Author Archives: sdgibson
An illustrated chronology of Dickinson’s life
From A Historical Guide to Emily Dickinson, the collection of scholarly essays edited by Vivian R. Pollak, here is an chronology of Emily Dickinson’s life. It provides some context and may help give your research direction.
Fredrick Douglass and literacy
Consider The Columbian Orator, a copy of which Douglass describes as crucial to his own literacy. Also, here are other examples of 19th century schoolbooks. What do these texts suggest about the historical context around Douglass and other slaves? How might … Continue reading
Graff and Birkenstein’s “Skeptics May Object”
“Skeptics May Object” is a chapter from Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein’s They Say I Say. I recommend it for students writing arguments in my classes.
Slave narratives
Here are three points to guide our discussion and an assignment: Slave narratives begin as conversion stories (from about 1770 to 1820), but become arguments against slavery from about 1820 to 1865. Following the Civil War, the focus of the … Continue reading
An illustrated chronology of Hawthorne’s life
From A Historical Guide to Nathaniel Hawthorne, the collection of scholarly essays edited by Larry J. Reynolds, here is an chronology of Hawthorne’s life. It provides some context and may help give your research direction.
What can we expect from sentences?
An exercise by Donald Barthelme Assignment: Write a sentence with some attention to the notes below. What can we reasonable expect, or even demand, of the sentences in fiction? The first thing I want a sentence to do is surprise … Continue reading
Revision examples (expansion) and peer review
Here are the first few pages of the short story “Ender’s Game.” Here are the first few pages of the novel Ender’s Game.
Oulipo larding
The Oulipo Group uses mathematical principles to generate experimental texts. Larding is one of the exercises they suggest.
Austin suggested this for us
A few years ago for NaNoWriMo, Neil Gaiman sent the following email to hopeful NaNo’s, I thought it may be helpful to the class: Dear NaNoWriMo Author, By now you’re probably ready to give up. You’re past that first … Continue reading
The English 2010 thesis exchange
Draft or revise a tentative thesis statement in an open doc window. Trade machines. Answer these questions about the thesis in front of you: • Is the thesis debatable? Exactly who would disagree with it? Why? • How could the … Continue reading
Metaphor by Metaphor 