Literary questions aren’t really worth exploring if there’s an obviously “right” answer, so let’s explore a thorny question. Near the end of Chapter 13, in the third paragraph from the end. Hawthorne tells us of Hester, “At times a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl…
In short, instead of replacing traditional news platforms, Americans are increasingly integrating new technologies into their news consumption habits. More than a third (36%) of Americans say they got news from both digital and traditional sources yesterday, just shy of the number who relied solely on traditional sources (39%). Only 9% of Americans got news…
I trimmed out some stale examples and added these examples to my handout on showing and telling. What if your goal were to write about your favorite sport. Telling (No Details) I like many different sports, from skiing to rock-climbing, but when it comes right down to it, I would have to say that ping-pong is my favorite…
The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on. For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person…
Dr. Mary Crone Odekon In today’s Academic Minute, Dr. Mary Crone Odekon of Skidmore College’s physics department discusses how studying fractals can help our understanding of structures in space. WAMC Similar:Nature Has A Formula That Tells Us When It's Time To Die[S]ize seems to predict lifespan. The fo…HealthI'm really enjoying seeing how my students are…
This is the section of the book where the relationships between the characters start to take solid shape, and Hawthorne makes these points numerous times. When we aim to interpret a literary work, our task has to go beyond listing our emotional reactions, our gut reactions, to the events of the plot or the setting.…
I have seen a lot of very talented people fail because they couldn’t, or didn’t, write. And some much less talented people (I see one in the mirror every morning) have done OK because they learned how to write. —Michael C. Munger, Chronicle Here’s a tip that does a good job explaining a concept I’m…
see more Epic Fails Similar:Beowimp (spoof I wrote for my high school lit magazine c. 1985)I got an email this morning from someone…AmusingIn July, 2002, I was blogging about military close reading, weblogs in journalism, UX evan…In July, 2002, I was blogging about …CybercultureKickball Ice Cream Maker Is Both a Stupid and Awesome Idea$35 Kickball…
A great usability strategy, keeping their website so free of clutter like the email address for technical support. Gotta save that valuable screen real estate for the links to the big PDF manuals that haven’t been updated since the upgrade. tiisupport@turnitin.com Once again, that email is technical support for turnitin.com. Just in case you want…
Hawthorne carefully explains to his reader that these people are different from you and me. Our 21st century values may leave us shocked at the sight of male authority figures punishing Hester this way. Of course, the author wants us to be shocked that the authorities are treating Hester this way. Hawthorne created a bleak…
My university set me up with a trial Mobile Me account, and on the set-up day when I created my iTunes account, I was told to type in the Mobile Me address, so I did. Â I never used the service, though my receipts for iTunes purchases showed up there. Â A year later when the service…
I’m about to start the Rick Moranis #LittleShop movie. My 8yo has never seen it, but she’s gotten interested in musicals. about 3 hours ago via Twitter for iPad Wife is unwrapping the #LittleShop DVD now. about 3 hours ago via Twitter for iPad First, put away the #Cats DVD. about 3 hours ago via…
Similar:Lego goes steampunkBe still, my nerdy heart. Steampunk —…AestheticsTo meme, or not to meme.AestheticsLeftovers from the food my colleagues brought in to bribe/reward those few students who sh… Leftovers from the food my colleagues b…AcademiaAmazing McDonald's "Maestro Burger" CommercialJaw-dropping. So creative and joyful. …AestheticsThe Best Word Book Ever, 1963 and 1991.As a child, I obsessed…
Let my students tell you. Similar:Gen Z Never Learned to Read CursiveWhen I used to teach a “Media and Cultur…AcademiaWhy Study Humanities? What I Tell Engineering FreshmenScience writer Jon Horgan writes: We li…AcademiaWhy is Elon Musk attacking Wikipedia? Because its very existence offends him So, the sight of Elon Musk charging to…BusinessHow the Ballpoint Pen…
Beware… Salty language. In The Know: Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don’t Give A Shit? Similar:Cameras and Masks: Sustaining Emotional Connections with Your Students in an Age of COVID1…There are some sound pedagogical reasons…AcademiaThe Curtains Were Blue: In Which I Fix Another Meme. Above is my response to a meme that …AcademiaLower Decks (#StarTrek…
Awful, awful Apple TV ads. Similar:My mother-in-law invited me to try out the 60- year-old tape machine that belonged to my f…My mother-in-law invited me to try out t…AwesomeThey grew up in a mostly analog/paper world and squirmed with joy the first time they clic…Today’s students have many strengths. Th…AcademiaPeople with autism spectrum disorder avoid…
Why would an upright young citizen of Salem, with a new wife and a proud family tradition behind him, risk the good opinion of his neighbors, all for a romp in the woods with the wicked? If society is rotten to the core, and your minister, your Sunday school teacher, even the spirit of your…
Sometimes we’re tempted to think that people who lived “back in the day” were simpler and less sophisticated than we are, and perhaps because Rip Van Winkle celebrates a simple soul, we might think that the author himself was also simple. Irving, born in New York City in the late 1700s, wrote early biographies of…
Anytime you post online, you publish. Anything you say or do that might be posted by someone else reflects upon that brand that you’ll be working so hard to build. Don’t undercut your hard work with moments of Facebook foolishness. Nor should you stop reporting when you surf for fun online. Stories can emerge from…
It wasn’t just the blog, but the fact that the student was entrepreneurial and dedicated. In the end, the blog honed a lot of my online skills and was an excellent precursor to the professional world. Additionally, because I was covering the very school I was attending, the blog served as a bridge from my…