So much has been written about feminism and composition that it may seem that there is little left to be said. But one question to ask is what scholars gain by keeping up the debate--that is, instead of asking how feminism relates to composition, what should be asked is why feminism insists on a relation to composition. A look at Elizabeth Flynn's…

Some questions about feminist rhetoric would include the following. Should a speaker resist the phallocentric rhetoric of the academy by refusing, resisting or otherwise willfully choosing not to say, "Here are my points, Here are my conclusions, Here is my argument that I hope to persuade you to believe?" Should a speaker foster a…

Reviews the history of intellectual views on the Greek sophists in three phases: (1) their disparagement by Plato and Aristotle as the morally disgraceful "other"; (2) nineteenth century British positivists' reappraisal of these relativists as ethically and scientifically superior; and (3) twentieth century versions of the sophists as…

The article describes the advantages of word processing for children with problems affecting motor coordination and control or with disorders affecting memory, planning, spelling, and organization. Stressed is the importance of software selection, instruction, and computer access. (DB)

The process of interactive writing through dialog journals is discussed and a comparison of behaviors frequently observed in gifted individuals and characteristics of dialogue journal writing are offered. A case study of a gifted five-year-old communicating with her father is presented. (DB)

Argues that formulaic writing, as in the five-paragraph essay, blocks diversity of expression. Asserts that each composition should be unique to the writer and subject, and that the writing process must be allowed to move through "untidy" stages that characterize the creative process. (MM)

Recounts the diverse reactions elicited by a college writing teacher when he asked his students to compose using his copy of Keats' life-mask as a resource. Discusses how the life-mask acted as a stimulus, turning in-class writing into an exciting and useful composition experience. (NKA)

Recent research indicates that journalistic reporting and writing techniques effectively develop language arts competency. Such writing techniques should be taught long before the student enters high school. Benefits of real-life writing to students are discussed. (MT)

Uses personal reminiscences to show how the past does not die but becomes part of an understandable pattern in life. Suggests that keeping a journal increases that understanding. (MM)

Discusses the book, "The Tidy House: Little Girls Writing," by Carolyn Steedman, which is an account of the writing of a story by three young girls and the story itself. (FL)

The radical feminists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as their online counterparts today, offer provocative examples of networked textuality, a discourse dependent on the constant and visible contextualization of self and writing within the discourses of hegemony. Given its potential use for liberatory writing pedagogies, it seems…

Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of language and literature can illuminate the workings of multigenre compositions. Bakhtin's theories of heteroglossia and novelization are applicable because they are not genre dependent. As he says, they reach "beyond the bounds of the novel as genre" to reflect the ways all kinds of written language may…

This book is a history of composition studies which follows a single strand: plagiarism. The problem the book addresses is the contradictions between what composition scholars now collectively believe about reading and writing, and what composition teachers (including many of those same composition scholars) actually put into practice in their…

Discusses the lack of professional agreement as to which components of writing should be evaluated and how. Offers eight suggestions as guidelines for writing evaluation. (HTH)

A Caldecott Medal author-illustrator describes his development into a writer of children's books. (AEA)