AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, TEACHERS USE INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE AS THE BASIS FOR INSTRUCTION IN COMPOSITION AND LITERATURE. FOLLOWING THE PRINCIPLES OF FRANCIS CHRISTENSEN, THE TEACHERS CONCENTRATE FIRST ON THE WRITING OF SENTENCES, THEN ON WRITING PARAGRAPHS. THE FINAL WRITING AND STUDY OF WHOLE THEMES ILLUSTRATE THAT THE DEVICES WHICH CONTROL STRUCTURE WITHIN THE PARAGRAPH ALSO CONTROL THE STRUCTURE OF AN ENTIRE COMPOSITION. DURING THE SECOND SEMESTER THE STUDENT'S ATTENTION IS DIRECTED TO THE USES OF LANGUAGE ELEMENTS IN LITERATURE AND TO THE MEANING ACHIEVED WITHIN A FORM. ONE TEACHING TECHNIQUE AMONG SEVERAL USED IS THE "DISCOVERY METHOD" AS DEFINED BY NEIL POSTMAN AND CHARLES WEINGARTNER. (BN)