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This study of contemporary realistic fiction with settings outside the United States and characters who are citizens of other countries--appropriate for children aged nine through twelve years--sought to discover the differences between those by American authors and those by non-American authors. For the study, 35 books (24 by American authors and 11 by non-American authors) were chosen from "The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books" and were analyzed according to positive and negative concepts; age, sex, economic status, education level, social class, racial group, and personality traits of major and minor characters; goals valued by major and minor characters; and the positive and negative characteristics and stereotypes of major and minor characters. Analysis of results showed no significant differences in any but two categories: non-American authors portrayed major characters of adequate economic status and in the middle or upper social class, while American authors tended to depict major characters as being of low economic status and in the lower class. (JM)

Two opposing views of composition instruction--one emphasizing the creativity and self-involvement of the student (or producer), and one emphasizing the communication produced (the product)--can be reconciled through a perspective that emphasizes the process of composition. It is in process, defined as "the act of composing" or "the act of producing," that all student composing takes place. Both producer-orientation and product-orientation in the composition classroom can shortchange process. Producer, product, and process are not mutually exclusive, however, and all three elements, determined by the purpose of the discourse, can function together to turn the classic, one-dimensional communication triangle of encoder-signal-decoder into a three-dimensional prism. Teaching or writing must provide aims and occasions and be centered on process, allowing individual writers the freedom to engage process in ways that observation and experience have shown writers really use. (AEA)

The ruling model of the college teacher of composition has been the "composition instructor," who like the military drill instructor is unflinching, authoritarian, and dedicated to turning students into disciplined writers of standard English by means of drills and criticism. The military pose is inherent in the call for a return to basics, because the basics are perceived as best fostered by a hard-nosed prescriptivism. This approach is grounded in erroneous ideas of how students learn and of the effectiveness of this manner of instruction. Under the assumption that the student's mind is a blank tablet, the method ignores research showing that the ability to learn develops over a period of time and that it is important not to seek certain goals until the student is prepared to achieve them. A more appropriate model for the composition teacher is that of the "master craftsman," who is wise, authoritative, and who shares skills with the student-apprentices who teach themselves by doing. (DF)

A study was conducted over a two-year period to investigate the idea-generating strategies of six professional writers and their implications for students. Because finding an idea that leads to a journal or newspaper column is so important to a writer, an attempt was made to learn ways professional writers establish working plans and develop a knowledge of the topic through long-term memory. It was found that they are "assiduous string savers," accumulators of quotes or notes stored from memory and written clippings to be used for triggering associations--to generate new ideas and to discover connections. The writers' testimony demonstrates that the work of a professional writer is facilitated by an extensive storage of professional information or an immersion in the context of the profession. This immersion frees the writer from the short-term demands of discovery that student writers usually encounter. The greater the understanding of the subject, the greater the potential for making connections spontaneously. In that respect, there is a gulf between professional and student writers, which implies that students need a context to draw upon. Possibly, this context and experience need to be provided for them in rhetoric classes. (EL)

Ten reflections may be made regarding children's literature and its teaching. The reflections are as follows: (1) Teachers can make a profound difference in the lives of students and should attempt to do so. (2) Teachers of children's literature are a badly fragmented lot and need a common meeting ground where they can share their thinking. (3) The quality of children's literature has improved in recent years. (4) What was once the cottage industry of trade book publication is no more. Now that the publishing houses are owned by conglomerates whose chief concern is profitmaking, editors are prevented from taking risks in publishing books by unknown, promising authors. (5) Great publishing houses used to be known and respected for the quality of their backlists--but today backlists are becoming relics of the past. (6) The children's book publication, movie, and television industries are becoming more and more interconnected. (7) Increasing costs of publishing and increasing profit margins may affect the publication of children's books. (8) Television and film have dramatically influenced the form of children's books. (9) Basal systems that use literature as the basis of reading exercises pervert the essential purpose of literature--to entertain. (10) It appears that teachers may have failed to show students the importance of literature to the well-being of our culture. (GT)