Describes a research paper assignment that asks students to come up with a question (problem) in some academic field that can be answered (solved) from synthesizing all of the information currently available. Argues that such an assignment teaches the research paper within a rhetorical context. (HOD)

Explains how students can be introduced to the delights and problems of lyric poetry by reading A.E. Housman's "Lovliest of Trees, the Cherry Now." (HOD)

Advocates using scrapbooks as a genre for getting reluctant writers involved in writing across the disciplines of English and social studies. Provides examples. (PA)

Describes a writing assignment (to be carried out while in the process of writing a research paper) in which students critique either their best or their worst sources. (SR)

Describes two assignments that help students realize the dialectic between parts (how one part affects the understanding of all other parts) by having students create their own photographs and physical structures, combine the parts in various way, and consider (in their written papers) the difference it makes. (SR)

Offers an exercise to help students understand the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing and how both practices can result in plagiarism if the original source is not cited. Explains how the exercise uses Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." (TB)

States that the Progressive Novella Project for high school students involves the collaborative writing of a 35-50 page novella. Explains that prior to the actual writing process, students are educated in the basic elements of fiction writing. Describes the division of labor into groups. Comments that the results of the project are invariably…

Argues that the historical development of written narrative during the past century confounds traditional distinctions between fiction and nonfiction. Argues that students need to develop cognitive complexity. Outlines a sequence of assignments intended to destabilize students' assumptions about the difference between reality and fantasy, fiction…

Explains how the use of parody can improve students' writing and add more zest, zing, and vigor to their writing style. (HOD)

Describes the Reporter's Reading Method, a student-directed reading system that requires students to write questions as they read, and use those questions as the basis for classroom discussion. (MM)

Presents a class activity which uses laminated pictures from art calendars, museums, and other sources as a stimulus for writing. (SR)

Describes an activity in which students study and then create effective television public service announcements, thus integrating reading, writing, speaking, and drawing. (SR)

Describes the evolution of an assignment in a college-level English class in which students present to the class their analysis of lyrics to a favorite song of theirs (on a particular topic). Shows how students thereby are eased into interpretation, critical examination, and some of the principles of literature. (SR)

Describes a writing assignment based on a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode in which an alien sacrifices his life so two cultures can come together. Provides questions for students to answer during the viewing of the episode. Suggests a writing assignment (and several variations) in which students create their own alien. (TB)

Describes assignments that integrate ideas from student journals into expository and deliberate essays. (HOD)