A collection of nonfiction stories about places, traveling, and living in Florida. Themes include the impacts of development and growth on home and identity; stability in a rapidly changing environment; how modes of travel affect experience; and apathy on the part of Floridians. I have attempted to connect Florida's history to experiences in my life, and in the life of a place. I was interested in my connection to the land and living things, and how Floridians in general are or aren't connected to land; how we are or aren't connected to the history of these places.

This study assesses the influence of writing center tutorials on student writing and presents tutoring best practices. Writing center scholars have emphasized the need for evidence-based studies to understand how one-on-one tutorials influence student writing practices. After examining twenty tutorial recordings along with their pre-and post-intervention drafts in two state universities (ten in each university), the author traced the influence of writing center tutorials on students' post-session revisions and identified tutoring best practices. The findings show that all the twenty students included in the study followed up on the issues addressed in their tutorials, in some form or the other, in their post-session drafts. In terms of tutoring strategies, the findings revealed that although most of the tutors in the study could identify and speak about global concerns (i.e. development, structure, purpose, audience), many lacked specific strategies to address these concerns effectively. To address this concern, this study identifies tutoring best practices related to global concerns. Furthermore, the findings also revealed that the tutors faced challenges navigating the directive/non-directive continuum of tutoring. To address this concern, this study presents tutoring best practices to demonstrate how tutors can shift flexible between directive and non-directive strategies during a session. / Ph. D. / Writing center scholars have emphasized the need for evidence-based studies to develop a deeper understanding of how one-on-one writing center tutorials influence student writing practices. My aim in this study was to examine how writing center tutorials influence student writing and to identify tutoring best practices. To assess how writing center tutorials influence student writing practices, I asked this question: Do students carry over what is discussed in their writing center sessions into their post-session drafts? To assess tutoring best practices, I asked: What tutoring strategies influenced students to revise their drafts? To examine these two questions, I recorded twenty writing center tutorials in two state universities (ten in each university) and collected the drafts that students brought to their tutorials (i.e. the pre-intervention drafts) as well as the drafts that students revised after their tutorials (i.e. the post-intervention drafts). By comparing the pre-and post-intervention drafts and listening to the tutorial recordings, I was able to determine not just what issues were discussed in each of the twenty tutorials, but also how much of this discussion was carried over by students in their post-intervention drafts. As a result, I was able to demonstrate how students make use of their writing center instruction after attending a writing center session. In other words, I was able to show what aspects of a session students’ carried over into their post-intervention draft. My analysis revealed that all the twenty students included in my study incorporated their tutors’ suggestions, in some form or the other, in their post-intervention drafts. Thus, I was able to show the various ways in which a writing center tutorial can influence student revisions. I also used my data to identify tutoring best practices. For instance, my data revealed that although most of the tutors in the study could identify and speak about global concerns in a student’s paper (i.e. development, structure, purpose, audience), many lacked specific strategies to address these concerns effectively. To address this need, I examined the tutoring strategies used by the tutors in my study to address such global concerns and identified best practices related to such interventions. I also analyzed my data to examine how tutors use directive (i.e. providing direct instructions or suggestions) and nondirective (i.e. engaging students by soliciting their views) methods of tutoring. Although many writing center scholars and practitioners recommend using a flexible approach to alternate between these two methods depending on the nature of each session, tutors often find it challenging to do so in actual practice. Through my analysis, I identified best practices to demonstrate how tutors can adopt a flexible approach between directive and non-directive tutoring strategies. Such tutoring best practices can be a useful resource for tutor training programs and contribute to the overall development of writing center pedagogy.

