English Language and Literature Commons^™

Everyone Is A Writer: Building Writer Identities And Writing Communities In Preservice And English Language Arts Classrooms, Amber Warrington, Hanna Burns, Allie Zimmerly

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this article, a teacher educator and two early-career teachers reflect on a Teaching Writers methods course the teachers took as part of their teacher education program. In the course, the two teachers developed their own writer identities and took part in a writing community. The teachers discuss ways they have brought those experiences into their classrooms and adapted the experiences for their students and contexts.

“I Want To Teach That Way”: What We Learn In A Writing Methods Class [Special Issue], Brad Jacobson, Ana S. Muñoz, Paola Vianney Trevizo

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this dialogic essay, a teacher educator and two early career teachers discuss the influence of a writing methods course on their pedagogy in practice. The conversation focuses on a digital testimonio task that instilled values the early career teachers continue to bring to their teaching, including an expanded conception of what counts as writing and a critical, humanizing approach to literacy education. Moreover, the challenges they experienced as preservice teachers when composing a digital text helped them to see the value of a scaffolded writing process, demonstrating the value of experiential learning. While the digital testimonio project itself was …

Writing From Our Lives: From Reading Like Writers To Personal Narrative Writing, Julianna Kershen, Sarah Relja, David Mackowski, Grace Rhodes

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article describes the design and use of writing opportunities for preservice teacher candidates enrolled in English Language Arts education coursework. Based in the practice-based teacher education principle that preparatory coursework include implementation activities, we describe how preservice candidates engaged in the study of writer’s craft through immersion in mentor texts through close reading, annotation, and free response writing. This article highlights the benefits of such opportunities for preservice teacher-writers, as they (re)see themselves as active writers and reflect on their personal writing histories. Three preservice candidates share their writing as a means of celebrating their own beliefs and experiences …

From Corrector To Reader: Pre-Service Teachers’ Writing Values And Feedback, Amanda Brewer

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study investigates the written feedback practices of secondary English Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) to understand how their values regarding "good" writing influence their comments on student work. Through analysis of feedback on 10th-grade writing samples and value-sorting surveys, the study examines their feedback tendencies and the links with their values. Findings indicate a significant shift over the semester from a directive, deficit-based "corrector" stance to a facilitative, asset-based "reader" stance. The data suggests that when PSTs lack specific metalinguistic language, they default to generic advice or mechanical correction. However, when instructed to align their feedback with their core writing values, …

Building A Foundation: Preservice Teachers' Exploration Of Writing Studies - Special Issue, Ellen Shelton

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article examines the Concept Exploration Essay assignment in a writing studies course that encourages PSTs to explore and question writing theories as they connect to their own experiences and understandings. The focus of the course is to develop an understanding of the self as a writer and as a future writing teacher through practical application of composition theory. Students are invited into the Burkean Parlor and enter the conversation as scholars. The students explore, question, and trouble complex writing theories in a dialogic classroom. PSTs leave the course empowered with the knowledge they can allow their future students the …

Introduction: Echoes, Effects, And Resonance: Examining The Writing Methods Course, Elizabeth Thackeray Nelson, Erinn Bentley, Jonathan E. Bush

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Author Guest Of Honor Keynote - Fantasy As A Tool Of Resilience And Resistance / Mythopoeic Awards Ceremony, David R. Slayton

Mythcon

We find ourselves in a dire reality. America is facing a literacy crisis, especially among the young. College professors are sounding the alarm that students are entering higher education without having read a full novel while book bans are limiting access to reading materials. Many libraries are preemptively removing works before anyone can protest their inclusion even as budgets are being cut. Reading for pleasure among adults is down significantly, as is reading comprehension, at a time when media literacy is made crucial by weaponized misinformation, outright gaslighting, and the proliferation of AI generated media that is becoming increasingly hard …

“The Daemons Of Unplumbed Space”: Einsteinian Portals Into The Unknown In Paul W. S. Anderson’S Event Horizon And H.P. Lovecraft’S The Dreams In The Witch House, Kristine Larsen

Mythcon

Jason Colavito notes that “cosmic horror” developed in response to the counterintuitive and unsettling repositioning of space and time within Einstein’s Special and General Theories of Relativity, as embodied in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The horror of such a “weird tale” derives from the violation of already unnatural seeming physical law by the influence of super-natural powers. Lovecraft himself defined a weird tale as containing at least a hint of a “suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature, which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space.” Surely the singularity of …

The Road To Armageddon; Commonwealth Orcs, 1872-2000, Joseph Rex Young

Mythcon

J.R.R. Tolkien’s orcs are perhaps his most exported creations, having become stereotypical antagonists of fantasy games, hewn down in countless dungeons as the evil minions of unnumbered dragons. Commentators have raised justifiable questions about the notion of an ‘evil race,’ though on examination the absorption of orcs into the post-Tolkienian genre, especially by writers from the British Commonwealth, has perpetuated a strikingly consistent, coherently evolving notion of what that evil is. Rather than relitigate questions about the admissibility of orcish evil, the purpose of this paper is to document this point of continuance.

Tolkien equates the orcs of Middle-earth to …

Today’S Christianity: Are We In The Mirror Universe? A Comparison Of Petrine Christianity And The Gospel Of Mary Via The Heroine’S Journey, Blythe A. Collier

Mythcon

What if there was an alternative to Joseph Campbell’s so-called ‘Monomyth’? What if we could dodge yet another rehash of the tired old trope of an oversimplified, Eurocentric ‘Hero’s Journey’? The monomyth is often considered the sine qua non of archetypal modern Western literature. We can easily pick out some of its described elements within both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillion, and in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series—as well as within Petrine Christianity, which is the mythic structural basis of both the contemporary bible, and also the fabled worlds of Tolkien and Lewis.

