Notes that George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is frequently encountered in textbooks that ignore the existence of the original audience. Argues that textbook editors thereby misinform students by failing to show how writers recognize and write to particular audiences, and how writers' specific audiences determine many of the authors'…

Describes a method used to teach freshman students how to make research a conscious part of their reading and writing processes, by helping them use their personal associations with a text and their questions about a text, to compose meaning and become conscious of the activities they are performing. (HTH)