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Student writers must be aware of the limits and needs of their readers if they are to transmit messages with clarity and precision. Psychological research in referential communication and the development of social-cognitive skills supports the theory that a writer's egocentrism and audience awareness affect composition. At the high school and college levels, student writers appear to experience difficulties when adapting referential discourse to an audience because of three basic failures: (1) to take the needs and abilities of the reader into account; (2) to consistently maintain the reader's perspective; (3) to apply strategies for analyzing audience needs in a specific situation. Teachers of speech communication are familiar with techniques of audience analysis, and composition teachers could modify some of their suggestions for the writing class. Developmental research will continue to play an increasingly important role in shaping conceptions of how people learn to communicate in writing. (AEA)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert