The story of an "actor" who captivated an English class and a community and who was later revealed to be a con man. (RL)

Describes a course in semiotics (the study of signs and systems of communication) taught for the past 10 years by the author. (DD)

Fifteen writing instructors report their favorite ways of getting students to write. (RL)

Points out that students in creative writing classes can look to students in other disciplines, curricula of other departments, and school clubs and organizations to discover audiences for creative writing. (DD)

Discusses several contradictory misconceptions exacerbating the problems of American education and discouraging original thought by students. (DD)

Presents a fictional interview with an ineffective English teacher. (DD)

Urges teachers to avoid excessive correction of student papers. (DD)

Offers middle and secondary teachers a conceptual framework to guide their explorations into language with their students. Notes that many methods have risen and fallen. Concludes that, if students learn to generalize about language, they will be more successful in their usage of rules. (RS)

Argues that the ongoing debate about grammatical instruction in schools is a product of a reductivist, reactionary ideology that mistakes mechanics for grammar and proceeds from a deficit model, constantly punishing students for their lack of "grammatical" precision and general ignorance in matters of construction. Suggests that grammar…

Spoofs grammar instruction using characters from William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying." (RS)

Provides a whimsical look at issues of language and grammar usage. (RS)

Discusses the vocabulary of English punctuation terms, largely unchanged since the Norman conquest in 1066. Discusses the meaning of the period, colon, comma, question mark, exclamation point, slash, parenthesis, brackets, asterisk, hyphen, and ampersand. (RS)

Presents annotations of 32 works of young adult literature that are not depressing but rather give the reader a good laugh. (TB)