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  1. Lesson Plans

     Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
    Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2006
    Students explore and understand the use of transition words in context and write their own persuasive essay using transition words.

  2. Word Count

     Why You Should Appreciate Bad Writing
    Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2013
    The managing editor couldn't have been any nastier. "We've had a bomb threat," he said in an email to the entire newsroom of about a hundred reporters, editors and photographers. "If you feel the need to leave, please inform your supervisor and your pay will be docked accordingly."

  3. Word Count

     The Power of Ordinary Writing
    Tue Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2012
    "Calling a work of art ordinary is not ordinarily considered praise," Michael Lydon writes, "but I use the term as a lustrous laurel wreath." In particular, he singles out Anthony Trollope as a master of using language to depict ordinary human life: "not what we think life would, should, or could be like, but what life truly is like."

  4. Word Count

     Coming Soon: "Imminent" Changes Are Afoot
    Thu Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2013
    In "eminent domain," a government can seize property for public use, as long as it compensates the owner. In "imminent domain," it stands to reason, the government wants to do it NOW. Except that there is no such thing as "imminent domain." It's a mistake — a common one, but a mistake nonetheless.

  5. Word Routes

     Words in the Courtroom, from Mobspeak to "Argle-Bargle"
    Thu Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2013
    American courtrooms can produce some fascinating linguistic specimens. Two high-profile court cases have put language on display. In Boston, the trial of mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger has provided testimony full of old-school crime lingo. Meanwhile, at the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia's dissenting opinion on the Defense of Marriage Act featured some "legalistic argle-bargle."

  6. Word Count

     Red Pen Diaries: Caring About the Oxford Comma
    Mon Mar 22 00:00:00 EDT 2010
    Last week we heard from Erin Brenner about the so-called "serial comma" or "Oxford comma." For a counterpoint, here is a spirited defense of the Oxford comma by Megan Zinn, an associate of our good friends at Editorial Emergency.

  7. Evasive Maneuvers

     Ameliorating Vintage Replacements
    Wed Oct 05 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    No one wants to be replaced in someone's heart or cubicle. Still, getting a pink slip at work or from a significant other is like a chocolate cupcake made of pizza compared to the sense of replacement I recently spotted in a New Yorker article by Elizabeth Kolbert.

  8. Teachers at Work

     Please Hook Me. Seriously.
    Mon Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    Okay, now that I've got your attention, let's talk hooks. In journalism we might call these leads, but the general concept is the same. Those first few lines are essential in catching your reader's attention, whether you're a novelist or a student writing an essay.

  9. Dog Eared

     Summer Reading: Trashy Novels? Or Social History?
    Sat Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2007

    Our contributing editor Magda Pecsenye told us about an eventful summer series her book club read a few years ago. It sounded so good we asked her to share it with you:

    Our club called the series "Trashy Novels of Yesteryear," picking it because we knew we wouldn't be able to make it through anything more literary during the summer months. But these novels surprised us -- and inspired some of the best discussions we'd ever had. We talked about how the books reflected the social mores and anxieties of the time periods in which they were written, how women's roles have and haven't changed, and how sex and betrayal are timeless themes. Don't rent the movies until after you've read the books.

  10. Word Count

     Mostly Useful Redundancies
    Thu Sep 13 00:00:00 EDT 2012
    In the crusade against flabby writing, we're often counseled to get rid of redundancies with a machete. We are to show no mercy for the likes of repeated ideas and words. But following this "rule" blindly, as with following any rule blindly, can result in text that fails to get its meaning across. There are times when redundancy is a boon to the text rather than a scourge.
149 150 151 152 153 Displaying 1501-1510 of 3460 Results