Mathematical Writing  

Issues of technical writing and the effective presentation of mathematics and computer science. Preparation of theses, papers, books, and 'literate' computer programs.

Knuth, Donald E., Tracy Larrabee and Paul M. Roberts. Stanford University (1987). Articles>Writing>Scientific Communication>Mathematics

Out of the Trenches and into the Field: Leaves of Absence for Writing Teachers

Those who teach mainly writing have a particular need for avenues of career growth because their tasks are especially repetitive and personally draining. One such avenue can be a year's leave of absence in industry.

Pfeiffer, William S. ADE Bulletin (1987). Articles>Education>Collaboration

Planning and Running a Computer Lab for Writing: A Survival Manual

Increasingly, English teachers, their departments, and their administrations have been investigating the use of word processing and computer aids in writing. For those who integrate computer use into instruction, the question of access becomes crucial. Although some schools—like Carnegie Mellon and Drexel—solve this question by requiring their students to purchase computers, most colleges and universities are providing access, at least in part, through on-campus computer labs. On some campuses, the English department or writing center plays a significant role in establishing and running a computer lab for writing and may even have primary responsibility for doing so. Many of us, however, have had no training that prepares us for the technical and administrative problems involved in such an undertaking.

Schwartz, Helen J. ADE Bulletin (1987). Articles>Education>Writing

The Process of Writing: A Philosophical Base in Hermeneutics  

There is no doubt that among those concerned with composition and the teaching of writing, one of the dominant concerns is the process of writing. Anyone who has attended the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication in the past five years can attest to this fact. Indeed, writing across the curriculum and the process method of teaching composition are probably the two most important innovations in the field of composition in the past ten years. Whole programs have been restructured to enable teachers to teach by the process method. At my own institution, John Ruszkiewicz added this dimension to an already fairly elaborate composition program. Many of us who have been teaching composition for a good number of years have substantially altered our own techniques of teaching to incorporate more process emphasis.

Kinneavy, James L. JAC (1987). Articles>Rhetoric>Methods

Review: The Teacher-Researcher: How to Study Writing in the Classroom

The latest NCTE book list indicates that The Teacher-Researcher should interest English instructors at all levels. In fact, Myers’s “global purpose is to promote the development of teacher research among K-12 teachers by providing examples of different ways teachers can study writing in their classrooms,” mainly for assessment purposes (1). Although JAC readers may profit by applying some of Myers’s work in their research, The Teacher-Researcher as a whole is too eclectic and superficial. Because Myers sometimes treats details in his exposition rather cavalierly, he may confuse his primary audience as well.

Hagge, John. JAC (1987). Articles>Reviews>Education

Using High-Affect Goals in Teaching Proposal Writing  

Obviously, the purpose of any proposal writer is to persuade a reader. But our students are poorly served when they are told only that their documents aren’t persuasive enough.  General injunctions (or “top-level goals”) such as “persuade your reader” or “sell your reader” don’t help writers become more persuasive any more than the injunction “play with feeling” helps a musician become more evocative. Without a suitable repertoire of practical subgoals, Smith and our students know only in general what to do without knowing how to do it. In this article, we identify and examine six such subgoals. Once students understand these subgoals, they will be in the position to revise their proposals with their readers in mind.

Freed, Richard C. and Glenn J.Broadhead. JAC (1987). Articles>Grants>Proposals>Writing

Using the Enthymeme as a Heuristic in Professional Writing Courses  

In the following pages, I will offer a methodology for letter and memoranda writing which exchanges an emphasis on forms for one on rhetorical analysis. Ultimately, training in rhetorical analysis helps students exercise and refine the analytical and analogical thinking needed for any discipline; that is, a professional writing course can serve, as Carolyn Miller says, to 'present mechanical rules and skills against a broad understanding of why and how to adjust or violate the rules, of the social implications of the roles a writer casts for himself or herself, and for the reader, and of the ethical repercussions of one’s words—effects which emphasize the fundamental nature of the humanities' (617). But before addressing how a professional writing course advances a liberal education, or even why to adopt a new methodology, it would be instructive to look at the causes for a letter such as the one which opens this article. Certainly, cost is a consideration, it being cheaper to mail form letters than have secretaries research and write personalized letters; for a mail order business, though, especially one whose clientele pay substantial prices, this strategy may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. However, the two causes I want to discuss pertain more to the concerns of a writing class: the writer’s reliance on forms, and the lack of analysis of context and audience.

Jacobi, Martin. JAC (1987). Articles>Rhetoric>Writing>Business Communication