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Welcome! RhetComp is a student-run blog, hosted by the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, that highlights student writing. On this page, you will find the most recent pieces.

Arctic Monkeys Album Retrospective (4/28/2024) - By Esme Warmuth Recently, while cleaning out my bedroom, I threw Arctic Monkeys’ sixth studio album Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino onto my record player and listened to the album in its entirety —a semi-frequent occurrence for me since its 2018 release. I love pretty much everything Alex Turner, frontman of Arctic Monkeys, has ever written—his impeccably cool, guitar-heavy rock songs about unrequited love were …
AI and its Journalistic Implications (4/24/2024) - By Grace Sargent Since its inception, artificial intelligence (AI) has prompted in-depth conversations regarding its potential benefits, as well as its drawbacks. There has been constant debate over whether AI tools, such as ChatGPT, should be viewed with enthusiastic optimism or realistic skepticism. Based on the current trends over the past year, it seems journalists should maintain a position somewhere in between these two extremes, …
The Big Abroad (3/26/2024) - By Sophie Hoss “Oxford is a lovely place to spend the summer,” one of my new professors wrote in an introductory email. “I hope you will be happy here.” I hoped so, too. Hopping across the pond for the six-week program was the biggest gamble I had ever taken. Because I commuted to college and had never lived away from home, I considered myself to …
Proposal for a New National Holiday: The Second Monday in February (3/17/2024) - By Rob Kocovic 1967. The National Football League’s (NFL) Green Bay Packers have just defeated The American Football League’s (AFL) Kansas City Chiefs in a game that is more commonly known today as Super Bowl I–the birth of a new national holiday (Super Bowl I). The fanaticism surrounding the Super Bowl has soared through the years, and gatherings grow larger each year. There are the …
Blurring the STEM/Humanities Divide: How Writing is Approached in a STEM Heavy School (2/29/2024) - By Grace Sargent Introduction: My position as an English major working at Stony Brook University’s writing center has revealed to me a great deal about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students’ perceptions of writing, writing classes, and our writing center. More specifically, I have learned STEM students widely share the idea that each contains little value in the overview of their education, and can …
The Allure of Fanfiction: The Life of a Fantastic Creative Community (2/14/2024) - By Maria Sazonova In a Chrome window with an alarming amount of tabs as small as the infinitesimal pieces in an integral function, crowded together with no breathing space, I would bounce from fanfic to fanfic. I would read until ungodly hours of the morning, and the never ending words burned themselves on the back of my eyelids as I fantasized about the story at …
Behind the Gamergate: A New Wave of Apex Redditors (11/17/2023) - By Leilani Catala Leaks of personal information, false accusations of conspiracy and nepotism, and threats of brutal sexual assault are only a few examples of the types of messages and comments that women like Anita Sarkeesian and Zoë Quinn could expect to receive on a daily basis at the height of the Gamergate controversy. Popular social media and discussion sites such as Reddit, 4chan, and …
An Open Letter to the MTA (10/24/2023) - By Sophie Hoss Dear Metropolitan Transportation Authority: I’ve ridden your trains all through my childhood, and I’ve commuted on them almost every day of high school and college. The train is the easiest and most convenient method of transportation available to me, but as a longtime patron, it has come to my attention that there is a need for stronger safety precautions for women taking …
Truth Be Told (11/16/2022) - Justin Alito I’ve never shied away from telling the ‘Truth’ when it comes to my writing. An all-or-nothing mentality has become my M.O. over the years as I don’t think writing can be personal in any other way. I rarely lose sleep after getting into the nitty gritty of personal life, but lately, things have changed. Anytime I go through a dry spell, in terms …
