The purpose of this book is to teach would-be authors how to write and publish a book for young people. Divided into 2 parts, "A Practical Guide to Publishing" and "Special Writing Problems and Projects," the book provides suggestions based on actual writers' experiences. Among the subjects covered are work habits, dialogue, characterization,…

Students asked to write directions for assembling a tinkertoy structure learned valuable writing skills as well as critical ability. (JH)

A historical review since the late 1800s suggests that criticism of student writing ability has been a perennial problem and that similar reasons for it have been cited for nearly a century. (LBH)

A description of teaching composition in one of the most difficult of situations -- an urban commuter college -- and attempts to turn the course into a vital presence in the intellectual lives of the students. (Authors/RY)

Presents evidence that written responses to modality develop from a homogeneous writing quality to a more heterogeneous writing quality with some modes systematically favored over others." (Author)

An analysis of descriptive and narrative passages written by 45 first-semester college freshmen early in the semester suggests that mean T-unit length is not a stable individual trait either within the descriptive mode or across description and narration. (GT)

Exploratory problem solving that utilizes self-educating techniques such as the evaluation of feedback to improve performance can be put to use in the composition classroom. Quantitatively evaluated prewriting exercises can help students in two ways: first, students learn to use procedures that can prepare them for more sophisticated devices;…

Seventy tenth grade English students participated in a study comparing the effectiveness of two composition curricula for improving writing skills. The investigator-designed writing curriculum was based on R. M. Gagnes' hierarchy of intellectual skills (verbal chains, discriminations, concrete concepts, defined concepts, rules, and higher-order…

An examination of the written products and writing situations of a university reveals that virtually all of these writing tasks call for exposition, which further breaks down into the five components of seriation, classification, synthesis, compare/contrast, and analysis. These five components of expositional discourse form a set of…

Students can be taught to create vivid, colorful descriptions. To train their senses and sharpen their word choices and images, they can be asked to (1) list specific adjectives to describe such an image-producing word as "ocean," (2) substitute sharply-etched verbs for general ones in a given sentence, (3) record day-to-day observations in a…

Writing an interview paper provides students with a contextual framework for research inquiry because it helps them to identify and develop their own conceptual and investigative skills through dialogue with another person. Before the actual interview, it is important to choose a subject to interview and to organize the background material, to set…

An advanced writing course that does not repeat freshman English materials and techniques can encourage a variety of students to become enthusiastic about writing. One such course focuses on three writing modes: the poetic, the informative, and the persuasive. For the poetic mode, students write informal essays; for the informative mode, they…

Journal writing can motivate students to write frequently, thereby creating content which can later be properly structured. Students who keep journals tend to write better than those who do not. To help students explore certain ideas in journals further, teachers should ask questions or make statements that relate to the students' ideas. Sometimes…

Recommends a series of sense exploration exercises to help students develop more adequate descriptive writing. (TJ)

Basic writers can be taught to write effective expository prose if they are taught to revise, and they can make considerable progress if they are given opportunities to write narration before tackling the complexities of exposition. Narratives come easily to basic writers and allow them complete control over subject matter and language. The…