On Writing and Discovery
One evening last fall, I made a striking discovery (or, to be more accurate, a rediscovery of sorts) as I combed through one of my many bookcases looking for a cookbook. It was a dusty,…
Category Archives: On Writing and …
On Writing and…the Word of the Year
As you likely know, at the end of each year the authoritative folks of Oxford English Dictionary select a “word of the year”—a word that resonated in the culture by growing use, significance, and baggage…
On Writing and…The Top 5 Best Practices for Responding to Students’ Writing
Instructors: If you’re spending a lot of time these days reading, responding to, and evaluating students’ writing, here’s a listicle for you, noting ways to use your written responses as one final opportunity for instruction,…
Down Syndrome—Sharing the Joy of Stephen
My story Twenty-one years ago, I was twenty-nine years old, had two children in two years, and was again sitting at the end of the sterile, white paper sheet on the table in the ob./gyny’s…
The Night Comes Alive
Tommy is the latest in a long line of dramatic misanthropes. From Synge’s Christy Mahon to now, many misunderstood and compelling protagonists have commanded the stage. We usually are privy to a number of “reveals”…
Writing in the Dark: Documenting Your Dreams
What are you doing tonight? During commercials for “The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon,” or maybe right after you put down your game controller, be sure to grab your computer or iPad. There’s work to…
Steven Pinker, Is My Blog a Stinker?
This post is a response to the call by my English Department colleague Sheila Kennedy. She wants the Faculty Forum to be a site for reflections about the teaching of writing to college students…
On Writing and…Profiting from Vivian Maier
(The following is a revised version of a piece that first appeared on the blog site of the Assembly on Expanded Perspectives on Learning (AEPL).) “They deserve a tremendous amount of credit for knowing the…
ON WRITING AND…
This blog forum features writing about writing, from the faculty members of Lewis University’s First-Year Writing Program, who are challenged and delighted to teach students how to understand and meet the complexities of college and…