The Personal Essay: Refining the Song of My Life (5/19/2022) - By Annie Lin My favorite class, by far, at Stony Brook is WRT303: The Personal Essay. I took the course in the spring of my junior year, accompanying a crowd of pre-health students strongly encouraged to do so in order to ease the process of crafting a successful personal statement. I convinced myself I was different, reminding myself that I was a writing minor and …
Rhetorical Analysis: UC Berkeley’s Response to Enrollment Restrictions (4/11/2022) - Annie Lin In the midst of news regarding Russia and Ukraine, I came across an article regarding UC Berkeley being forced to freeze student enrollment levels for the incoming class of 2022. Nearly three years have passed since I have given any thought to the college application process, but the statistics from the articles caught my attention. To imagine the thousands of students being affected …
My Personal Guide to Writing a Personal Statement (4/4/2022) - Shivasuryan Vummidi Before I began writing my medical school personal statement, I often asked myself what the point of a personal statement is. Why did the “what drives you to become a doctor?” essay have such a high weight on my overall application? Medical schools could see my academic qualifications and extracurricular experiences – why was it so important to write an additional essay to …
Proofreading Protest (3/24/2022) - Student Advocacy Writing: Ways to Participate and Effective Compositional Tips
Blogs and Publishing Opportunities at Stony Brook (2/3/2022) - There are many student-run blogs at Stony Brook University that cover a wide range of topics such as science, writing, and social issues. Unfortunately, many students are unaware of the blogs that do exist and there aren’t many outlets for them to learn about which ones might fit their interests. As a blog dedicated to helping young writers find their niche, we wanted to bring …
Problems With America’s Electrical Infrastructure and Potential Solutions (5/2/2021) - By Jonathan Kline America is currently facing an infrastructure crisis with an overall grade of a D+ (“2017”). This grade is a cumulative score compiled from individual categories such as water (D), roads (D), bridges (C+), solid waste (C+), etc. The focus of this piece will be on the country’s infrastructure involving energy (D+) (“2017”). In recent years, several events indicate the country’s infrastructure has …
At Nightfall (4/21/2021) - By, Shay Maniscalco A Guide to Japanese names Seirei (say-ray) = a nature spirit who serves a higher god. A spirit reflects a natural element, animal, or celestial body and has magical abilities related to it. Yokai (yoke-eye) = a lower class Seirei that is less powerful than an upper class, elemental Seirei. Okami Seirei (oak-a-me) = wolf spirit, a Seirei who can command the …
The Cultivator (4/12/2021) - By, Melissa Brooks 7:02 PM. Polly peered at the tiny, neon green numbers on the microwave, staring intensely at the numbers as if she were trying to change them with her mind. 7:08 PM. Still too early. Her gaze trickled down as she skated her fingers across the smooth, icy surface of the grey marble counter, stopping them when they reached the photo resting on …
New Flesh (4/8/2021) - The weekend after Jon had broken free of unemployment, his car hit a body. He hadn’t been the one to do it, but the fingerprints were scuffed while he went to make the hole. It was hard to believe a man who hadn’t killed someone had any reason to prepare a grave. He was alone for a long while, always shivering when the kiss of …
Overachieving Student Underachieving at Self-Love (4/7/2021) - By Bryanna Tersigni Julie jumps off of her bed and gently smooths over the indent she just made. She walks over to her crystal clear mirror and stares at her reflection. Her eyes flutter to her hair as she combs her fingers through. “Perfect,” Julie declares as she smirks. She glances at her phone; 5:20 AM. She had been up for almost an hour now, …
Breaking and Entering (4/5/2021) - By, Britney Nam Levi leaned over from his not-so-sturdy position and peered over the thick leaves down at the daunting twenty-foot drop. “Nope, nope, nope,” Levi whispered to himself as he scrambled backward until his back crashed against the rough bark, and he quickly flung his arms behind him to hold onto the only thing keeping him from becoming a bloodstain on the ground. Consciously reminding himself to breathe, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree in an attempt to slow his erratic breathing and calm his pounding heart.
