Software Reviews : Writer's Helper Publisher: Conduit,The University of Iowa,Oakdale Campus,Iowa City,IA 52242 (telephone: 319-353-5789) Year of Publication: 1985 Materials: Two program disks (one original and one backup),one work disk,a teacher's manual with student handouts (100 pages) Price: $120.00 Machine Specificity: Apple IIe/IIc (reviewed);IBM PC System Requirements: APPLESOFT in ROM,DOS 3.3,64K with 80-column card,one disk drive Effectiveness: Good User-Friendliness: Good Documentation: Good

WRITER'S HELPER is an attempt to take the next step in computer-assisted composition beyond the word processing program. It is really a collection of 22 programs rather than a single program. Some of the programs are essentially gimmicks, while others are more useful. One of the most useful is "Five-Paragraph Theme," which not only forces the student to deal with questions of audience and purpose but actually produces a rough draft of an essay.