Describes how a new journalism writing style energized writing composition students to write in meaningful, exciting ways about matters close to them. Explains what New Journalism is and how students can be instructed in it. (TB)

Suggests that a new elitism seeks to abandon the required freshman composition course and placement tests. Argues, based on two studies, for placement into the course. Argues that the effect of a placement program, followed by a careful instructional program, is to allow many students who would otherwise leave school to continue successfully in…

Discusses how social identity plays a significant role in defining the nature of classroom interaction. Describes how unresolved conflict emerged when the development of authentic student voice in narrative autobiography was the primary and perhaps only objective. Presents an example of the ways in which asymmetrical power relations influence how…

Shows how an editing assignment emphasizing punctuation can help students in a first-year writing class discover new ideas and perspectives as part of the revision process. Considers a class that experimented with editing punctuation for a dual purpose--as a revision heuristic as well as for correctness. Reconsiders editing and revision…

First-year students in literature-based composition courses do not read the way instructors would desire and do not seem to respond actively enough to their reading, judging by both the lukewarm responses in classroom discussions and the superficiality of their written reactions. In an attempt to make students respond actively to their reading,…

Hip-hop as content in a first-year writing course offers students a powerful way to connect with their worlds. This article draws on Marcel Proust as a kind of rhyme to legitimate hip-hop as a substantive expressive medium to achieve artistry in writing.

With the recent interest in the fifth century B.C. theories of Protagoras and Gorgias come assumptions about the philosophical affinity of the Greek educator Isocrates to this pair of older sophists. Isocratean education in discourse, with its emphasis on collaborative political discourse, falls within recent definitions of a sophist curriculum.…

At the University of Nevada, Reno, lectureships developed out of a serious problem of staffing freshman composition. Almost all students take two semesters of freshman English, and in the late l970's, when the ability to staff these courses became severely limited, the new freshman sections were staffed by temporary faculty identified as…

A study was conducted of 4 university instructors teaching a first-year composition class and of 16 of their students (4 for each instructor) randomly selected. Parts of the interviews, parts of the think-aloud protocols, and parts of the instructors' written comments are examined--the focus is on the way that students and teachers approach…

A study examined the role of critical reflection in one particular writing context--that of collaborative planning. Subjects, 22 college freshmen enrolled in two core composition courses, were audiotaped as they planned course papers with a peer. Students formed pairs each consisting of a "writer" and a "partner" (supporter).…

At the root of the writing problems of most college students is a lack of critical thinking. Students find analyzing an article or essay, writing a review, or arguing persuasively difficult and unpleasant because they have little practice in identifying and evaluating assumptions and reasoning. One solution to this problem, developed by a college…

Students must reconsider the nature of composing and their identities as writers when working on a jointly authored piece of writing, such as a two-page report on a particular area in a university library. Looking at the ways workshop groups interact to produce a piece of collaborative writing and a joint oral presentation offers insight into the…

Distinguishes between monitoring and evaluating student writing, discusses the rationale for monitoring, demonstrates monitoring procedures, and summarizes major considerations to remember when monitoring writing. (JAD)

Classifies students' responses to a plagiarism questionnaire into six categories. Concludes that students take plagiarism seriously and that their reasons are based most often on fairness, individual responsibility, and ownership. (JAD)

Identifies links between Ernest Boyer's and Isocrates's educational philosophies. Describes a freshman composition class adopting Isocrates's emphases on the use of language to craft ideas, social issues, and citizenship. Argues that the re-creation of Isocrates's model necessitates that current political/academic demands for cultural literacy and…