WeiWei Yang, in her forum piece, raises two main criticisms of the authors' "TQ" article on grammatical complexity: "The study the authors conducted [1] is not capable of answering development-related questions and [2] is mathematically questionable" (Yang, 2013, p. 190). In addition, Yang's article has a third goal that is not explicitly…

In this response I discuss several points that Bruton made in his own response paper. I first argue that his main theme, that design factors should be emphasized over statistical analysis, has never been a genuine issue; it is two independent issues, and for each of them I have some concerns about his discussion. I then consider his comments on…

In April, the "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends, and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs, and practices. In this installment of the series, DiSalvio speaks with Richard Arum,…

Examines three rhetorical techniques that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his "First Inaugural Address" to announce and implement his New Deal. The various speech drafts examined reveal that he purposefully used military metaphor, the scapegoat, and the carrot-and-stick approach to accomplish certain persuasive goals. (JMF)

Notes that "The Stone-Faced Boy" illustrates author Paula Fox's clarity of insight and graceful writing. (FL)

A text is the locus of many intersecting processes, the origins, character, and operative principles of which should be the main focus of its discussion in a writing class. These processes can be classified into the four major components of the communicative act: the writer, the reader, the social conditions of communication, and the historical…

Examines the writing of Pliny the Younger as representative of rhetorical theory and practice in the period between Quintilian and Fronto. Points out that Pliny's ideas on speech preparation, invention and arrangement, style, and delivery give answers to some of the timeless questions of rhetoric. (PD)

Suggests how teachers of writing can use the concepts of Kenneth Burke to revise discussions about words and thereby better empower the "wordlings" they teach. Argues for a Burkean concept of writing as a psycholinguistic, sociocultural process to be used in the writing classroom. (HB)

Students' use of "I think" and its variants when writing about literature reflects an avoidance of close observation of the literary text. (DD)

Argues that simplicity without oversimplification, the choice of the revealing example, the relationship of content and structure, the ramifications of style and language, and the many uses of illustrations all have their particular functions in the creation of children's nonfiction literature. (HOD)

Reviews Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." Discusses Twain's use of realism and language in writing about life in London in 1547. (EL)

Argues that editor William Allen White was striving to set a social and political agenda that would advance business values and bring prosperity to his home state, Kansas. (FL)

Reports responses of several authors of young adult literature concerning the importance of first readers' reactions to their unpublished drafts. Offers comments on the general subject of writers' attitudes toward criticism and revision. (EL)

Claims that recent reassessments of Mina Shaughnessy's "Errors and Expectations" and the field of composition in the 1970s overlook the institutional forces that helped shape the rhetoric and methodology of researchers at that time. (HB)

An assignment for high school or college students that requires them to interpret what a poem may have communicated to the poet's contemporaries can be valuable in that it teaches them that there is more than one way to interpret a poem and that the rules of interpretation are neither universal nor unchanging. Such an approach to poetry…