Rebellion in American Lit Class!Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’ve got a tough crowd in my American Literature class. When I opened the discussion of The Great Gatsby with the question, “How was Gatsby great?” the students in their small groups overwhelmingly decided that he wasn’t great at all. A few mentioned favorably his love for Gatsby…
[I]t seems the media (TV and newspapers) are just now picking up on the “Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane” rumor from earlier this week, and even though the rumor has been shot down as being false, various TV news programs and newspapers are running with the story. It also appears that Johnny Depp is not…
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Doesn’t this just make your blood boil? Writing Instructor Loses Job for Discussing Iraq War in ClassWINSTON-SALEM, NC–Forsyth Technical Community College (FTCC) writing instructor Elizabeth Ito has been dismissed for taking a brief part of her class to discuss the war in Iraq. Ito criticized the Iraq war in a writing class on March 28,…
Googling for ‘weblog’Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I found this line in my weblog tracking service today: 03 Feb, Tue, 15:49:46 http://www.google.com/search?q=weblog&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=100&sa=N My weblog main page generally gets a couple hits from Google each day, and I do like to see what people are searching for, so out of habit I glanced in the URL for the…
My mother taught me many things — how to make wonderful Italian food, how to tend a garden, how to love one’s family — but during the last 48 hours of her life, she taught me the greatest lesson of all: how to die. –Paula A. Treckel —The Taking of My Leave (Chronicle) While the quote…
[P]ress releases are unreal and possibly pointless. First, you write the press release from other already-written things. You can even fudge quotes, which is a big no-no in journalism. Then you have to get everything approved by absolutely everybody. I’m not big on getting stuff “approved.” I think it’s weird that you have to do…
Rosemary Frezza, Blog Angel (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’ve blogged about trolls, but I’ve also been thinking about the beings that I call blog angels — those helpful, friendly folks who may or may not have blogs of their own, but who regularly e-mail suggestions or leave them in comments, who privately warn me about typos…
Today being Groundhog Day in U.S. (and elsewhere?) reminds me how the movie Groundhog Day suggests a model for how interactive stories could work. However, rather than write up my own essay on the topic, I’ll link to others who have already discussed this, found via Google… —Andrew Stern —Groundhog Day and IF (again) (Grand Text…
Always capitalize and use trademarks in their correct form. CORRECT: The image was enhanced with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements software. INCORRECT: The image was photoshopped. INCORRECT: The image was Photoshopped. INCORRECT: The image was Adobe® Photoshopped. Trademarks must never be used as slang terms. —Permissions and trademark guidelines (Adobe.com) Somebody hand me an aspirin — I’m…
It has been said that reality is all about perspective — a camera is a pinhole view of the world that frequently filters out much of the story. With that in mind, check out this video of the familiar “I have a scream” speech by Dean. I’m no Dean supporter, but from down in the…
Unless we get an influx of suggestions within the next three hours, I’ll have no choice but to watch this year’s Super Bowl. I write this post from the living room of Vidiot Emeritus Peter Ko, and if the prospect of sparing me from the tedium of this year’s game isn’t enough to spur your…
;-) Neterature: all the quirky, jerky kinds of writing that is/are on the World Wide Web — blogs, fan fiction, role-playing game sagas, news filterese, spam poetry, prose parodies, etc. Neterature: Usually energetic passionate innovative and irreverently funny. Not always great or even good. But the best of it is young and sassy and undeniably…
True or false? Technical writers? A. Write about technology. B. Translate specialized knowledge in a manner that is adapted to readers? needs, level of understanding, and background. C. Present information that helps readers to solve a particular problem. D. Persuade readers to see things, ideas, and events as the writers see them. E. ?Set the…
—wood s lot A few good finds from this Canadian blog: The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, James TrefilThird Edition, 2002 The Day of the Condouror How to be a Propour Canadian SpellourRonald de Sousa repost I scarcely dare fourmulate this question, lest it be censoured, and–Horrour of…
I have been enrolled in courses in which my professors used a powerpoint presentation every single day. When required to do a presentation in front of my peers, I also made use of Microsoft Powerpoint in order to present my information. I felt that using such a visual aid was a valuable tool to add…
[I]t is the most common thing in the world for a new English teacher to demand that her students throw out everything they’ve worked so hard to learn and then start completely from scratch. New semester, new teacher, new rules. I say we have no right. I tell my students that, too–we have no right!…
The term ‘flash fiction’ can be used to describe several genres or modes of writing. Such writing can include traditional or mainstream short-short stories as well as various other types such as American haibun, ghost stories, monologues, epistles, mysteries, myths, tall tales, fables, anti-fables, parables, romance, fairy tales, horror, suspense, science fiction, prose poetry, and…
The men of the Shihuh tribe carried the jerz, a small axe-head on a long stick. They used the implement for many purposes — it chopped the firewood, provided the grip for climbing and came in handy as a walking stick to step over the stones. To complement the jerz they also carried the special…
[L]et’s face facts, she could do your $70,000-a-year job for the wages of a Taco Bell counter jockey – she won’t lose any sleep over your plight. When I ask what her advice is for a beleaguered American programmer afraid of being pulled under by the global tide that she represents, Jairam takes the high…