Offers an account of the second International Conference on Language and Literacy, held August 11-14, 1996. Discusses presentations by Tom Romano, Linda Reif, and Nancie Atwell. (RS)

Argues that absentee coaching is a successful instructional method to improve journalism students' writing because it provides specific feedback, writers maintain control, it builds writers' confidence, and it develops reader awareness. Discusses putting it into practice, coaching and grading, and the advantages of coaching. (SR)

Encourages readers to see "confessional" not as a means of dismissal or as an injunction to self-revelation but as an opening for reflection and conversation--a way to consider the shaping power of institutional forces in the progress of defining and redefining selves, genres, and professional knowledge. (SG)

Presents words of encouragement to a young poet. Includes empathetic words and motivating ideas. Presents a letter including a quote from "Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth and ideas about that quote. (SG)

Criticizes the hegemony of social constructivism in rhetoric and composition. Argues there are more options than social constructivism, positivism, and expressivism. Describes Jurgen Habermas' philosophy of universal pragmatics as one of a number of alternatives. (PM)

Describes preparation for a one-day Young Authors' Conference. Discusses how the organizers set up a date and facilities for the event, enlisted the services of an author/illustrator, recruited team leaders and facilitators from the organization, and explored funding. Describes children sharing, writing journal/bookmarks, and author's sharing from…

Argues that, whether or not writing centers become an established part of the academic community, writing center staff should maintain a willingness to entertain multiple perspectives on critical issues and an ability to tolerate contradictions and contraries. Discusses some of the emerging dogmas concerning writing center instruction. (RS)

Represents a departure from the current trend against abstraction. Proposes a new formalism for the composition classroom. Argues that, when it comes to representing written arguments composed in response to multiple sources, existing schemes of argument are missing important abstractions about how authors use the arguments of others in the…

Presents a compilation of classroom writing strategies designed for students and selected from readings and classroom experiences. (RS)

Examines the classical tradition of using imitation to teach rhetoric. Argues that the modern inability to appreciate imitation as a serious pedagogical method is attributable more to the modern world view than to any appraisal of its efficiency as a way to teach rhetoric and composition. (MM)

Explores the author's experiences with freewriting. Argues that freewriting has gradually given the author a profoundly different experience of and relationship to writing. Concludes that freewriting is at the root of the author's sense of his progress in writing. (RS)

Responds to Ann B. Dobie's article, "Orthographic Theory and Practice, or How to Teach Spelling" ("Journal of Basic Writing," v5 n2). Describes how an informal spelling survey can help students analyze their strategies and errors to develop a sense of linguistic awareness. Includes a sample spelling survey. (MM)

Reports on a national survey of Association for Business Communication members to determine how extensively employment skills are being taught, what employment skills are being taught, how important they are, and what employment skills should be taught. (JAD)

Speculates on the politics of not teaching irony in the writing classroom. Maintains that irony defines a political relationship between the user and the audience being addressed or excluded. Challenges some of the principles of "good" writing as embodied in composition textbooks, particularly principles concerning clarity and sincerity.…

A writing activity for business communications students--developing an instruction sheet to accompany a familiar product--teaches them that writing is a process that helps in achieving a product. (JOW)