This thesis contains the results of my research between 1994 and 1998 into the uses of fictional autobiography in personal development. The topic arose out of my observation, both of my own experience and the experience of students attending my creative writing courses, that writing fictional autobiography as part of a writing apprenticeship not only enabled the development of writing skills and the finding of a writing 'voice', but often had a therapeutic effect on the writer's relationship with himor herself, and with his or her significant others. I set out to explore this observation through an examination of my creative writing course 'Autobiography and Fiction' (subsequently called 'Autobiography and the Imagination'), which I taught at the University of Sussex Centre for Continuing Education from 1991 to 1996. I issued questionnaires to all 78 students who had taken this course, to generate data on the benefits of engaging in the writing of fictional autobiography. I also conducted interviews on the same topic with 5 of these students. I analysed the resulting data using the theory of the Germani American psychoanalyst Karen Horney, and to a lesser extent that of object relations theorists D.W. Winnicott, Christopher Bollas and Marion Milner. Where appropriate, I also used theory of literary and social narrative. The thesis presents the three main findings of the research, namely, that the writing of fictional autobiography (1) can facilitate a closer contact with the inner life, resulting in a stronger sense of identity and the finding of a 'writing voice'; (2) can help to reveal and work through problems of identity which cause writer's block; and (3) can provide a means of're-writing' self-narratives which have been 'written' in the psyche by family and society. The thesis concludes with some suggestions as to how fictional autobiography might be used in a self-analytic or psychoanalytic context.

An impressive body of research indicates expressive writing (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986) produces physiological and psychological benefits. One study found that expressive writing decreases depressive symptoms among formerly depressed college students (Gortner, Rude, & Pennebaker, 2006). Gortner et al. (2006) argue that expressive writing may produce changes by reducing negative evaluations of emotional experiences and self-judgment, often associated with depression, through instructions encouraging participants to delve into their “deepest thoughts and feelings.” In other words, the standard writing instructions appear to send an implicit message that individuals be accepting and non-judgmental towards emotions and cognitions. The mindfulness literature suggests that making this message explicit may improve the preventative power of expressive writing in depression-vulnerable populations (Baer, 2003; Kingston, Dooley, Bates, Lawlor, & Malone, 2007; Teasdale et al., 2000; Toneatto & Nguyen, 2007). Therefore, the specific goal of the present study was to examine the effects of a mindfulness-enhanced expressive writing intervention among depression-prone individuals. Depression-vulnerable participants (e.g., dysphoric or formerly depressed) were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Although writing instructions varied for each group, all participants wrote for 20 minutes across a three-day period. The mindfulness condition received writing instructions that encouraged participants to be non-judgmental, accepting, and self-compassionate as they wrote about distressing events. Participants in the traditional writing condition received standard writing instructions, which consisted of writing about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to an emotional incident. Finally, students in the control condition were instructed to write about what they did the previous day. Results showed marginally significant decreases in depressive symptoms among participants in the mindfulness group compared to the control condition. In addition, results indicated that low suppressive depression-vulnerable individuals in the mindfulness condition marginally improved their cognitive processing biases compared to their counterparts in the traditional and control groups. Results failed to support hypotheses that predicted improvements on self-compassion, rumination, and mindfulness skills. Further, self-compassion was not found to mediate the effects of treatment on depressive symptoms and rumination. Obviously more research needs to be conducted, however preliminary results suggest that brief mindfulness interventions may be beneficial for a depression-vulnerable population. / text

This study explored the construction of written language knowledge as evidenced by the changes in forty-seven preschool children's autographs. Throughout the school year children were asked to "write your name and draw a picture of yourself." The resulting name writing samples indicated that changes in children's autographs were not idiosyncratic but identifiable transitions in a cognitive constructive process as children gradually attempted to make sense out of written language by writing their names. Transitions identified in children's autographs included: graphic actions (scribbling); random graphemes dispersed within drawing; spatial differentiation between writing and drawing; zigzag lines; zigzag lines with graphemes; linear and eventually horizontal, discrete, letterlike strings; reduced number of graphemes; increasing number of pertinent letters in and/or out of order; appropriate number of placeholders and pertinent letters; recognizable letters; and, eventually conventional signatures. As children's autographs evolved over time they provided evidence that children construct knowledge about written language much as Piaget and others have suggested young children construct logico-mathematical knowledge; not by using adult logic but by trying to make sense of and understand written language. Conventional or even recognizable autographs did not suddenly appear or result from the copying of models. Rather, autographs evolved over time as children devised strategies and followed intuitive rules while solving the problem of distinguishing writing from drawing, generating the culturally significant actions involved in writing, discovering the distinctive orthographic features of letters, and eventually controlling the orthographic conventions of name writing. In addition to providing evidence for name writing as a constructive process, this study also presented information indicating that initially, name writing is ideographic and is not based on knowledge of letter names or understanding letter/sound correspondences. Name writing was also discussed as a significant sign of young children's emerging use of symbols. The conclusion was reached that name writing, when approached as a constructive process, is an appropriate curriculum component in preschool programs and an essential ingredient in the emerging literacy of young children.

