If you agree that a great book does compel you to reread your own soul, you will find yourself contemplating the capabilities of the human spirit after finishing The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. What astonished me most about this award-winning novel was the way contradictions … Read More
Month: May 2015
“Let them discover.”
When I started teaching years ago, my job was to give information to students, and their job was to pay attention. I don’t see it this way anymore. Instead, I embrace an approach called learner-centered teaching. Maryellen Weimer, arguably the most respected leader of this movement, says in … Read More
“One of the saddest sentences I know is ‘I wish I had asked my mother about that.'”
William Zinsser, a writer’s writer if there ever was one, died this week. I wonder how many of the authors whose books are featured in this blog have read or taught from On Writing Well. I agree with the editors and teachers who believe that this book ought to … Read More
“…her relationship with him was like being content in a house but always sitting by the window and looking out.”
One of the many remarkable attributes of Chimanda Ngozi Adichie‘s dazzling novel Americanah is her ability to capture a complex condition, situation, or decision in just a few precise words. She describes the central character’s loneliness this way “… she felt sheathed in a translucent haze of difference.” (80) … Read More