Reviews two books: Contexts, Intertexts, and Hypertexts, ed. by Scott Lloyd DeWitt and Kip Strasma; Writing and Healing: Toward an Informed Practice, ed. by Charles M. Anderson and Marian M. MacCurdy.

Reviews four books: Reading Poverty, by Patrick Shannon; Race, Rhetoric, and Composition, ed. by Keith Gilyard; Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention, by Cynthia L. Selfe; Critical Thinking, Thoughtful Writing: A Rhetoric with Readings, by John Chaffee with Christine McMahon and Barbara Stout

Describes a grading system used in a college composition class that shifts the focus away from letter grades and toward continuous student progress. Describes how it is based on a personalized, flexible standard that challenges each student’s particular skills as a writer, and encourages real improvement in student writing.