Peas in a Pod (4/2/2021) - By, Patricia Paulynn Mallari 07:38 I arrived at the vaccination point of distribution (POD) at 07:00 sharp. I signed in, grabbed breakfast, and attended whatever was left of the briefing (of course I was late). I also made sure to greet my supervisor before heading over to the registration area. Right now, I’m waiting for the circus to start. There are over 2000 people to …
The Eyes that Stray (3/29/2021) - By, Shay Maniscalco When you take a stroll down Moriches Lane, you are surrounded by the trees. The trees are old, and they are wise, but not so sympathetic. While you pass, they laugh at you but never say a word. You watch them as you go, wondering why they look so gnarled, and you may never know. The woods are dense and full of secrets …
We Were Racist (3/29/2021) - By, Scott MacKenzie We were racist. Some still are. How did I escape the fear, the insecurity, the fragile illusive strength in numbers? The only way to belong was to not be the “other.” It was a shifting pattern; you had to be ever watchful. It took me 30 years of long, slow desertion. To be honest, I am still escaping. It’s a long way …
Coronavirus: From the Inside (3/27/2021) - By, Sai Chaddha March 8th. What started out as a normal weekend in early March 2020… ended up being the last normal weekend I can recall. It was Sunday night, and my thoughts were filled with getting this week to come over with. I lived conveniently close to Stony Brook’s campus, meaning I could go home every once in a while whenever I needed a break. Spring break was after this week and I couldn’t have been more excited. I received two Facetime calls that day: one to tell me that our high school friend group is going to Buffalo over Spring break, another to tell me my best friend is coming to visit this Thursday. It seemed like I was going to have the best time of my life, yet little did I know everything would change in a flash.
How to Eat in a Restaurant during a Global Pandemic (3/27/2021) - By, Jacquelyn Monserrat I work as a waitress in a restaurant. Ever since I went back to work about a month ago, I get the same questions over and over about what the new regulations are. So, I thought I’d make a list of them for all of the people who are still confused as to what they are. As of July 28th, 2020, these are the regulations on how to eat in a restaurant in New York State:
Abducted (12/10/2020) - By, Britney Nam Five days. Five days was Daisy's best guess at how long it had been since she was taken captive and thrown into this concrete hell. Five days since she had last seen her family. Five days since she had last beaten her long distance running record and trained with her mixed martial arts instructor. Five days since she had last tasted her mother’s fluffy pancakes. Five days since she had last laid in her cloud-like mattress. Five days since she had last had human contact. Five days. Five never ending days in hell.
Metamorphosis (12/3/2020) - By, Victoria Lombardi Transformation. Growth. Power. A metamorphosis, by definition, is a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. I think we can all agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has stirred metamorphoses amongst every age group in our population. While this […]
Fire (11/26/2020) - By, Lobsang Dolma A few years ago, my family and I were invited to a wedding. At the reception, all of our friends and family were gathered in a circle staring at the newly wedded couple. I watched everybody perform their role, my mother and aunt running around helping the bride, and my father and […]
The Mountain Path (11/19/2020) - By, Shay Maniscalco Part II: The Adventures of Valery Callaghan Valery rode the farmer’s cart along the path out of town. She watched the sparkling lake in the distance as she glided down the familiar stone streets of her tiny, fishing town. It was the same as always; the market stands selling fresh fish and […]
My Students: My Heroes (11/13/2020) - By, Dr. Rita Nezami I teach in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University. On my first day of class in Fall 2008, she walked into the classroom, a frail-looking girl with tinkling anklets. Her eyes shone with intelligence and energy, yet, I sensed she was in pain. Soon enough, she proved […]
Takeaways of the First Presidential Debate: The Necessity to Dump Trump (10/31/2020) - By, Gabby Knab 2020 has been a tumultuous year globally. To add more salt to the wound, it’s an election year for America, and the stakes have seemingly never been higher. Like millions of young voters, this is the first presidential election that I am eligible to cast a ballot. This momentous occasion has been […]
The Witch’s Quest (10/23/2020) - By, Shay Maniscalco Part 1: The Adventures of Valery Callaghan Valery Callaghan sat by the bar, watching the two customers sitting in the old inn where she worked. They were at one of many tables by the window on the far wall near the grand, oak front entrance. . .
Red Ribbon (10/19/2020) - By, Melissa Brooks She recognized nothing in any direction. Where am I? How did I get here?
General Writing (6/24/2020) - Welcome! RhetComp is a student-run blog, hosted by the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, that highlights student writing. On this page, you will find the most recent pieces that have been written by our staff or through general submissions!
