What We're Doing in Writing 121

Because my class is about critical thinking, today I am changing the room around. So my dedicated students never forget to see things a different way.

Today's lesson is "Corn." Yes. As in "on-the-cob."

I will show these eager learners a big spider-y brainstorm on how to integrate implications. Like: "What is the political perspective on corn?" and "How is corn related to anthropology?"

And while we're thinking and writing, we'll be eating Doritos and drinking Coke. Breakfast of Champions. To taste our content.

Yummy.

Difficulty

Writing is hard. Really hard. It is, according to Paul Silva of How to Write A Lot, "frustrating, complicated, and un-fun." He quotes New York journalist Wiliam Zinsser (2001) as saying, "If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard."

I tell myself this on days like today. Days when I need to start what will be a huge revision process. Days I avoid that by spending an hour with second graders who are trying to find whether they can use electromagnetic forces to erase gravity.

Defying gravity.

Suitable to writing, don't you think?

And now, my pen to paper, the ink seeps from that invisible pull.



(Extra love-points for anyone who knows why that image is included.)