Argues that two oppositions (product versus process, literacy versus orality) bear a special relationship to one another resembling a ratio. Relates product and literacy to centralized authority, and relates process and orality to open-minded exchange, thus evoking the central dilemma of modern culture. (HB)

Provides 10 tips on things not to do when writing stories, including not believing any of the other 9 "don'ts." (SR)

Semantic mapping is offered as a prewriting strategy to help students (of all ages) with hearing impairments organize and structure their writing. Semantic mapping can offer these students a visual access to the writing process. (DB)

Urges writing teachers of all backgrounds to face higher education's continuing inability to meet the needs of African American students. Discusses literacy and African American students, authentication, and defining self. Recommends moving toward a more inclusive literacy. (PRA)

Presents a collaborative essay by a writing teacher and a writing student in which they try to make sense out of a situation in which the student was fired from her off-campus job for what she had written in the context of a writing assignment in the university setting. (PRA)

Maintains that cliches can improve students' writing style. Describes six techniques for polishing cliches into something original. (SR)

Provides memoirs of the late composition theorist James A. Berlin by four friends and colleagues: Janice M. Lauer, John Trimbur, Debra L. Jacobs, and Lester Faigley. Includes personal information about Berlin as a teacher, father, and friend along with comments about Berlin's contributions to the field of writing theory and praxis. (HB)

Outlines a process by which senior high school students study Jonathan Swift's'"A Modest Proposal" and then write their own satirical essays by modeling the tone and style of Swift's essay. (SR)

Provides a theoretical framework by which traditional prosody might be reformulated according to reader response insight. Advocates prosody taking the form of a "story of reading." Advocates a narrative style of prosodic criticism. (HB)

Suggests that educators help students see their literacies as grounded in situation and community. Argues that high schools should provide a multitude of situational contexts for literacy-learning experiences beyond the general academic community. Draws on genre theory to offer five general suggestions for improving the teaching and learning of…

Maintains that to truly liberate students, teachers must get beyond the binary oppositions (capitalism/Marxism, individualism/collectivism) that characterize Western thought. Advocates helping students learn to accommodate and resist both sides of such dichotomies. Suggests how to do this in the writing classroom. Discusses Edward Sampson's recent…

Discusses the pedagogy and writing of Joyce Carol Oates and its relationship to composition theory and writing processes. Emphasizes the ties between composition theory and literature appreciation. (PRA)

Suggests pushing students to explore their own knowledge of and instincts about their experiences as they write to any audience. Discusses the "when,""where," and "how" of revision. Discusses limiting scope and focus, adding dialogue and interviews, switching point of view and voice, and transforming research papers and narrative. (PRA)

Examines what's at stake in the apparent conflict between "theory" and "practice" in composition. Suggests how each of these terms bears contradictory meanings and thus proves unstable. Suggests how talk of their conflict in composition reflects most of all the anxieties of the field's various subgroups as it goes through…

Offers suggestions from 18 teachers on how to incorporate music into English classes. (PRA)