I start writing by conjuring up an image in my mind. Sometimes it will be something that I have thought about for a while, sometimes it will be something that I sit around attempting to create. Either way, it is simply the idea that I need in order to get started. People will say, "Just sit down and write" which I can do, but it does not mean I will end up anywhere worthwhile. In my writing I need a focus. I need an idea or just one image to get me writing and I can base an entire story off of that one image. I think the reason this works for me is because in my mind it is an illustration and always something that is vibrant and unique. I want the image to stand out and to mean something because I feel that it comes to me for a specific reason, I just have to piece it all together and let the characters and plot unfold for themselves. People often say this, that the characters end up running the story. I think this is true, but in my case my stories are not so driven by character or plot as they are by language. A language driven piece can be a difficult thing to manipulate because it needs to have some direction and some purpose other than just being pleasing to the ear/mind/reader. And what is the point of a language driven piece?

Forgiveness is an important characteristic of a healthy relationship. Several factors have been shown to be connected to forgiveness, but other factors may play a significant role in the forgiveness process. Little is known about how humility affects forgiveness in the context of an interpersonal conflict. Expressive writing, when combined with humility, may help counselors and other mental health providers in understanding how to better foster forgiveness among individuals and help them cope with stressful events and relational problems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether expressive writing involving humility regarding a minor offense leads to increased forgiveness compared to expressive writing that does not involve humility. The theoretical framework was based on the REACH model of forgiveness and Pennebaker's writing paradigm. The focus of the primary research question was on what role, if any, humility plays in forgiveness-based expressive writing. A randomized experimental design involving 4 groups was used. Each group received slightly different instructions, with 1 group having a humility (self-criticism) aspect. Forgiveness was measured using the TRIM-12 item questionnaire. Planned contrasts within a 1-way ANOVA were conducted along with a t test for analysis. The results of this research study were non-significant regarding the role of humility in increasing forgiveness in expressive writing. Regarding positive social change, this study adds to the literature by providing knowledge concerning what factors do not affect forgiveness in expressive writing and supports the need for future research on humility and forgiveness.

This study examines the educational and interpersonal benefits of dialogue journal writing within the Cambodian context. The research plan involved, first, a thorough survey of the literature on journal writing, which then provided the theoretical framework for the construction of hypotheses. These hypotheses asserted that dialogue journal writing brings about educational as well as interpersonal benefits. In educational terms, this task enables learners to attain proficiency in speaking, reading and writing, gain functional competence, and develop critical thinking skills. In interpersonal terms, dialogue journal writing helps in the development of the relationship between the teacher and the learner and offers a source of cultural information. The next stage involved assigning and collecting the journals and then analysing them to check for the presence of particular features which were asserted to bring about the benefits as stated in the hypotheses. The writer conducted her research with a class of Cambodian students at Phnom Penh University. Within the journals of the eighteen learners, most of these features were discovered, thus supporting the hypotheses that journal writing offers particular educational and interpersonal benefits. Where the features were absent or variant, explanations for this based on the culture of the learners, the conditions of the country during the period of the study, and the culture of the teacher were offered. Finally, the writing in the dialogue journals of the subjects provided strong evidence that dialogue journal writing offers learners a scope for genuine studentteacher communication and for personal communication and mutual understanding between each individual student and teacher.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Chrystalla Mouza, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

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