English Language and Literature Commons^™

On Cliché: Expression, Cognition And Understanding, Craig Jordan-Baker

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Abstract: This paper argues that cliché is not simply a problem of language and expression, but rather a cognitive problem or one of understanding. It locates several distinctive features of cliché, namely their characteristic superficiality (low informational content) and the typically low cognitive effort they require to understand. It then argues for a distinction between ‘external’ and ‘internal’ clichés, where the former are the well-known phrases commonly recognised as clichés, but the latter are not recognised as clichés but nevertheless function as clichés within a specific literary work.

Literary Exposures For An Ecological Age, Christy Call

The Goose

This paper argues that exposures through literature to human fragility and vulnerability, which are default modes of life within the relational collective on-page, rehearse critical engagements for life off-page during a time of climate change.

Embodying Character, Adapting Communication; Or, The Senses And Sensibilities Of Epistolarity And New Media In The Classroom, Jodi L. Wyett

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

This essay describes a classroom role-playing activity that incorporates both modern social media and the tools of eighteenth-century composition. Students communicate with each other as characters in the assigned novel, by either texting, tweeting, or writing longhand with quill pens. The exercise aims to help students grasp the sometimes-elusive historical contexts of eighteenth-century writing as well as the ways in which we interpret and adapt those contexts and their attendant modes of communication when we read for meaning in our own moment. My experiences suggest that the activity is particularly effective at helping students to reflect upon their own interpretive …

Arabella’S Valentines And Literary Connections [Dot] Com: Playing With Eighteenth-Century Gender Online, Melanie D. Holm

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830

This article describes two digital assignments that ask students to imaginatively embody characters from eighteenth-century texts written by women in order to cultivate a greater awareness of the critical role of gender and gender critique in these works. The first of these assignments, “Arabella’s Valentines,” asks students to translate dialogue from Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote as humorous Internet memes. The second assignment, “Literary Connections [dot] com,” asks students to imagine how characters from the course archive might represent themselves on an internet dating site. Through creative role-play facilitated by these digital genres, students engage with the texts in stimulating …

Developing A Feminist Pedagogy: A Look At Intersectionality And Poe's Women, Riley Haacke

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Abstract

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the world’s most prolific writers and therefore has an immense capacity to influence and change how we, as a society, engage with literature. By developing a feminist pedagogy centered on the intersectionality of Poe’s diverse female characters we can begin to develop a value based education model that influences the critical conversations we have about women’s issues.