Program for first-year writing students. Today, the collaboration continues as volunteer full-time faculty, graduate teaching assistants, and other part-time teachers try out…

Some of the most prominent aspects of an ethnographic study of six black undergraduate women at the University of Pittsburgh have been the questions of authenticity and visibility that have emerged while the ethnographer watched the ways students' voices challenged their various composition and writing intensive course instructors' expectations.…

Describes writing assignments based on several readings on the ethical quagmire of pornography. Suggests that exploratory writing grounded in the texture of students' lives is an antidote to abstract, theoretical pronouncements. Urges returning to an ethics developed in a community of writers who begin with values already given but who form an…

Demonstrates that the first-year composition class can be a particularly important contact zone in that it can serve as an arena for exploring the pedagogical value of several types of first contacts that new students experience in the other contact zones of the university. Analyzes student papers to illustrate how students discover the social…

Shows that while student humor has definite pedagogical usefulness in teaching the conventional academic modes of discourse and language, it also can become a vehicle of subversion. (TB)

Notes that new teaching assistants (TAs) and first year composition students similarly grapple with ambiguity, multiplicity, and open-endedness. Contends that new TAs' queries and early classroom experiences can provide a valuable occasion to re-balance the emphasis in a pro-seminar between teaching and learning. Presents strategies for addressing…

Presents a casebook on the song "American Pie" that considers how to define the parameters of short narrative. Describes the creation of an end-of-term cumulative writing project that the authors have successfully employed for the last decade. Discusses how they put together a casebook that teaches the necessary research skills. (SG)

Considers complaints of boredom as a significant factor in the author's classrooms. Analyzes the responses of 32 first-year writing students to questions about boredom. Discusses teacher identity, student expectations, and student evaluation of classes. (SG)

Examines the purposes of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), transformative experiences at professional conferences, and the elements of the author's literacy autobiography using a variety of common forms from first-year composition. Argues for recognition of the knowledge-building role of writing programs in two-year…

Explores theoretical and administrative tensions arising when the freshman writing program is not directed by the same faculty who teach in the graduate program. Discusses the effects of these tensions on the writing program and those who teach in it. Explores ways to resolve such conflicts. (RS)