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Word Count
The Tyra Banks Approach to Writing
Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2008
Do you have a supermodel you can consult with? Headline notwithstanding, I don't mean Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell or even that inimitable diva, Tyra Banks. (I call this column the Tyra Banks approach because I'm Canadian and irony is in my nature.)
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Dog Eared
Publishing Poetry
Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2008
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Word Routes
Does Robert Burns Make You Feel Ramfeezled?
Tue Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2008
The 11th edition of the venerable yet idiosyncratic Chambers Dictionary has just been published. Unlike the 11th editions of its lexicographical rivals Merriam-Webster's Collegiate and the Concise Oxford (everybody's going to 11 these days), the big news surrounding the latest Chambers is not about its new words. Rather, the British press has focused on some remarks made in the introduction to the dictionary, written by Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman. Paxman evidently likes to poke fun at all things Scottish, but he stepped over the line when he referred to the work of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, as nothing more than "sentimental doggerel."
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Blog Du Jour
Literary Diaries
Tue Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2008
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Teachers at Work
Reading "Our Town," Part II
Mon Sep 08 00:00:00 EDT 2008
In my last column, I began an overview of how Thornton Wilder used language in his classic American play, Our Town. Teachers, you'll want to read that column before picking up here, which points out several more ways Wilder adeptly used words in his play. You'll be able to use these ideas in your classroom.
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Lesson Plans
Recasting Language through Found Poetry
Sat Sep 06 00:00:00 EDT 2008
How can students analyze and write " found poetry" based on particular prose passages?
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Word Routes
Mailbag Friday: "Widespreadly"?
Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2008
For today's Mailbag Friday, we hear from Barbara Z. of Norfolk, VA. She writes: "On the radio I was listening to the beginning of "The Thomas Jefferson Hour" in which Clay Jenkinson speaks as if he were Jefferson. I heard him say the following:
'I happen to live in the first great era when books were widespreadly available...'
" Widespreadly? That one is new to me!"
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Candlepower
When Less Is More: Twitter for Writers
Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2008
Advice to aspiring writers usually includes these words: "Write more." More words. More pages. More chapters, poems, articles.
But I have a different suggestion: To become a better writer, write less.
No, not less frequently. But with fewer words. Lots fewer. As in... no more than 140 characters' worth.
What? And why?
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Blog Excerpts
TwitterLit
Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2008
If your interest is piqued by Nancy Friedman's introduction to TwitterLit (TwitLit? Twitterature?), check out more on these "byte-sized stories" from Ars Technica.
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Word Routes
The Summer of the "Staycation"
Wed Sep 03 00:00:00 EDT 2008
Summer's not officially over, but now that Labor Day is past and the kids are off to school, it's a good time to look back at the latest batch of estival vocabulary. Back in June I made a case for skadoosh, a fanciful word from the movie Kung Fu Panda, as a candidate for Word of the Summer. And in an interview in July on Wisconsin Public Radio, I discussed some other summery words, from skinterns (scantily dressed Washington D.C. interns) to lawnmower beer (light refreshing beer brewed for easy consumption after a day of yardwork). But like it or not, the one new word that has trumped all others in the Summer of 2008 is staycation, the media-driven coinage for a stay-at-home vacation.
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