This post is a tribute to Joe Moran's lovely book, First You Write a Sentence. It's part of my ongoing series of posts about issues in writing and books on writing. What I like so much about Moran's take on the subject is that he not only gives cogent advice for how to write better, … Continue reading Joe Moran: First You Write a Sentence, Pt. 1
Category: Writing
Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July”
I'm posting today one of the greatest speeches ever given, from that master of rhetoric, Frederick Douglass. It demonstrates the power of language to make arguments and change hearts. In a time like ours, when rhetoric is used to promote the worst social ills, it's gratifying to see what it can do in the right … Continue reading Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July”
Wit, and the Art of Writing
They laughed when I told them I wanted to be a comedian. Well they’re not laughing now. Bob Monkhouse Wit is notoriously difficult to analyze, and any effort to do so is likely to turn out dry and witless. But two recent authors have done a remarkably effective job of trying to make sense … Continue reading Wit, and the Art of Writing
The Five-Paragraph Fetish
This is a piece I published in Aeon several years ago about the persistence of the five-paragraph essay, which has evolved into the five-chapter dissertation and the five-section journal article. Formalism reins supreme. Here’s the link to the original. The essay is included in my newish book, Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. … Continue reading The Five-Paragraph Fetish
Elizabeth Steere — Anatomy of an AI Essay
This post is an essay by Elizabeth Steere that was recently published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. For teachers worried about students who turn in AI produced essays, she provides an analysis of 50 some essays she generated using ChatGPT using prompts from past assignments she's deployed in her own teaching. … Continue reading Elizabeth Steere — Anatomy of an AI Essay
Elmore Leonard on the Art of Setting the Scene
I'm a big fan of Elmore Leonard. I wrote an earlier post about the deft way he leads you into a story and introduces a character on the very first page of a book. He never gives his readers fits the way we academic writers do ours, by making them plow through half a paper before … Continue reading Elmore Leonard on the Art of Setting the Scene
Adventures in Scholarship
This piece is an essay about my life in scholarship and some of the lessons I learned from it. It was written in mid career, after publishing The Trouble with Ed Schools. It now appears as a chapter in my newish book, Being a Scholar, published in 2023. The core insight is that research trajectories are … Continue reading Adventures in Scholarship
Catch-22
This post is a tribute to one of the great books of the last century and for me the greatest book about war, Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Published in 1961 it became an instant bestseller. Two years ago I highlighted another bestseller and first novel from the same period, Mrs. Bridge by Evans Connell, which was … Continue reading Catch-22
Isaiah Berlin on Writing, Rhetoric, and Churchill
My blog post today is a fascinating essay by Isaiah about writing, rhetoric, and Winston Churchill, which was published in the Atlantic in 1949. I find it a rich think piece that works, I think successfully, to rescue Churchill from his critics. Here's a link to the original. He starts with a vicious attack on … Continue reading Isaiah Berlin on Writing, Rhetoric, and Churchill
Steven Mintz — Getting Students to Write with Style, Flair, Force, and Impact
This post is an essay about academic writing by Steven Mintz, which was originally published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. It speaks for itself. January 23, 2024 Writing With Style, Force, Flair and Impact How to get your students to love language and take pleasure in writing. By Steven Mintz Hamlet … Continue reading Steven Mintz — Getting Students to Write with Style, Flair, Force, and Impact