Call For Posts: Dystopia Week
Time to sharpen your fictional whetstones!
In Defense of Poetry
Old poetry is laden with the baggage of centuries of hidden metaphor and archaic references. New poetry is prone to abstraction and whimsical laziness. But poetry deserves our consideration as an art form nonetheless. After all, all the music we love is poetry, and all the fun little things we can do with language are best done in poetic form.
Legal Draftsmanship, Part XIV
Submitted for your consideration, a candidate for the “unlikely sentence exemplar” award.
Language Notes From Knoxville
I see that this is a thing now. I can’t articulate a good objection to it.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t still be grumpy about it.
The Highest Profile Legal Writing Clinic Ever
The legal writing in Obergefell v. Hodges is both a model and a caution for future writers, especially those who, like lawyers, would write to persuade.
Adjunct’s Lament, Part II
It’s that time of year again.
On Writing
“Ass in seat. There’s no other way to be a writer but ass in seat.”
by James Hanley
An Adjunct’s Lament
It’s the last session of class. What runs through the adjunct professor’s mind?
Pro Defensore Twitter
Burt Likko’s contrarian friend offers a counterpoint to our front pager’s well-known dislike of Twitter as a medium of expression.
In Which I Lead Astray
Kyle Cupp explains why he doesn’t worry about leading others astray when he writes critically or questioningly about religion.
A Persuasive Argument
Many times in the past when I’ve written of the Declaration of Independence, I’ve emphasized that it is not law. The Constitution is law, but not the Declaration, which is a political document. This causes a lot of anxiety in people looking to cite the Declaration as though it were some kind of a trump…
Hot But Dull
I really wanted Man of Steel to be fun movie. And at times, it was. It was worth the matinee price. [Continued at NaPP]
For The Cold Case Files
Does the Fourth Amendment allow law enforcement to gather an arrestee’s genetic sequence and compare it with a large FBI database of genetic material gathered from old, unsolved crimes? [Continued at NaPP]
11 Ways to Hedge Your Claims Like an Academic—AND What Each Says About You
1. “In sum” What It Says About You: “Things are so slipshod in this piece that you wouldn’t notice the summary unless I signposted it.” 2. “Thus” What It Says About You: “In case you hadn’t noticed, this sentence is preceded by another sentence.” 3. “As a result” What It Says About You: See #2. 4. “Indeed” What It Says About…
Self-Publishing is Over
Alan Jacobs, writing at TheAtlantic.com: [O]ne of the illusions most common to writers — an illusion that may make the long slow slog of writing possible, for many people — is that an enormous audience is out there waiting for the wisdom and delight that I alone can provide, and that the Publishing System is a giant…
Please Check Out Our Junk (Mail)
On behalf of the League, we’d like to invite everyone and anyone to subscribe to our weekly update, The Retroactive Table of Contents. Each week the League publishes between thirty and forty political editorials, cultural musings, arts and entertainment reviews, philosophical ponderings, personal essays and a whole lot more. Most of these are short or…
A matter of taste
So, I’ve discovered in my blogging of late that adding pictures to posts can really liven up a blog. It adds value at the margin.
“The Elements of Clunk”
Are readers may enjoy the thoughts, and concepts, explicated within this humorous essay from “The Chronicle of Higher Education.” While your at it, Jason Peters’ Undergraduate Writing Seminar is also very funny.
I write like . . . H. P. Lovecraft
The Old Ones have spoken . . . or rather, this incredibly unreliable website has determined I’m a bad Lovecraft knock-off. Sound off in comments with your own results (via).
expectations of mediocrity
Of the many reactions to commentary over Avatar, my least favorite goes something like this:
America’s Next Top Pundit
Despite Will’s take on the Washington Post’s “Next Top Pundit” contest, I thought it sounded like a pretty neat way to gain some exposure. I mean, no matter which way you look at it, for a young writer, being given even the chance to compete for a column is a great way to get a…
