Tag: writing

What Does Writing Mean for Students?

Every year, as the spring semester comes to a close, I think about some of the things I have tried to teach students over the course of the semester and academic year. As a composition teacher, my main goal is to help students become better writers and readers, and hopefully, through that combination, become better students in the process. If they can hone their … Read More What Does Writing Mean for Students?

“I see you face to face”: What Will You Take From the Past to Use in the Present?

Recently, I spoke with someone about our current historical moment, and the person expressed concern, as I do, about what we see happening around us everyday. The person’s response, though, like many others, had a feeling of dejection and defeatism to it, a feeling that no one has been here before or experienced the same things we experience today. While at its core those … Read More “I see you face to face”: What Will You Take From the Past to Use in the Present?

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The Search for Nothing Amidst Everything

Esperaba que alguna vez. Nada puede durar tanto, no existe ningún recuerdo por intenso que sea que no se apague. I woke up alone in Puerto Vallarta. My mouth dry. My body sore. My senses numb. I heard the waves crashing against the rocks and receding back into the depths, and I desired nothing more than to become part of the backwash, letting it … Read More The Search for Nothing Amidst Everything

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Who is the Black Panther? Syllabus

A few semesters back, I did a literature and composition course entitled “Who Watches Superheroes?” That course went really well, with students actively engaged in the texts and conversations surrounding them. This semester, I’m changing that course up a little, focusing specifically on Black Panther. This is something I have wanted to do for a while, but I have just never done it because … Read More Who is the Black Panther? Syllabus

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The Role of the Artist in Interesting Times: A Look at Albert Camus’s “Creating Dangerously”

Almost two years ago to the day, I finally read Albert Camus’ The Stranger. I had come across, somewhere, a discussion of the novel’s ending, which I won’t spoil here, and I became intrigued, especially since I was reading texts about the Algerian War and about France’s protectorate control of Morocco. Since then, I have been wanting to read more Camus, especially his 1947 novel The Plague which … Read More The Role of the Artist in Interesting Times: A Look at Albert Camus’s “Creating Dangerously”