Provides discussion and critical analysis of the modern system of the "professional" and how this system goes about constructing "knowledge." Describes a growing aversion among academics to the culture of specialization. Argues that the current deconstruction of the disciplines was inevitable. Suggests the creation of a…

Gives an overview of how one English teacher tried to make connections between the many short stories that were being read in her English classroom. Claims that teachers should always try to make explicit connections between works of literature. Provides examples of how this was done in one class. (HB)

Presents a transcript of an interview with the British logician and philosopher Stephen Toulmin. Covers aspects of his various books. Relates his thoughts to the field of composition studies. (HB)

Describes how network television can be used to teach visual literacy in the composition classroom. Claims that television's "look" is pervasive and rhetorically powerful. Analyzes the program "Twin Peaks" as it relates to the medium's codes. Suggests how the program might be used to teach students about these codes. (HB)

Explains the importance and purpose of telling stories for people. Describes interactive software that can be used by children to create stories. Presents some ways of using story telling in English instruction. (HB)

Describes how one writing teacher used the concept of the writer's commonplace book to encourage students to respond in writing to current cultural and news events. Shows how to set up separate files on computer networks containing reflections on news events, and argues that such a method is effective at inspiring writing. (HB)

Argues that current rhetoric needs to restore the authority of reason, not as a logical task but as an ethical one. Warns that, in doing this, teachers must resist the temptation of exceptionalism and must allow for fair discourse among participants. (HB)

Suggests four exercises to undertake prior to the actual reading and study of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" in high school English classes. (HB)

Examines Stephen Toulmin's system of logic and its application to the teaching of composition. Claims that Toulmin's approach is deficient for classroom applications. Argues that composition teachers would do better to retain principles from traditional logic rather than using Toulmin's form as a substitute. (HB)

Presents information gathered informally from junior high English teachers concerning the teaching of grammar. Debates the question of the feasibility of grammar instruction in English classrooms. Prescribes reasons for the teaching of grammar and useful methods for its instruction. (HB)

Shows how writing instructors can enhance the peer editing skills of their students and thereby improve the students' own writing and self-editing skills. Outlines a collaborative project used in a ninth-grade writing class that fostered the editing skills of students. (HB)

Discusses how changes in the technology of text, specifically a shift in the medium of presentation from paper to screen, will invariably trigger changes in the shape of the text. Utilizes a text analytical approach to identify nine dimensions of the key differences between paper and on-screen text. (HB)

Demonstrates a way to encourage students to take risks in their writing. (SR)

Considers the role of the visiting writer in encouraging and supplying useful writing advice to student writers. Proposes some principles for the art of writing that writers offer composition students, especially related to the art of writing over its craft. (HB)

Presents and discusses a course outline for a high school playwriting course (for which English credit is earned). Offers several writing assignments and a series of sequential steps designed to help students reach the goal of writing a one-act play. (SR)