Okay, I had this dream a couple weeks ago. But get this: I dreamt that I was teaching WR121 (first-year writing) and I required the students to write their whole papers with only one sentence pattern. That’s right: every sentence was to have the same sentence pattern. I even felt happy about it, as if [...]
Filed under: Playful stuff, Writing Exercises | 2 Comments »
Anne Lamott admits to thinking terrible thoughts that “make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish” (from a Sojourners interview).
Almost all of Anne Lamott’s sentences are great examples of words with punch. I should make a list of my favorites. They might help students who are trying to get a feel [...]
Filed under: Abstract vs. Concrete Language, Writing Exercises | No Comments »
I was just listening to an NPR interview (on Fresh Air) of Walter Isaacson talking about his new biography of Einstein: Einstein: His Life and Universe (Simon & Shuster, 2007), and I was caught by something Isaacson said right at the end of the interview. Dave Davies had asked him, “Einstein is a metaphor for [...]
Filed under: Academic vs. Expressive Writing, Pedagogy, Psychology of Writing, Writing Exercises | 2 Comments »
After my explanation, at the Staff Meeting, of what adding “tension” to a thesis was, we played a round of exquisite corpse… or, in this case, exquisite thesis. I think the first two are the best.
Although several pink pick-up trucks scream that bags are wooden, the frog people quickly drink smoldering manure. (!!!oooh!!!)
Although beautiful dry-erase boards say [...]
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Over Christmas, while I was in southern california visiting my parents, I read an article by Lisa Roberts on the Healing Power of Nature.
Nature is a cure-all for human physical and emotional ills, almost. It can “quite the mind, boost creativity and self-esteem, and lead to an acceptance of self and spiritual connection.” And of [...]
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We’ve been playing “exquisite corpse” during our Writing Center staff meetings lately. After we come up with a sentence pattern (e.g., The [noun] [preposition] the [noun] [adverb] [transitive verb] [adjective] [noun]), we each write the first word (in this case, a noun), fold the paper over to conceal what we wrote, and hand it to [...]
Filed under: The YVCC Writing Center, Writing Exercises, exquisite corpse | No Comments »
