A Community of Writers: A Workshop Course in Writing

I have used a variety of textbooks to teach English composition over the past 19 years, but this one is my favorite. Elbow & Belanoff offer a variety of pre-writing strategies, drafting tips, single and group assignments, and peer-editing activities. The book is very readable; the writers put the practical suggestions in the body of the chapter, and the detailed theory of WHY the suggestions work is in special sections at the end. Those students who want to know why certain strategies work can get the answers without bogging down the rest of the class. Each assignment comes with process journal questions, which force the students to analyze their own writing and which lead smoothly into the writing autobiography assignment at the end. Due to the author's excellent explanations and samples of various peer-review methods, I have fewer problems with and student complaints about peer-review with this text than with any other I have tried. When I use this text, more of my students take control of their own writing processes. They begin to understand the reasons behind the failure or success of a given paper. This text is very empowering to student writers. Much of the analysis done in peer-review and in process journals promotes development of higher-level critical thinking skills, and I can see those skills reflected in my students' writing by the end of the semester. Disclaimer: If you don't agree with Peter Elbow's other work about writing, you probably won't like this book, either.