Considers the pursuit of language rights of speakers of English varieties, particularly those collected under the category of African American vernacular English. Describes how a lack of legal language rights for African Americans have left them to appeal to attitudes in the search for democratizing teaching policies. Concludes that attempts to…

Notes that one of the hardest parts of writing for beginning reporters is the lead. Contends that news stories need to have a clear focus that is reflected in the lead. Provides steps to help student writers with leads. (PM)

Presents an interview with William E. Coles, Jr. Notes that his writings on composition are among the earliest and best examples of creative nonfiction in composition studies. (SG)

Brings together 25 years of experience of keeping journals, thinking about landscape, and attending Quaker meetings. Suggests that good writing happens not despite our "busyness," but rather because we have found ways to attend to our outward lives by attending to our inward lives. Considers how the journal becomes a doorway to the…

States that engineering students, faculty, and administration agree that writing instruction is important in engineering education. Suggests that, as an alternative to technical writing, if students learn how to approach an issue, form an arguable idea, then logically prove it, this deep level of writing/thinking comprehension can be used to…

Shows how the modeling of established poetic forms can help community college students to write poetry. (TB)

Argues that writing charged with spiritual awareness can also be politically responsible. Uses poetry as an illustration, specifically the poetry of George Oppen, a Jewish-American who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1969. Discusses his poetry. Examines what the act of remembering means for a researcher and composition teacher. (PA)

Uses visual images to open up spaces for imagination and to encourage children to go beyond the familiar during writing workshop. Shares ways to engage students with looking at the visual arts in order to write. Reflects on September 11. Explores the possibilities of the aesthetic response. (SG)

Contends that the ancient Babylonian epic poem "Gilgamesh" makes room for elements that call into question the very nature of heroic. Notes that the opening passage of the poem informs readers that it is going to foster elements contrary to expectations. Provides examples of such surprises. (PM)

Explains the Literacies for All Summer Institute which incorporates research perspectives, innovative classroom practices, and opportunities for interaction among participants. Interviews the keynote speakers for the conference: poet, author, and teacher David Bouchard and literary researcher Randy Bomer. Discusses writing inspiration,…

Describes the author's experience in keeping a reading-writing journal. Notes how her journal began as an academic journal, but her personal life crept into it. Notes that her students experienced the same thing. (SG)

Considers conversation one of the most useful tools in the author's teacher's toolbox. Features a sample sequence, complete with the handout he uses in class to achieve productive conversations. Outlines conversation guidelines. (SG)

Makes a case for the inclusion of the personal in the academy, particularly in the ways tertiary students learn to become writers. Examines the relevance of the personal in academic classrooms on writing; defines the "personal" and charts its historical development in academia; and considers arguments for and against this approach. Recommends…

Describes the author's experience when a staff developer helped her teach writing. Concludes that she has experienced firsthand how writing every day, writing about the things she knows, talking about her writing, and sharing her writing with trusted colleagues has helped her improve as both a writer and a teacher. (SG)

Outlines a weekend residential program that uses creative writing to raise environmental awareness through a polemical engagement with a specific local environmental issue. Notes that poetry, narrative, discursive writing, interview, and group presentations were all used in what became an introduction to environmental politics. Proposes that a…