Navigating a culturally sensitive topic
In this lesson from Creative Nonfiction, I use Emily Bernard’s “Teaching the N-Word” as a way of digging deeper into our understanding of intent versus impact and the power of language to destroy as well as heal. We also discuss how and why writers fluctuate between the personal and the public voice.
Watch the video walkthrough of this lesson.
Watch the video walkthrough of this lesson.
Exploring film in the English classroom
My Film Criticism course is designed to help students read the language of cinema critically. In this lesson, students explore how continuity editing creates a narrative in the famous crop-duster sequence from Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Then, they try their own hand at creating a narrative through basic edit principles.
Devil in the details
In my fiction writing courses—from 7th grade to senior-level—students often find choosing the right details to build character, communicate tone, and flesh out a narrative particularly challenging. They either pile on too much detail or not nearly enough. In this lesson, we learn about what author Janet Burroway calls “significant detail” and how to employ it to make concise and dynamic fiction.
Watch the video walkthrough of this lesson.