The Fly in the Lunch Box (5/23/2020) - “Am I your personal driver? Am I your personal maid?” were the most frequent sentences I used to hear. I was a 10-year old girl. I was born in Korea. When I was 10 years old, I was sent to the Philippines by my parents, who wished to give me the opportunity to learn English during early childhood. I was sent with a teacher, Mrs. …
New Wings (5/18/2020) - Some days, you feel like you’re floating in the breeze, just gliding through. Other days, you’ll feel like you can’t move a mere inch without facing resistance. An assertive, thick, impenetrable field. Dominant, insistent, and, ultimately, a restraint. So, when you feel that wave of opposition looming over you, like an emboldened dark cloud on a sunny day, what do you do? Hide? No. You …
Thoughts on Family (5/1/2020) - I’ve been in this place for as long as I can remember: bought for a price, named, and kept inside. Technically, I’ve been alive for about 13 years, but to me, it’s felt like 74. The people I live with are really nice. They feed me on time, although they make me eat alone in the kitchen. However, giving them a gentle look, maybe even …
Scoops (4/23/2020) - Dear Scoops Staff, This is your boss. We’ve come a long way. Today is the big day. The thing we’ve been preparing for for months. I hired all of you because I knew you could do this, and now’s the time to show it. It’s gonna be a tough task. None of this is gonna come easy. There’s a lot of competition out there. A …
The Countdown (4/15/2020) - She is the second eldest of her siblings and the second daughter of her parents. She is not the boy they were hoping for. Although they took care of all four children, she knows she is the unwanted extra child. If they had a son, they wouldn’t have tried for a third child. The “third child” wouldn’t have come out as twin boys who depleted …
A Tirade of Thoughts Beneath the Silence (4/15/2020) - For an unexpected and unprepared venture, things were starting off so well. I walked in front of the crowd and the aversion to fail or falter was far from my focus: I had something to say, and I wasn’t about to get in my way. First off, the things I knew – my name, my age – and following that came my speech about why …
Well (12/4/2019) - One Autumn day, a baseball flies into a dry well. The arc is perfect; the ball does not impact the walls of the well’s stony interior, landing perfectly half a foot away from the center, bouncing the remaining distance to rest a pupil in the well’s dusty brown iris. The boy who smacked it sprints to the lip of the crevice and desperately reaches for …
Words of Wisdom to Eager Student Researchers (12/2/2019) - At one point or another, students may find themselves looking to get involved with research. This is especially true at STEM-heavy institutions and may apply to students at all levels—whether they be high school students, undergraduates, or even resident physicians. Whether you’re considering a career in research and want to experience it firsthand or just want elementary involvement for medical school applications, jumping into the …
The Children of the Dark (11/27/2019) - The door slammed open, its rusted hinges protesting and its creaking frame barely withstanding the sudden impact. The sound startled Henry, even though he knew it was coming. “Where are you, runt?” shouted Edgar, his voice echoing through the bedroom and reaching Henry where he hid. “If you don’t come out, you’ll be sorry!” Henry’s heart was pounding, painfully throbbing against his chest. …
Fearing Change (11/25/2019) - The world is chaotic: from the colors that bathe the sky and paint it in a myriad of colors to our own roller coaster of life. Change governs all natural things and keeps them in check, yet as humans, we fear change. The idea that there might be a new normal and we would have to find a new way to live is not a …
Title Here (11/22/2019) - —A man sits down at his desk. He presses the power button on his computer, turns on the room light, and takes a seat in his chair. He begins to type. Something doesn’t feel quite right— A young woman squints at her laptop. That doesn’t feel quite right. She stares at her laptop for another ten minutes before sighing and stretching her arms. …
