The use of a Jonathan Schwartz essay as a prose model to teach writing lends itself appropriately to classroom discussions on various aspects of autobiography and general narrative design. Such use has proved to be particularly helpful with young writers because of its deceptively simple style and language and its use of a variety of sophisticated…

A study of reader response to stylistically poor prose indicated that the negative effects were greater if the topic was familiar to the readers. The readers were not measuring the stylistic quality of the text, but rather, the texts were measuring the cultural information of the readers. It is not possible to separate reading skills from the…

A product of the Wisconsin Writing Project, this guide for teachers is intended to stimulate students' writing and reading of poetry and help them derive a greater understanding of the craft. A discussion of definitions and an overview of the guide are followed by descriptions of student needs and goals. The major portion of the guide contains a…

There are two major categories of writing, expository and creative. Expository writing includes descriptive writing (description, report, taking notes, outline, exposition, summary, letter, diary, telegram, and minutes) and argumentative writing (argumentation, essay, and comment). Creative writing includes poem, narration, tale, slogan,…

High school students writing research papers face the problem of finding audiences for their work, especially today when the consensus is that any kind of good writing requires some hypothetical audience or reader. Unless students are in a composition class where they write to someone special, they have difficulty grasping the idea of audience.…

The use of controlled compositions as a method of providing writing practice for English as second language (ESL) students is described. The method requires students to copy well-written short compositions while changing each one a meaningful way, such as from present to past tense or singular to plural. Thus, students at all levels or ages can…

Intended to acquaint students and parents with the English program at Bellaire High School (Michigan), this guide contains the curriculum for grades 7 through 12. After a short introduction stating the program's philosophy and student requirements, a style sheet for all student papers, and a list of the program's sequence, the curriculum for each…

Noting that present evaluation systems are so limited that they are neither reliable nor valid, this monograph critically reviews studies designed to evaluate composition programs at four major universities. The book offers theoretical and practical guidance through discussion of generalities from the four studies and pertinent questions and…

The program described in this paper makes beginning reading an activity in which children could use all of their cognitive and affective abilities to experience the images and ideas within the piece. The introduction points out that children can become actively involved in reading by writing poetry because they are creating the reading material…

The writing of ESL students, while sophisticated in some respects, often contains fragments and run-ons. Because these students have no reliable, self-monitoring system for analyzing their writing and because they believe they are communicating effectively, they fail to recognize their difficulties in forming complete sentences. This paper…

Conducting library research is a complex procedure that relies not only upon the knowledge of basic reference sources, but also upon an appreciation of the process of literature searching. Writing teachers can provide their students with models of the research process to guide them in their quests for information. Search strategy outlines map the…

Tutors are true professionals who understand that even though their own philosophical stance toward teaching may differ from an instructor's, they have an obligation to do whatever the professor requires. However, because they work more closely with them, the tutors are in a better position than the teacher to see when the students are having…

A theory of style called the doctrine of synonymity argues that the separation of form from content allows the possibility of alternative phrasing. This theory led to the conception that during the writing process, writers consider different ways of phrasing and settle on the formulation that best expresses the meaning intended. However, the…

In writing, as with tools, form must always follow function. From this perspective there can be no "good" writing, only effective writing. Unfortunately, in most instructional situations the function of communicating to an audience is often neglected. Most so-called poor writing falls into the category of writer-based prose. Once student writing…

This booklet contains one teacher's experiences with teaching poetry to children, offering suggestions and insights about organizing the subject matter, preparing a conducive physical environment, and practicing with various poetic forms. Sections of the booklet discuss the characteristics and behaviors of writing room teachers, the organization…