Literary texts offer a rich environment for language learning that teachers can exploit to develop not only students' linguistic (pragmatic, discursive) and cultural skills, but also communication and creative skills. In our study, we have used literature with different writing activities that involved the use of students' imagination and…

Suggests that the valorization of Emerson in English departments has been behind the split between fiction and nonfiction, and between creative writing and composition. Suggests further that the values Emerson places on contemplation versus action degrade argument and persuasion. (TB)

Written to encourage imaginative approaches to teaching writing, this paper contains ideas for developing writing skills by encouraging creative writing, formal analysis, and criticism despite the traditional lack of literary analysis in the creative writing classroom. In addition to including teaching techniques for practicing literary skills…

This book provides the general reader with an introduction to the field of imaginative fiction. The first two chapters describe the growth of science fiction from Aristophanes to Asimov and give the history of its parent literature, fantasy. The rest of the book affords the apprentice writer an overview of skills necessary for creating imaginative…

Concludes that imaginative literature is the best way to begin to teach writing and the literature to teach first should be the most basic and elemental types: fable, fairy tale, parable, proverb, and myth. (DD)

Describes the role of writing fiction as a mode of inquiry into work experience. Contends that the writing of stories is a way of learning about one's experiences. Proposes a cross-professional group to explore putting into practice such modes of inquiry. (DB)

Takes issue with the assumed antithesis of processes of the irrational (imagination and creativity) and those of the rational (reasoning and argumentation). Argues that numerous philosophers suggest richer ways of imagining the processes of argumentation. Explores various classroom practices that enable teachers to weave the creative and critical…

Dreams can be used to draw students into an authentic expression of their creativity and to give them some validation for what they are as persons. A "dream seminar" in a writing course could have students read and discuss Whitman's "Leaves of Grass"; log, report, and discuss their dreams during the course; and explore other…

Frequently, writing students are so concerned with correct grammar and mechanics that their essays are stilted and dry. Their writing is further hampered by rhetorical formulas that describe what the structure of the essay should be when it is finished but not how to go about writing it. Can poetic invention strategies help produce better essays?…

Two studies involving 60 graduate and undergraduate students explored the role of structured imagination in story creation. Results indicate representational knowledge was an important influence on story meaning and originality and that meaningful and original stories were more likely to contain abstract concepts than were nonmeaningful and…

Theories of creative writing have been for the most part bound up with theories of art. Both teachers and the general public, however, are dissatisfied with such institutionalized theories. Creative writers should first look to theories of writing rather than infer them from art. Recent composition theories, both cognitive theories and those of…

Reviews automaticity, effortless writing that enjoys freedom from excessive conscious interference, in terms of its origins in automatic writing and growth into contemporary techniques. Characterizes automaticity as a (1) form of dissociation from consciousness; (2) succor to spontaneity and creativity; and (3) key to understanding why some…

This paper reviews earlier experiments in fostering creative expression in the writing of students at all educational levels, and presents an abstract of an experiment involving 81 students of educational psychology at Tennessee State University. Each wrote one essay per week, which was then rated for creativity on four scales (fluency,…

Articles address a variety of ways in which imagination can be used to enhance second language teaching and learning. They include: "Multiple Intelligences and Second Language Acquisition" (Mary Ann Christison); "Spellbound in the Language Class: A Strategy of Surprise" (Gertrude Moskowitz); "The Imagination: Where Roles…