The Tale of Touch-Me-Nots (11/20/2019) - TRIGGER WARNING: This short story contains information about sexual assault and/or violence. In a land where the air was hot and the rain and sunshine fought for control of the skies, there lived a young wood nymph. Her name was Forspacia. Forspacia was regarded as the most beautiful creature of the forest. Those who knew her name could not help but to speak it with …
What is Happening To Me? (10/13/2019) - To Whom It May Concern, EMERGENCY! Keep an open mind, alright? We live in a world where 2 Broke Girls ran for six seasons and Daredevil only ran for three, so anything is possible. You don’t even know what those are yet, but it’s not important. I guess your equivalent would be that Law and Order is still on and Firefly was cancelled after one …
How To Find Your Forte (4/7/2019) - By: Linda Jafa Forte means standing tall and strong. It is an area in which you excel, succeed, shine, and triumph. Sometimes you can feel lost like a compass without a direction and finding your forte may seem out of reach. But, everyone can discover their calling, their destiny, the thing that makes them scream loud and proud. Everyone can find their forte. …
The Somewhere I Started (4/7/2019) - By: Camille Palarpalar I have always admired those who started new projects without any fear – those who do not look at a new club to join, a new story to write, or even a new book to read as a daunting challenge intruding on their reality. I found that questions endlessly accompany the restless excitement and anxiety that come with immersing myself …
Walk in the Snow (3/31/2019) - Cold air brushes against her face, sending her long brown hair twirling into the night sky. The stars were twinkling and lighting her path this night. Her footsteps made light footprints in the snow as she walked on this path. She was looking for something. For what she herself did not know. Something to save her. Something that could make her …
Life and Death and the Ocean Depths (3/31/2019) - By: Robert Burmeister Most of what we know about anything in life is molded and restricted by the barrier of our own perceptions and perspectives. This applies to life itself. Without knowing who you are, I can say with almost 100% certainty that you’ve spent your whole life on the ground just like me; so, when you and I think about the world …
An Introduction to the Blog (10/18/2018) - Hello reader! If you have been a faithful follower throughout the times, you may have noticed some changes. We have switched from a faculty run blog to a student run blog. We are a group of motivated students with a minor in writing, working as writers and editors to contribute to this blog. What this means for the blog itself: We accept submissions from Stony …
[CLOSED] Halloween Writing Contest (10/10/2018) - 10/25/2018 Update: Our contest is closed! Winners will be notified by email before midnight 10/26. We will also be doing a reading (with permission from winners) on Wednesday, 10/31 (Halloween!) during campus lifetime in Humanities 2030. It’s October, so that means the weather gets colder, the drinks get warmer, and the days get shorter. Spend your time curled up inside writing the spookiest story you …
Coffee Seminar: A Cup of Life Lessons (12/15/2017) - Teaching and learning comes in many forms – in this anecdote, Stony Brook University Writing and Rhetoric’s Joe Labriola explains the scholarly value of his end of semester fresh pour over coffee seminar! The end of the semester is a time of substantial stress – for both students and teachers alike. The former often find themselves immersed within panicked, self-insomnia-forced study sessions, while the latter …
Professional Skills: Speaking (12/7/2017) - by Steven Dube (Part one in a series of articles on developing professional skills in the writing classroom.) Initial Fears Jerry Seinfeld has a bit about public speaking in which he references “a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person… Number two was death.” Then he pauses in amazement. “Death is number two!” …
PWR’s In the Spotlight – Wilbur Farley on JEOPARDY! (11/21/2017) - Check out Stony Brook University PWR’s very own Wilbur Farley on JEOPARDY! on November 21, 2017!
PWR’s In the Spotlight – Michelle Whittaker (10/27/2017) - Check out Stony Brook University’s very own Michelle Whittaker as she reads to both students and faculty from her poetry collection SURGE.
