This article proposes to teach writing from the hypothesis that true writing and good prose are only end products rather than the primary objectives. The author suggests that producing an effect in a reader and revealing the self in words are prior achievements in the process of learning to write well. Criteria for judging writing are based…

This study describes a workshop course for high school students interested in writing articles, biographies, and humorous essays. Emphasis is on form and content, with special attention to the development of individual styles. Course objectives for the student include: (1) imitating various sentence structures, paragraph constructions, and unique…

Outlines an integrated study approach to informational writing for second grade children. Using dinosaurs as the topic, discusses how students solved the problem of selecting, organizing, and structuring their information by focusing on smaller pieces of information or by planning a contents page for their book. (MM)

Intended for teachers, students, and writers, this guide provides exercises for improving writing techniques and using literary devices. Following an introduction, the six chapters deal with the following techniques: (1) describing place, including observation and exaggeration; (2) describing people, including "inside/outside" portraits and…

CAUGHT IN THE PRESSURE FOR TEACHING MORE EXPOSITORY PROSE, THE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER IS IN DANGER OF REQUIRING A KIND OF COMMUNICATION FROM STUDENTS THAT DEADENS THEIR CREATIVITY. HOWEVER, WHEN CREATIVE WRITING IS TAUGHT WELL, IT REQUIRES AS MUCH STUDENT EFFORT AND PLANNING AS DOES EXPOSITORY WRITING. THE TEACHER CAN BEST TEACH CREATIVE…

This cumulative writing program for grades 7-12 of the Arlington County Public Schools presents a basic philosophy of composition which assumes that the process of writing consists of "probing deeply into a subject, ordering thought, and placing those thoughts on paper in such a way as to assure meaning." Following the discussions of the three…

As the inexperienced writer becomes aware of the issues involved in the composition of effective descriptive prose, he also develops a consistent control over his materials. The persona he chooses, if coherently thought out, can function as an index of many choices, helping him to manipulate the tone, intent, and mood of this style; to regulate…

This teaching guide on composition for grades 7-12 has been designed as a supplement to aid in encouraging the student to understand the importance of the spoken and written word. Included are sections on (1) research in grammar and usage, with annotated assessments of more than 50 current studies, (2) sentence structure, with lesson plans on…

By following the "steppingstone" or marker theory of dividing one's life into no more than 12 and no less than 8 significant periods, a student in a writing course can develop a brief response for each phase to articulate multiple experiences. Writing teachers can aid students in realizing that important life experiences are the stuff of…

Noting that effective writing instruction depends on careful planning informed by knowledge of the writing process and its variations in relation to different audiences and purposes, this teacher's guide explains the nature of the writing process and how it relates to instruction. The purposes of the guide are threefold: to highlight current…

In order to minimize the dread which students and teachers alike often feel toward freshman composition courses, it is important to involve students in reading and writing assignments which are of interest and importance to them. Autobiography, as a subject for study and a focus for writing, can be a great motivator and an expediter of the…

THIS BOOK IS INTENDED FOR USE WITH STUDENTS WHO CAN PROFIT FROM INSTRUCTION IN VIGOROUS AND COLORFUL WRITING. EMPHASIS IS PLACED UPON SHOWING THE STUDENT THAT HIS OWN EXPERIENCE IS RICHER THAN HE MAY SUPPOSE AND UPON HELPING HIM TO DRAW FROM IT. THE FIRST SECTION OF THE BOOK CONSIDERS THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SUBJECT, THEME, OBSERVATION, SENSORY…

Fifty disadvantaged urban boys ranging from ages 11 to 16 participated in a 6-week summer writing workshop patterned on the ideas of James Moffett, Donald Murray, and John Dixon. The students were divided into groups of five, were trained in methods of group discussion (aided by video tapes to prepare them for profitable analysis of each others'…

A study of children's syntax from a transformational perspective was initiated to explore the following areas: syntactic differences between narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative writing, and the relation of these differences to IQ, sex, and reading comprehension; the relation of syntax content; and the relation of children's…

This book presents a program for increasing the student's command of language through the experience of writing poetry. Designed to encourage students to systematically and accurately transform their experiences into brief expression, the program is divided into two sections--introductory and advanced. Each of the sections is composed of units on…