Presents a comparative analysis of two pieces of computer-based interactive multimedia whose words are similar but visual structures different. Argues that the visual aspects of these texts are "idea" and "assertion," doing the work of "content" and "information." Suggests that educators need to expand or…

Discusses the creation of an advertisement to catch the attention of the target audience: student readers. Notes the consideration of several important factors including: the product, the audience, the positioning, the principles, and the ingredients. Describes ways to get started and several points in approaching the design process. (SC)

Presents a comparative analysis of two pieces of computer-based interactive multimedia whose words are similar but visual structures different. Argues that the visual aspects of these texts are "idea" and "assertion," doing the work of "content" and "information." Suggests that educators need to expand or…

Biographical writing is highly imaginative writing and always has been. The task of the biographer is to weave a riveting story from the fabric of the subject's life. For example, a single pivotal incident in the lives of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the English poet, and Mary Godwin, author of "Frankenstein", at the grave of Mary's mother,…

Argues for the systematic use of patterns of arrangement to order and revise texts for a particular subject matter, purpose, and audience. Illustrates how writers mobilize textual patterns to some tangible effect and, as a consequence, how writing teachers and student-writers can overcome the pragmatic limitations ready-built into arrangement and…

Illustrates key features of visual rhetoric as they operate in two professional academic hypertexts and student work designed for the World Wide Web. Considers how by looking at features like audience stance, transparency, and hybridity, writing teachers can teach visual rhetoric as a transformative process of design. (SG)

Shows how grammar may be used conceptually to help students cultivate an understanding of the conventions of authorial presence in technical writing. (MM)

With the advent of English as a global language, the ability to write well in English across diverse settings and for different audiences has become an imperative in second language education programmes throughout the world. Yet the teaching of second language writing is often hindered by the great amount of time and skill needed to evaluate…

Honoring students' home dialect is a complex task when preparing them to take state writing tests that require the use of Standard English. Working with students who had failed the test and were in danger of not receiving a diploma, Michelle Crotteau created a supportive learning environment in which students could develop linguistic and…

In most traditional introductory college composition courses students are generally advised to address the teachers or some other authoritative figure as their primary audience. To supplement this traditional approach, students should also direct their discourse to audiences who are not projected as superior critics. One paper assignment that can…

Suggests that audience analysis, contextual and conventional "register," and the interplay between audience and convention are all tools needed to teach students how to write effectively and appropriately. Draws attention to the many features and types of conventional registers and underscores their relationship to audience…

This paper is concerned with the history of the attempt of progressive-era students at Bryn Mawr College to explore their interest in social-reform work through the writing that they did in required composition courses. In particular, the paper focuses on how these women attempted to fashion a public voice for themselves that could articulate…

Foregrounds teaching and writing as embodied (that is, gendered, sexualized) practices that contain within them markers of identity that require us to revisit our past or which can subject us to shame. Highlights the transformative potential such teaching and writing have, both for us and for various audiences. (SG)

Presents a lesson that might be useful early on teaching a play writing class. Considers how audiences care about things that a character cares about. Explains that in a story the higher the stakes are for the character, the more an audience will invest in the story. Presents a seven question quiz with answers including a discussion of each…

Argues that technical writing instructors teaching audience awareness should introduce students to a variety of pedagogical strategies. Describes four common strategies for teaching audience awareness, ranging from instructions to "consider your audience" to real rhetorical situations. (MM)