But …

Middle-Earth Inspired Chess Sets, Bruce Leonard

Mythcon

The response to Tolkien’s work is amazing in variety and depth. Flieger and others note The Lord of the Rings invites a participatory response from the reader. For a number of us this results in a lifelong engagement, from academic pursuits such as this conference to fan creations. Chess is a wonderful example of the creative reaction to Tolkien’s work. There are as many as 97 Middle-earth related chess sets. This includes different editions of the same set. Dr. Graeme Anthony produced ~32 editions of his War of the Ring set. As with most responses to Tolkien inspired work the …

The God Machine: Environmental Resonances In Tolkien And Hollow Knight: Silksong, Alicia Fox-Lenz

Mythcon

After reading The Lord of the Rings, it would not be surprising for the reader to assume Tolkien was a luddite or at very least had some deep-rooted environmentalist leanings. After all, the anti-industrialist sentiment is one of the many themes that so enamored his American fans in the 1960s. In LOTR, industry (as opposed to craft) is aligned with evil, most notably through Saruman — a failed craftsman who has turned to machination. Through him, we see the industrialization of Isengard and its deleterious effects on nearby Fangorn, as well as the resulting destruction of the failed …

The Harlequinades: Agatha Christie’S Forays Into Fantasy, Joe R. Christopher

Mythcon

This review by Joe R. Christopher explores Agatha Christie’s long engagement with the Commedia dell’Arte tradition - referenced in current popular culture through figures such as the Batman series’ Harlequin character – and traces how elements of that fantasy appear throughout her early poetry and some of her short-fiction work. Her Harlequinade foray was in a self- funded volume of poems, some of which read as autobiographical. The evocation of wandering ancient, semi-immortal spirits may reflect a business trip taken with her first husband. Christie extends the Commedia motifs into her prose where she introduces recurring characters; notably, a character, …

Mythopoeic Awards Finalists Discussion, David Lenander, Grace Moone

Mythcon

General Discussion of the Finalists for the 2026 Mythopoeic Awards. We expect some committee members to offer their opinions and experiences and invite others to share their reactions to the books! Discussion of the awards process and suggestions for the future are also in order. Find out how to become involved for next year. What books did we miss?

Gondor Calls For Aid! Volunteering And Running For Office With The Mythopoeic Society, Janet Brennan Croft, Megan B. Abrahamson, Phillip Fitzsimmons, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Victoria Gaydosik, Tim Lenz

Mythcon

We often talk about volunteering and about serving as a Society officer at the membership meeting at the end of Mythcon. But this more intimate panel will give you the opportunity to hear from Stewards and Managers directly about their experiences as volunteers and ask questions about how you can get involved -- and why you should think about it! Panelists will talk about how they got started, how rewarding it is, what kind of time commitment it takes, the differences between being a Steward and a Manager, and other long and short term volunteer opportunities.

Illustrating Lothlórien As A Faerie Space In The Lord Of The Rings By J.R.R. Tolkien, Marie Bretagnolle

Mythcon

In The Fellowship of the Ring, when the travelers step in Lothlórien, their perceptions of their surroundings and of time are altered. Numerous papers have considered the literary devices used by J.R.R. Tolkien to convey the sense of otherness that makes this Elven realm an equivalent to Faerie in Middle-earth. In their turn, how do visual artists tasked with illustrating The Lord of the Rings transpose these effects in their pictures? In this paper I continue my research into Tolkienian illustrations by analyzing the visual devices used by Mary Fairburn, Alan Lee, and the duo formed by the Queen …

Glen Goodknight's International Narnia Collection, David L. Emerson

Mythcon

In 1975, Glen GoodKnight, founder of the Mythopoeic Society, began to take serious interest in translations of the Narniad, collecting editions from over 40 different countries. By 2004, he had begun to make his wonderful collection of non-English editions available to the world through his website, inklingsfocus.com. With his passing in 2010, the site was due to be shut down, but I participated in preserving the images of these foreign book covers, assisting Lewis fan Gordon Greenhill in reconstructing the gallery on his site called The Disordered Image.

This presentation will be a slide show of many of these …

Perception As A Gateway Of Faërie In Owen Barfield’S Philosophy Of Language, Sylwia Wilczewska

Mythcon

Since Verlyn Flieger showed the importance of Owen Barfield’s account of poetic language outlined in Poetic Diction for the metaphysical structure of Tolkien’s universe (cf. Flieger 33-44), Barfield’s writings have been an object of increased scholarly attention. While the point most often commented upon is the impact of Barfield’s vision of the evolution of language on Tolkien’s theory of sub-creation, the traces of Barfield’s influence can also be found in other Inklings. Here I would like to offer some speculations on the connection between Barfield’s idea of language and the way in which the writings of the Inklings depict discovering …

Remembering Lee Speth, Megan B. Abrahamson

Mythcon

Do you have memories of Lee Speth you want to share? Please join us as we remember a beloved Mythsoc member and Steward, and consider how best to memorialize his presence in the future of the Society.

Between The Unexpected And The Unknown: The Liminal Transformation Of Bilbo Baggins And Travelers Along Route 66, Logan O. Uber

Mythcon

Much like Bilbo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit travelers along Route 66 knew where their journey would take them, but not how it would change them. Applying liminal theory this paper demonstrates that Route 66 and Tolkien’s road function as transformative threshold spaces where travelers leave behind familiar identities to enter landscapes marked by uncertainty, danger, and possibility. Dust Bowl Migrants—individuals and families fleeing the Depression for better opportunities—and Bilbo all set out to find a better, if not different future. Their journeys transform and change them, making them more than what they once were. Route 66 exists as …