Stylistics, the art of making effective choices in writing, depends on synonymy. This means that writers, depending on the purpose, the audience, and the context of their messages, will rephrase those messages to improve their effectiveness. Paraphrasing messages to fit the needs of particular situations depends on a number of stylistic variables…

After reviewing some of the problems involved in a traditional approach to teaching, this paper introduces a teaching system based on a patterned approach to the public relations writing process. The system format which is presented involves an analysis of persuasive communication components, programmed questioning of traditional premises, and…

The intellectual content of freshman English includes both the subject of writing itself and the subject the student writes about. Writing has often focused on personal subjects with the assumption that the student knows himself or herself and that the student has developed a point of view allowing intelligent writing. A second source of subject…

The role of invention in contemporary rhetorical theory poses two problems: how to deal systematically with both the general topics and the more specific topics that respect the different modes of knowledge, and how to incorporate these topics into a conceptual framework that includes other elements of discourse for which theories or partial…

The value of H. Myklebust's Picture Story Language Test (PSLT) was examined in a study of differences in written expression between 85 learning disabled (LD) and 125 nonlearning disabled elementary grade children and characteristics of oral expression of the LD students. Using the PSLT, written and oral language samples were obtained from the…

Theory and practice, especially in education and more particularly about the composition process, stand in a dialectical relationship to one another, otherwise practice gets gimmicky and theory becomes dogmatic. The role of theory is to define purposes, figure out why something works so it can be repeated, give perspective, and free teachers from…

The study of mass media and popular culture in a composition class allows students and teachers together to develop a critical awareness of television and advertising. Jerzy Kosinski's book, "Being There," a novel about the impact of television, is a beginning point for the study of television. Using that book as if it were a collection of events,…

A careful use of emphasis by students in their writing can be promoted by some exercises assigned by composition teachers. A drawing exercise can help students learn that changing the length of sentences makes paragraphs more interesting. Using Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's five categories of grief to consider times of depression in students' lives…

Creative writing and technical communication are distinct yet similar forms of writing that require time, patience, and disciplined creativity to be effective. Other qualities shared by these two writing forms that should be emphasized in technical writing courses are: (1) effective information sharing, a process that depends on audience analysis,…

The exercises in this pamphlet were designed to help United States Air Force personnel improve the effectiveness of their writing. Rules and exercises are provided in the following areas: (1) organizing ideas (paragraphs, subparagraphs, the main point, and reader needs); (2) speaking on paper--using personal pronouns, contractions, small words,…

In the past 30 or 40 years there has been much discussion about what factors contribute to readability in texts. In an attempt to characterize factors not measurable by current objective readability formulas, four texts that were adapted for younger readers were compared with their originals to see what kinds of changes adaptors had made and to…

TO IMPLEMENT THE PHILOSOPHY THAT GOOD WRITING STEMS FROM GOOD THINKING AND THAT PRACTICE IN PRODUCTIVE THINKING IS A PREREQUISITE FOR WRITING INSTRUCTION, THE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS OF LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA, PREPARED THIS GUIDE FOR TEACHING WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN GRADES KINDERGARTEN THROUGH EIGHT. THE OBJECTIVES ARE TO HELP CHILDREN (1) THINK…

THIS TWO-UNIT TEACHING GUIDE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPOSITION IS DESIGNED TO HELP STUDENTS BECOME AWARE OF THE DECISIONS INVOLVED IN ESTABLISHING A VOICE OR "PERSONA" AND OF THE EFFECT THESE DECISIONS HAVE ON THE IMAGE THAT IS PROJECTED TO AN AUDIENCE. AN INTRODUCTION CONTAINS A RATIONALE AND SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURES FOR DEVELOPING…

UNDER TITLE VI OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION ACT THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (MLA) UNDERTOOK IN 1960 TO PREPARE A SERIES OF TESTS IN FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, RUSSIAN. AND SPANISH FOR USE OF TWO LEVELS--(1) AFTER THE 2D YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE STUDY, OR THE SECOND SEMESTER IN COLLEGE, AND (2) AFTER THE 4TH YEAR OF HIGH…

TEN SENTENCE PATTERNS ARE DISCUSSED FOR THE 7TH THROUGH 12TH GRADE LEVELS. THE PRIMARY AIM IS TO PERSUADE THE YOUNG WRITER TO EMPHASIZE HIS USE OF TRANSITIVE ACTIVE AND INTRANSITIVE COMPLETE VERB PATTERNS AND TO REGULATE HIS USE OF TRANSITIVE PASSIVE AND LINKING VERBS ACCORDING TO THEIR LIMITED AND HIGHLY SPECIALIZED FUNCTIONS. SENTENCE FORM,…