For some instructors, the use of students' own experiences has proven to be an extremely useful starting point in the college composition classroom. In a first semester freshman composition course, students wrote autobiographies in which they examined different perspectives of the many communities in which they lived. Students then used the…

This paper presents four introductory activities designed to help students with their reading problems, motivate them to read, and help them turn their interpretations of literature into effective compositions. The paper presents samples for each of the four activities ("Opinionnaires," Scenarios, Simulations, and Role Playing),…

Observing that basal readers and standardized testing lead teachers to focus on facts when dealing with novels or poetry in class, this monograph discusses research on response to literature. The monograph also presents classroom activities designed to allow students to explore the forms, the language, and the imagery of fiction, poetry, and…

Combining freshman composition and introduction to literature courses can make students active participants in what they read. In one course, students were instructed to read a literary work for a class. When the class met, the students were to write the name of the assigned story, the author, and anything they wanted to write about the story.…

A study investigated the impact of task definition on students' revising strategies to determine whether college freshman writers could revise globally if instructed to do so and if those global revisions would result in improved texts. Data were elicited from 38 students enrolled in two entry-level college writing courses. Participants, randomly…

An argument can be made for an expansion in the creative writing curriculum to cover all genres. The essential principles of writing in all genres, poetry, fiction, drama, TV, and film can be taught, with the positive effect of saving a serious writing student years of stumbling in the dark. A responsible creative writing course of the present and…

A sequence of four central essays on the topic of "experts" illustrates how students can develop the critical tools necessary to handle the flood of information that exists in a complex, expert-dominated world. The first essay begins with communication of shared knowledge and examination of assumptions. Students are asked to share with…

Intended for college students and other writers, this book contains a detailed, step-by-step description of the writing process, from prewriting and brainstorming to polishing the mechanics of a final draft. The book is divided into five major sections. Part 1 is a broad introduction to the natural language attitude toward learning to write. Part…

It does not take a computer expert to teach students how to use word processing software to prewrite, write, revise, and edit a professional-looking paper. Just a small amount of expertise allows students to work independently as long as they have access to a computer and the necessary software. The computer also facilitates interactive learning…

For one instructor of eleventh and twelfth grade English, teaching the short story offers the best opportunity to teach fiction writing to students. It contains all the elements novels contain, but students can read many short stories in the same time they need to read a novel. Students can also write their own short stories. Above all, literature…

Prompted by a student comment that college lacked intellectual challenge, the author and colleagues sat in on an English class described as "a brain dump." The teacher had assigned students to write parodies of "The Road Not Taken," knowing that to do the assignment well, they would have to read and understand Frost's poem. The instructor was…

A model for an integrative first-year writing class, combining American native writing, field experience, and the fundamental trappings of a composition class, are examined in this paper. Students can learn to respond to environmental issues in creative ways and explore issues that they will face in their lives. In addition to a combined…

A four-year ethnographic study was conducted at St. Olaf College and examined six assumptions about student attitudes toward writing. The study, involving administration of the Writers Block instrument, writing samples, and several interviews with three students over their 4 years in college, evaluated the following assumptions: (1) that once…

A sabbatical spent exploring the genre of travel writing began a writing instructor's journey to figure out what travel writing teaches--and how--and why it is so compelling to students. Her research in the genre of travel writing began as she was preparing students going abroad to keep meaningful journals. In middle- and advanced-level travel…

In North Carolina schools, the grade 10 writing assessment will be given once a year in the spring semester to all 10th-grade students. This change from an English II End-of-Course Test to a grade-specific test emphasizes the need for writing across the curriculum. This document is designed to illustrate correlation between high school courses and…