diff --git a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/appendix.xml b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/appendix.xml
index 3b0d8a271..d6d5fc997 100644
--- a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/appendix.xml
+++ b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/appendix.xml
@@ -189,17 +189,6 @@
             <classname>ItemWriter</classname> interfaces.</entry>
           </row>
 
-          <row>
-            <entry align="left">AbstractItemWriter</entry>
-
-            <entry align="left">java.lang.Object</entry>
-
-            <entry align="left">Abstract base class of the
-            <classname>ItemWriter</classname> interface with default
-            implmentations of the <methodname>flush</methodname> and
-            <methodname>clear</methodname> methods.</entry>
-          </row>
-
           <row>
             <entry align="left">BatchSqlUpdateItemWriter</entry>
 
@@ -262,7 +251,7 @@
             <entry align="left">This item writer is hibernate session aware
             and handles some transaction-related work that a non-"hibernate
             aware" item writer would not need to know about and then delegates
-            to another item writer to do the actual writing. </entry>
+            to another item writer to do the actual writing.</entry>
           </row>
 
           <row>
@@ -273,8 +262,7 @@
             <entry align="left">This item writer is JPA EntityManager aware
             and handles some transaction-related work that a non-"jpa aware"
             <classname>ItemWriter</classname> would not need to know about and
-            then delegates to another writer to do the actual writing.
-            </entry>
+            then delegates to another writer to do the actual writing.</entry>
           </row>
 
           <row>
@@ -291,4 +279,4 @@
       </tgroup>
     </table>
   </section>
-</appendix>
\ No newline at end of file
+</appendix>
diff --git a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/common-patterns.xml b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/common-patterns.xml
index 60a1f630b..c8e7d0ffd 100644
--- a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/common-patterns.xml
+++ b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/common-patterns.xml
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@
     isn't retried indefinitely or skipped), For example, a custom exception
     type could be used, as in the example below:</para>
 
-    <programlisting>public class PoisonPillItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter {
+    <programlisting>public class PoisonPillItemWriter implements ItemWriter&lt;T&gt; {
     
-    public void write(Object item) throws Exception {
+    public void write(T item) throws Exception {
 
         if (isPoisonPill(item)) {
             throw new PoisonPillException("Posion pill detected: "+item);
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
     accumulating state that should not be lost if the job aborts, the
     <classname>ItemStream</classname> interface should be implemented:</para>
 
-    <programlisting>public class CustomItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter implements 
+    <programlisting>public class CustomItemWriter implements ItemWriter&lt;Trade&gt;,
     ItemStream, StepListener
 {
 
@@ -205,10 +205,10 @@
         executionContext.setDouble(TOTAL_AMOUNT_KEY, totalAmount);
     }
     
-    public void write(Object item) {
+    public void write(Trade item) {
 
         delegate.write(item);
-        totalAmount += ((Trade) item).getAmount();
+        totalAmount += item.getAmount();
 
     }
 
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@
     how many lines there are, the <classname>ItemReader</classname> must be
     careful to always read an entire record. In order to do this, a custom
     <classname>ItemReader</classname> should be implemented as a wrapper for
-    the <classname>FlatFileItemReader</classname>. </para>
+    the <classname>FlatFileItemReader</classname>.</para>
 
     <programlisting>  &lt;bean id="itemReader" 
         class="org.springframework.batch.sample.iosample.internal.MultiLineTradeItemReader"&gt;
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@
     within the batch job. Such a process could be kicked off separately by the
     scheduler, but the advantage of common meta-data about the run would be
     lost. Furthermore, a multi-step job would also need to be split up into
-    multiple jobs as well. </para>
+    multiple jobs as well.</para>
 
     <para>Because the need is so common, Spring Batch provides a
     <classname>Tasklet</classname> implementation for calling system
diff --git a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/execution.xml b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/execution.xml
index b0469a99b..bd11d6102 100644
--- a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/execution.xml
+++ b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/execution.xml
@@ -1619,9 +1619,9 @@
       isn't retried indefinitely or skipped), For example, a custom exception
       type could be used, as in the example below:</para>
 
-      <programlisting>public class PoisonPillItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter {
+      <programlisting>public class PoisonPillItemWriter implements ItemWriter&lt;T&gt; {
     
-    public void write(Object item) throws Exception {
+    public void write(T item) throws Exception {
 
         if (isPoisonPill(item)) {
             throw new PoisonPillException("Posion pill detected: "+item);
@@ -1719,7 +1719,7 @@
       <classname>ItemStream</classname> interface should be
       implemented:</para>
 
-      <programlisting>public class CustomItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter implements 
+      <programlisting>public class CustomItemWriter implements ItemWriter&lt;Trade&gt;
     ItemStream, StepListener
 {
 
@@ -1746,10 +1746,10 @@
         executionContext.setDouble(TOTAL_AMOUNT_KEY, totalAmount);
     }
     
-    public void write(Object item) {
+    public void write(Trade item) {
 
         delegate.write(item);
-        totalAmount += ((Trade) item).getAmount();
+        totalAmount += item.getAmount();
 
     }
 
@@ -1768,4 +1768,4 @@
       itself.</para>
     </section>
   </section>
-</chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</chapter>