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Articles 31 - 41 of 41

Full-Text Articles in Education

Making Connections, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

Making Connections, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Last summer as instructors at a creative-writing conference, we had an experience that made us better writers. While critiquing a promising piece of fiction, we became frustrated because we couldn't put our finger on why the story didn't quite work. The tale, which centered around a young soldier's baptismal firefight in Vietnam, at first seemed solid. The main character was believable, the setting was described in gritty realism, and the plot had a beginning, middle, and end. But although the story was technically correct, it didn't really capture our interest. We found we couldn't get involved with the writer's grunt …


How To Find And Fix 'Plotholes': Watch For Common Problems That Can Sidetrack Your Novel, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

How To Find And Fix 'Plotholes': Watch For Common Problems That Can Sidetrack Your Novel, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

This article offers advice for writer on preventing major plotholes in fiction. Selection of information to be revealed earlier in story; Establishment of credibility of facts; Link of plot events with the motivation of the main character.


"Both Sides Now" Iii: A Creative Writing Exercise In The Literature Classroom, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

"Both Sides Now" Iii: A Creative Writing Exercise In The Literature Classroom, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Details a creative writing assignment used in literature classes to help students better grasp the principles of literature from the inside out. Suggests this method should be employed more often in survey classes.


Using Professional Learning Communities For The Development Of Shared Governance, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, William Phillips Nov 2011

Using Professional Learning Communities For The Development Of Shared Governance, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, William Phillips

Hal Blythe

Among the many challenges of professional (faculty, administration, and staff) development is the implementation of shared governance. We propose a model involving professional learning communities that we are experimenting with in our College of Education. This new model provides faculty with decision-making power, a sense of cooperation and communication with the administration, compensation for their effort, a budget, and a large dose of satisfaction. Furthermore, this model could be effectively transferred to other university units.


Popes In The Pizza: Analyzing Activity Reports To Create And Sustain A Strategic Plan, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, E,J. Keeley, Ben Forsyth Nov 2011

Popes In The Pizza: Analyzing Activity Reports To Create And Sustain A Strategic Plan, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, E,J. Keeley, Ben Forsyth

Hal Blythe

This article presents a practical methodology for creating and sustaining strategic planning, the task analysis. Utilizing our Teaching & Learning Center Strategic Plan as a model, we demonstrate how working with a weekly status report provides a comprehensive listing of detail necessary to analyze and revise the plan. The new methodology is accurate, thorough, on-going, and flexible.


More Than A Place, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

More Than A Place, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Many stories fail to capture the reader's interest even though they have a clear point of view, well-rounded characters and an interesting plot. What's missing? One key element that writers frequently overlook is setting. They treat it merely as backdrop.


"Both Sides Now": The Evolution Of An Approach To Teaching Fiction, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

"Both Sides Now": The Evolution Of An Approach To Teaching Fiction, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Discusses the connections between creative writing and literary criticism. Explains experience of combining a literature and creative writing class. Concludes the combination results in both groups gaining a greater understanding of each others' crafts.


Making The Right Call: Criteria For Choosing Short Fiction, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

Making The Right Call: Criteria For Choosing Short Fiction, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Notes that teachers who teach short fiction must consider several things when choosing which works to teach. Describes criteria the authors use when selecting works for their literature classes (World Literature Survey, American Literature, and Principles of Literary Study). Concludes by affirming the importance of choosing short fiction.


"Shiloh": A Mini-Casebook Approach To Upper-Division Literature Courses, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

"Shiloh": A Mini-Casebook Approach To Upper-Division Literature Courses, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

Shows how the mini-casebook approach, with a few modifications, works well with upper-division writing assignments. Notes that a mini-casebook approach is nothing more than a self-published document including a primary work of literature, selected secondary sources on that work, and a selection of several specified topics on the primary source. Presents eight suggestions for implementing the mini-casebook approach


Hawthorne's Dating Problem In "The Scarlet Letter", Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

Hawthorne's Dating Problem In "The Scarlet Letter", Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

This article explores the dating problem in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter. In The Custom House, Hawthorne relates how he discovers several foolscap sheets written by a predecessor, Mr. Surveyor Pue, about Hester Prynne. These six sheets supposedly offer two types of accounts about Hester: aged persons, alive in the time of Pue and from whose oral testimony he had made up his narrative, remembered her, in their youth and those who had heard the tale from contemporary witnesses. A dating problem arises with the first group. Critics concur that historical documents place the events in The Scarlet Letter …


Hemingway's "The Killers", Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe Nov 2011

Hemingway's "The Killers", Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

In his seminal study Hemingway and the Dead Gods, John Killinger relates Papa's fictional world to existententialism, concluding that Hemingway sees that individuality is not a quality which can be superimposed externally on a man, but that it must be internally achieved by a decision to be at all times an authentic person and to accept the full responsibility of action proper to a primary agent. In his philosophy, as in that of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre, the opportunity for such a decision is presented as a moment of crisis, which, for him, is produced by confronting death or violence.