I have come across many books about writing in my work because I write about writing myself. Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writing by Roy Peter Clark (Little, Brown, 2006) deserves special mention for two reasons: (1) It contains so much quality information and (2) it is so well written. (more…)
When I was a college freshman, grammar was roughly as important to me as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s crumbling relationship. Sure, I glanced at the US Weekly headlines in the Kroger checkout, and I performed the standard spell checks on my composition papers, but Brangelina? Subject-verb agreement? Who really cared? (more…)
Back in the early nineties, I taught English 101 for college freshmen for a couple of years. Besides covering the basics of composition and introducing students to the university library, English 101 was also supposed to present certain common topics of “scholarly discourse”—including gender issues and racial equality. (more…)
In one episode of Boston Legal (season three), Candice Bergen defends a young first grade teacher who is accused of gross negligence because one of her students dies after a severe reaction to something he ate. In her closing argument, Bergen lists all of this teacher’s responsibilities and challenges, to emphasize that too much is expected of her. The jury is so moved by Bergen’s speech that they find the teacher not guilty of any crime. That’s life on a popular sitcom/drama. (more…)
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