My oldest daughter called the other day to say that she is reading Of Human Bondage. She picked up a copy at a sale because her best friend in high school had said it was her favorite book, and my daughter figured any novel that could so impress a 17-year-old girl must be worth reading. Upon hearing this, I started reading the ebook copy which has resided on my pda ever since the title caught my attention on a Gutenberg.org search for something else some years ago.
So my daughter and I are sharing the experience of this book, which she and her old friend have now shared in retrospect, and the three of us will have shared an experience with the author, W. Somerset Maugham. That’s quite a span of time, and quite a varied set of personalities and perspectives. (more…)
Recently one of my novelist friends and I were out to dinner, discussing writing. He happened to mention being stuck at a spot in his most recent story and having called another novelist to talk it through. My first reaction was surprise, to think that one professional novel writer needed to confer with another. It jarred with my image of both these people as masters of their craft, each sitting in a solitary tower, quietly capturing words on paper.
I suspect you might have reacted the same, just now. We are so used to thinking of writing as a lonely occupation that we forget its innate nature as communication. A writer puts words on paper hoping someone else will read them. That is as true of novelists as of newspaper columnists. (more…)
“The universe of discourse is broad indeed and ranges from utilitarian and scientific uses of language to the most artful and playful literature. Likewise, it extends from public communication to private self-communication. Students need to learn how to compose and comprehend the spectrum.”
—James Moffett, co-author of Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12
In earlier posts—including “The Importance of Authenticity,” “Words of Wisdom,” and “Writing Workshop: The Only Way to Go“—I’ve discussed features of effective writing instruction. Three features stand out above all of the others:
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At the beginning of Seeking Diversity, author Linda Rief recalls sharing an editorial with her students. One of her students wanted to know where he could send his response to the opinion piece. Rief had to tell the young man that he couldn’t send it because the editorial was several years old. As she states, “It was just an exercise to get you to write a persuasive piece.” The student replied that he had never heard of anything so stupid; he wanted the editor to read his response. From then on Rief “concentrated on making the writing [in her class] real—for genuine purposes. Not simply a ’stupid’ exercise.”
If your students seem to go through the motionswhen they write, perhaps you need to make your assignments more authentic, just as Linda Rief did. This blog will show you how.
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