English Update March 3, 2007

How measure quality in writing? Predictors of quality in writing: density of modification in paragraphs; absence of run-on sentences. P DiStefano & R Marzano in RL Larson. CCC (May 79), 200.

How should students prepare for writing? Rhetorical situation: Why are you writing? Who is your audience? What is the occasion? What is your purpose? What is the means of publication? What particular constraints seem to be operating? Students must complete the “rhetorical situation” before turning in papers. LS Ede. CCC (Oct. 79)

How can teachers help their students learn to write? Teachers should review and comment on preliminary drafts. W U McDonald, Jr. CCC (May 78), 167-170.

What are some methods for previewing nonfiction textbook chapters? Alternative to my approach to previewing textbook chapters: Preview by reading first, and last paragraphs and first sentence of each intervening paragraph; then turn each heading or topic sentence into a question and read the paragraph or section to answer the question. MF O’Hear. CCC (Oct. 77), 278.

How should students prepare for writing? Some writers seem to work more in their head, and others more on paper. DM Murray. CCC (Dec. 78), 377.

How can students become more conscious of their writing process? Students keep diaries in which they reflect on their writing processes. S Crowley. CCC (May 77), 166-169.

How should students prepare for writing? Heuristics are lists of questions about topics that enable students to produce information on the topic and prepare them to write compositions on the topic. JM Lauer. CCC (Oct. 79), 268-269.

What does the good reader do? The good reader anticipates by reading with questions and expectations in mind…. J Dawkins. LA (Feb. 77), 129.

What are the processes that writers in all fields use in producing their writing? We have interviews with imaginative writers about the writing process, but rarely interviews with science writers, business writers, political writers, journalists, ghost writers, legal writers, medical writers—examples of effective writers who use language to inform and persuade. DM Murray. CCC (Dec. 78), 380.

Why preview books for independent reading? I had thought that I was a slow reader. Not so—my deliberate, analytic reading style had its place. But I read everything at the same speed. I soon learned to skim and scan and then to adapt my reading rate to the specific needs dictated by the changing terrain of the text before me. In so doing, I discovered, that few books are actually meant to be read from cover to cover, that good books need to be read several times…. What was most significant, however, was that I found methodical pre-reading of difficult texts allowed me to organize my time and concentrate on the passages that were the most important or most difficult to grasp. With time, I learned how to learn from books, and I became good at it. R Wolpow. JAAL (Sept. 04), 7.

What are the steps in the writing process? Divides the composing process into the steps of pre-writing (experiencing the desire to communicate, discovering subject and audience, choosing a form), writing (arranging material, making choices of language, embodying ideas in language), and post-writing (evaluating, editing, proofreading). C Koch & JM Brazil in RL Larson. CCC (May 79), 205.

What are the characteristics of a person who is a professional? Being a professional means keeping up, remaining aware of what’s new in the field. M Reynolds. TETYC (Sept. 04), 73.

Why study proverbs? “…that proverbs are not just outworn sentiments from an earlier age, but that they are still being used by people every day to win arguments. Because proverbs are so familiar, they often win uncritical acceptance from the audience.” FJ D’Angelo. CCC (Dec. 77), 365.

CCC = College Composition and Communication. LA = Language Arts. TETYC = Teaching English in the Two-Year College. JAAL = Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.