Examines two contrasting perspectives of invention: rhetoric as "art," and rhetoric as "knack," derived from talent and experience. Argues that inventive strategies should be viewed within an axiological perspective, and notes that instructors can teach students to combine different types of inventive strategies, avoiding a…

Describes the use of cases in technical writing and ancient exercises of impersonation and "suasoria." Discusses similarities between the two, and argues that the historical tradition both validates and broadens the uses of this modern methodology. (RS)

Examination of how biomedical scientists cite the published work of others in their own journal articles revealed that subjects tended to summarize or generalize others' articles and used few direct quotations and little paraphrasing. The results suggest ethical and instructional questions relating to which citation forms should be taught to…

Discusses an oral history project designed to make the acquisition of writing skills more palatable to students and the consequences the project had on the author's view of her own education and teaching, her students, and her community. (JOW)

Describes an in-house writing workshop for mid-level managers, including course design, writing samples (original drafts and revisions), analyses of samples and revisions, and an analysis of a post-workshop survey. Argues that this approach should be used in college composition courses. (MM)

Finds that lower-level developmental variables are related to beginning writing skills. Identifies an orthographic-linguistic dimension and an automaticity dimension in the battery of developmental skills and writing products. (RS)

Examines the practical questions of how the enthymematic approach can be used in the classroom to help students become conscious of and more skilled in the process and shape of inquiry. Focuses on two processes that are at the heart of enthymematic inquiry: the process of discovery and shaping claims, and the process of discovering relationships…

Hawaii's Young Playwrights Workshop is a place for students willing to explore new worlds with discipline, self-reliance, and creativity. In the Workshop, students discover their own way of creating plays. The article explains how the teacher encourages students to be creative, letting go of preconceived ideas about writing. (SM)

Describes a multimedia project that combined text, pictures, and sound and found that the students could reinforce their reading and writing skills by using a word processor, recording their writing, and drawing pictures. Suggests that teachers have been using multimedia for years and should not be intimidated by the thought of it. (JOW)

The purpose of this study was to analyze how children in the early grades of elementary school divide words while writing. The subjects were 450 Italian children belonging either to upper-middle-class or lower-middle-class families who were asked to write the familiar story of "Little Red Riding Hood." (CFM)

To determine how continuous process improvement (CPI) affects students' business writing ability, 24 students were taught using CPI and 22 with a product-based teaching approach. CPI had a positive effect on basic writing skills but no positive effect on student attitudes. It facilitates significant continuous improvement, and preexisting skills…

Argues that technical writers who develop broader writing skills prove to be more valuable to their employers during periods of economic downturn. Offers an overview of the basic skills needed to write marketing, advertising, and public relations documents. (PRA)

Considers Mina Shaughnessy's metaphor likening the experience of basic writers to that of "uncultured natives" under European colonization. Advocates decolonizing the classroom by devising a pedagogy of voice in a dialogized space that is continually reconstructed from different locations and identities. (HB)

Compares the work of nineteenth-century Scottish philosopher George Jardine with the work of modern theorists, particularly Mina Shaughnessy. Shows how they all created similar plans for meeting the needs of students without the basic skills needed for traditional modes of instruction. (HB)

Describes a project undertaken at the Alcott School in Concord, Massachusetts, to recycle worn out books in the school library by having fifth graders design and construct attractive book jackets for them. Students select the books themselves and include their own reviews on the inside of the jacket. (MDM)