It’s never been a good sign when a writer changes topics without including research from their initial idea. It generally indicates procrastination and lack of effort. Will have to rewrite prompt to control this. Either take one of my suggestions,…
Scare quotes are Evil
As written earlier I’m seeing too “many” superfluous quotes. Wikipedia calls this Scare Quotes. Avoid this. I don’t like irony conveyed through quotation marks. Use words. And scare quotes don’t work for emphasis. Serious explanation here. Check out the blog dedicated…
What I’m Learning from the SRTOL Essays: FA2010
I want students to get away from the idea of correct or incorrect grammar. This thinking indicates a prescriptive rather than descriptive definition of grammar – and runs counter to the goal of the assignment; however, if someone really wants…
Cultural or Academic Informants
If one goes to the writing center (WC), one gets the most out of the trip by going in prepared. Have a few specific questions or issues you want to address ready and present them to the consultant before you…
Linguistic integrity? Royal order of linguistic prejudice?
People often assume to know my position on English Only laws and proposals – but my take is nuanced and complicated. Linguistic integrity is an interesting idea – but it hasn’t been tried yet. WHY do Asian menus refer to…
Spotting bias in texts (cherry picking part 2)
Sugar is good food (!?)The good folks at Boing Boing shared this after finding it at an individuals blog dedicated to vintage ads. See also: Fox News Advocates Shutting Down Libraries
Zen and the Art of Cherry Picking.
Road trip to dad’s to help out on the farm got me thinking about the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, and how picking cherries relates to teaching and learning writing. 1. The tendency for novice writers to “cherry pick” their…
Are students technology experts?
While there is no shortage of people with the view that today’s young are fish, and social media and technology are the water through which they swim, that isn’t the complete truth. Pew Reports note that young people are prolific…
doldrums and the kracken
It’s that time. Students who can afford to relax – don’t; some come to grips with academic and personal goals for the first time; and some need help getting out of bed at the crack of noon. I feel it…
What I’m learning Re: SRTOL Papers – Rhetoric
These comments apply to many papers. I see semantic confusion facts vs. opinions (if this is a rhetorical ploy – it doesn’t work on the well-educated; consider your audience). I hear semantic confusion. Define terms as you will use them.…