Who hasn’t had his or her enjoyment of a great story ruined in English class by the assignment of having to identify metaphors and similes — as many as you can find?
Not only is your engagement with a piece of literature interrupted (maybe even corrupted) by this assignment, but your appreciation of metaphors and similes can quickly be stunted in the process. Continue reading
Charles Darwin
It goes without saying: Word choice is so important, for capturing with precision an idea we are trying to express, and for creating a desired effect on the reader’s imagination.
Here, from Nautilus, is the story of Charles Darwin’s choice of the term “natural selection” to describe his theory of evolution. Why was it better than “evolution?”
Darwin’s theory of evolution is often credited with removing the notion of intentional design from biology. But perhaps its genius was in doing so gently: The language in which it’s couched allowed readers to hold onto the idea for just a little while longer.
See the full article here. It’s interesting and short.
Today, a lesson in powerful writing from Donald Trump.
Who?
It surely wasn’t his intent to instruct anyone about anything in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC. But look at this analysis from digg.com of Trump’s answer to Kimmel’s question, “Isn’t it un-American and wrong to discriminate against people based on their religion?” Continue reading
Click the Education Department logo for info about essay questions on this week’s New York State ELA tests.
Don’t forget to slow down: There is no clock this year!
April 3, 2016
This is a place for students with essays to write, for school projects. For college, scholarship and job applications. Grade 7 to grad school. It's not filled with recipes for success. It's a collection of ideas -- a running conversation about writing and language. Think about writing in totally fresh ways . No ugh!! here -- it's actually interesting! They don't teach this stuff in school. Engage with these ideas, and writing will become a more satisfying process. Your voice will grow stronger.
The curator is Leslie Seifert, an award-winning opinion page editor, educator and highly successful private tutor. (See Meet the Coach.) He has helped college-essay writers gain admission to all the Ivy League colleges and many top public and private schools. (See Great Results.) The site has home-made exercises (see How We Work). We track trends in college admissions, under What's Hot (on the home page) and the category Inside College Admissions. You'll get a clearer idea of who is reading your college essay and why. There's also info on how to work one-one with Leslie. Enjoy!
The New SAT Is Here, Hurrah Hurrah
Now with with an optional essay. What does the question look like? What colleges will require it?
Click the logo for the official word.
March 19, 2016
