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I’m so happy to have reread Joan Didion’s novel Play It As It Lays a second time – like maybe forty years after the first time. When I read it in college, I wasn’t at the maturity level to truly appreciate the Great JD, but now I look at her with new eyes. This novel…
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In my Spring 2026 classes we will examine how images can make a visual argument. We are reading a fictional novel about Frida Kahlo that will lead us to a Mexico City research paper. My students will begin their semester writing journey by preparing a critical analysis of a visual image, advertisement or poster that relates…
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I’ve asked my students to share their MVP ( Most Valuable Part) of their Reading and Soundtrack Selection from their Fall Semester 2025. They will need to think back to the authors, short stories, and poems we have read. Here is the cool part: There is no right or wrong position in a student’s vote…
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This week I invite my students to go to the movies with me. I mean, we are not going to watch anything on the big (or small) screen, but we are going to download movie posters to help us develop our visual analysis skills. Everybody loves their movies. Visual Analysis is an important academic…
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SUMMER WAS FUN – FALL WILL BE A BLAST! This summer in ENGLISH 1000 we went to NEW YORK CITY – Come On! – In what other class doyou ever have the opportunity to do THAT? To supplement our PARADISE TRAVEL novel-reading experience, I asked each of my students to choose a JUICY…
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I don’t know much how other people choose their books. I never hear it come up in everyday conversation. I’m sure many book readers go to their own secret websites and podcasts. I DO. Choosing the right book is a big deal for me. As I get older, I have difficulty squeezing my reading…
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Does anyone ever ask how you choose the books you read? Probably not. Sadly, over the last forty years or so, I have seen a gradual decline in reading. NO INTEREST. That’s not news, but that’s not GOOD. I’m an ENGLISH TEACHER. When I ask my students where they find their books, they tell…
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In every beginning writing class that I’ve ever taken, I hear the advice, “Write what you know.” This sounds good, but it doesn’t always work. Often, you get so close to your subject, you can’t see the forest from the trees On the other hand, you can try to distance yourself from your subject…
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In the first or second week of each semester, I share Sandra Cisneros’s “Only Daughter,” with my composition classes. My students often connect with Sandra’s background. She beat the obstacles of racism, sexism, and poverty in her world to become both an influential writer and activist. Sandra’s childhood experience of being “the only daughter” proved…
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Fig. 1. "Caleña," I asked. I turned around and she planted a couple of kisses on my cheeks in greeting. [This is Marlon talking, from the novel Paradise Travel, meeting up with a traveling partner in NYC.] Holding on to my hands, she took a step backward to look at me, and I noticed…