This post is about two key elements in good writing, one of which is to focus on actors and actions. Who's doing what to whom? In academic writing, the actors are often not people but social entities -- bureaucracy, racism, curriculum, schools, universities -- but the principle is the same. Some force or factor or … Continue reading On Writing: It’s All About Actors and Actions and Cutting the Flab
This post is an essay by John Warner that was published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. He takes a smart approach to the problem of how to teach writing to college students in the era of AI, where an algorithm can produce an adequate essay in response to the instructor's prompt … Continue reading John Warner — Teach Writing, Not Document Production
The introduction to a paper is critically important. This is where you try to draw in readers, tell them what you're going to address, and show why this issue is important. It's also a place to show a little style, demonstrating that you're going to take readers on a fun ride. Below are two exemplary … Continue reading Academic Writing Issues: Getting Off to a Fast Start
This post is a recent essay by A. O. Scott, published in the Times. Here's a link to the original. It's a lovely window into the mechanics of good writing. He's talking about one of my favorite authors, Mick Herron, who wrote the Slow Horses series that is now serialized on Apple TV. What’s So Great … Continue reading A. O. Scott — What’s So Great About ‘Slow Horses’? This Scene Says It All.
When you're interested in improving your writing, it's a good idea to have some models to work from. I've presented some of my favorite models in this blog. These have included a number of examples of good writing by both academics (Max Weber, E.P. Thompson, Jim March, and Mary Metz) and nonacademics (Frederick Douglass, Elmore Leonard). … Continue reading On Writing: How the King James Bible and How It Shaped the English Language and Still Teaches Us How to Write
This post is an essay by David Brooks that appeared in the Atlantic in 2020. Here's a link to the original. He takes advantage of the Covid hiatus in college commencements to give the kid of commencement advice that he could never deliver in front of the parents, faculty, and students assembled there. Things like: Use … Continue reading David Brooks — A Commencement Address Too Honest to Deliver in Person
This post is about a 1975 paper by James G. March, which was published in, of all places, the Texas Tech Journal of Education. Given that provenance, it's something you likely have never encountered before unless someone actually handed it to you. I used it in a number of my classes and wanted to share … Continue reading James March: Education and the Pursuit of Optimism
This post is a tribute to a wonderful essay by the great British historian of working-class history, E. P. Thompson. His classic work is The Making of the English Working Class, published in 1966. The paper I'm touting here provides a lovely window into the heart of his craft, which is an unlikely combination of … Continue reading E.P. Thompson: Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism
This post is an essay by Joel Stein that appeared recently in the New York Times. Here's a link to the original. It's purportedly about the issue of how much authors are going to get paid for all the material that artificial intelligence systems are hoovering up from the world's literature. The answer to this, of … Continue reading Joel Stein: What Should I Get Paid When a Chatbot Eats My Books
This post is an essay by Joel Stein published two days ago in the New York Times. Here's a link to the original. It's on a theme that will resonate with most writers, especially academic writers. What are your books worth in the publishing market place? Not much. Even AI understands this, as Stein found out. … Continue reading Joel Stein — What Should I Get Paid When a Chatbot Eats My Books?
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 