Offers an exercise to help students understand the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing and how both practices can result in plagiarism if the original source is not cited. Explains how the exercise uses Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." (TB)

Presents a class activity which uses laminated pictures from art calendars, museums, and other sources as a stimulus for writing. (SR)

Describes a writing assignment based on a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode in which an alien sacrifices his life so two cultures can come together. Provides questions for students to answer during the viewing of the episode. Suggests a writing assignment (and several variations) in which students create their own alien. (TB)

Presents a class activity in which student describe and classify music as an introduction to writing classification essays. (SR)

Offers a model lesson that uses television commercials to foster in students a more sophisticated awareness of audience. (SR)

Describes two writing assignments that may be used to make Shakespeare more approachable and understandable: first a paraphrase of a passage, and second a memo to an actor interpreting the same passage. (TB)