Category Archives: Uncategorized

Here’s a game. Watch this twelve-minute TED talk with Clay Shirky, and find the following: * an analogy * an emotional appeal * a metaphor (hint: it’s in someone else’s argument that Shirky is paraphrasing) * antithesis * Fun fact: … Continue reading →

I’ve impulsively changed the name of this blog from the bland “AP Language & Composition” to the bold and provocative “Now Read This.” I’m crazy! What will I do next?! This is really meant to signal my intention to post … Continue reading →

Today we’re discussing Stephen Bloom’s essay, “Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life,” which was published in the online edition of the Atlantic Monthly. Here are a couple of responses prompted by the essay (and there were many): Des Moines … Continue reading →

There are two reading assignments for Thursday. First, read Mary Wollstonecraft’s essay “On National Education.” I recommend you review the one-pager from last term if you still have it. Second, read the introduction to definition in the Bedford Reader, which runs … Continue reading →

Hi Folks, I’ll be thinking of you on my way to Jacksonville tomorrow morning. While I’m gone, please read Margaret Talbot’s essay “Best in Class” (p. 113 in Language of Composition). I think you’ll find it interesting. Read it, and … Continue reading →

If you missed either Tuesday or Wednesday, we were starting our discussion of argument and persuasion. We watched these two videos of Sir Ken Robinson, who speaks on education and creativity.  

Brian Jay Stanley on writing: The secret of writing is not so much vision or inspiration but the mundane ability to stop tinkering when we realize we’ve written something worth keeping. By an unmysterious formula, one accumulates good sentences by … Continue reading →