English Updates April 8, 2007 Archive

Archive
Writing..... Technique..... How help students learn to write fiction? Each person in a group writes the first paragraph of a story. Then pass to the right. Write second paragraph. Then pass to the right and write the third paragraph. Etc. F Jones. Wrt (May 05), 12.

Writing..... Testing..... What are possible effects of state and SAT writing tests? I do agree that state and SAT writing tests on someone else’s topics deaden writing, take away student interest in writing and do lead to leaden writing that may be correct, but lacking in enthusiasm and joy in self-expression. Ray 11/04.

Writing..... Usage..... What should be done about complex usage problems? “If a word is rarely used in spoken English and if the rules that govern its use are so convoluted that they make the average language user beg for mercy, that word should be expelled, excommunicated from the language. Whom is such a word…. There is ample precedent for banishing words from the language. Thee and thou left us years ago, leaving us with only you, an excellent replacement.” D Soles. EJ (May 05), 34.

Writing..... Word choice..... What are some problems with students’ writing? ‘In student work at each level—freshman through graduate—whether the focus is composition, literature or linguistics/stylistics, I find the same thing: in reading a lack of understanding of the meaning of words in context, a lack of sensitivity to the powers and limitations of words, a lack of interest in and healthy curiosity about words, and in writing, the fruits thereof, namely, incorrect, vague, imprecise, inappropriate, uninteresting, and ultimately ineffective diction.” D Rygiol. CCC (Oct. 78), 287.

Writing..... Word Processing..... What effect does word processing have on students’ writing? Students using word processing made more revisions than students using pencil/pen. A Cook, A Goldberg & M Russell. RTE (Nov. 04), 202. (abs.)

Writing/Speaking..... Argument..... How succeed in argumentative writing and speaking? “…the good rhetor answers the opponent’s questions even before they’re asked.” WC Booth. CE (Mar. 05), 379.

CE = College English. CCC = College Composition and Communication. RTE = Research in the Teaching of English. EJ = English Journal. Wrt = The Writer.