A Monster of a Draft (Part Three) (9/21/2017) - Join the Program in Writing and Rhetoric’s very own Kimberly Towers-Kubik as she continues exploring the complexities of assessing paper drafts in part three of her four part series! (Click here to check out part two) Part Three: Modern Complications in Defining ‘the Draft’ by Kimberly Towers-Kubik Now an entire semester removed from what originally prompted this journey, I have further thoughts on what makes …
Beyond the Word (9/10/2017) - by Joe Labriola I recently sat down with Stony Brook University’s Undergraduate Student President, Ayyan Zubair – before his speech to the campus community about the recent ending of DACA – to discuss the role of writing, rhetoric, and effective communication as a student, activist, and emerging global citizen. What do you think the value of writing and rhetoric is for students across academic disciplines? …
The Value of Teaching Translated Texts (8/27/2017) - Join our PWR’s very own Dr. Nezami as she shares her wonderfully fruitful experience at Kent State University’s NEH Summer Institute, exploring the immense benefits of teaching students the value of cross-cultural literacy through global texts. The National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for College and University Faculty Kent State University June 2017 Dr. Rita S. Nezami Introduction to Cross-Cultural Literacy: …
Summer Happenings with PWR: Pre-College Institute (7/3/2017) - by Program in Writing and Rhetoric Faculty With summer in full steam, so is Stony Brook’s PWR! In addition to offering many inter-semester courses, Stony Brook’s Writing and Rhetoric faculty are involved in a wide range of further academic and professional development projects – both here at the university and abroad. One program in particular, the College of Arts and Science’s …
t(A)m(P)a (6/21/2017) - Originally posted on Joe Labriola's Official Blog:
Join me on my narrative musings of my travels to, during, and from my second AP grading journey in Tampa, FL! I suppose the trip really started the day before, on the highway, my 2007 Suzuki Reno sputtering and squelching down to a laborsome roll. The vainful revving cried all the signs of transmission trauma, and so…
“Teaching Writing with Global Issues: Why and How (part 2)” by Soni Adhikari (5/23/2017) - Join our Program in Writing and Rhetoric’s very own Soni Adhikari as she shares part two of her two part piece on the importance of emphasizing global perspectives in her students’ writing! Click here to read part 1! Teaching Writing with Global Issues: Why and How (part 2) In my previous post, I shared some thoughts and strategies about using literacy narratives of transnational scholars/writers to …
“Teaching Writing with Global Issues: Why and How (part 1)” by Soni Adhikari (4/11/2017) - Join our Program in Writing and Rhetoric’s very own Soni Adhikari as she shares part one of her two part piece on the importance of emphasizing global perspectives in her students’ writing! This essay is my attempt to expand upon a section that I contributed to a blog post written together by several PWR colleagues in fall 2016. I also presented another version at the …
PWR’s In the Spotlight – An Interview with Dr. Shyam Sharma (4/3/2017) - Check out Saher Jafri’s interview with one of Stony Brook University’s finest faculty members! “PWR’s Spotlight is on one of the five exceptionally caring professors who were recently recipients of the annual College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award. Representing the Humanities, Program in Writing and Rhetoric’s Dr. Shyam Sharma was awarded! His humble and genuine nature shines through in the following interview.“ Click here for the full …
Traveling (to class) Tales (2/2/2017) - Join our Writing and Rhetoric Program’s faculty in our flash non-fiction narratives about the most daunting challenges we’ve overcome to make it to class – a creative collaboration featuring Carolyn Sofia, MaryAnn Duffy, and Joseph Labriola. “Commitment” – by Carolyn Sofia Twenty-five years ago I was sitting in the gardens at the Gran Hotel del Paraguay, a colonial, 19th-century hotel on the outskirts of Asuncion. Holding my soon-to-be, infant daughter, her …
Experiments In Transfer (12/27/2016) - by Steven Dube “I want my students to internalize the idea that they are not writing isolated essays in a writing class, but that they’re writers thinking through their choices, no matter what the context is.” 1. One common difficulty that students face in research is filtering out irrelevant information. A student, let’s call him James, may say that he wants to research the health …
Memes as Global Communication (11/12/2016) - by Cynthia Davidson While many of our students and faculty are well-traveled to the point of being cosmopolitan, prodigies of negotiating cultures physically, intellectually, and emotionally, traveling physically is not a condition of being a global communicator in the digital age. Global communication is coded into the multimodal system of signs that pervades the internet and traverses barriers of language, nation, region, and culture. An …
“The Island of Jiji” by Shyam Sharma (10/20/2016) - Join Shyam Sharma as he takes us on a riveting journey through the Ocean of Cross-Cultural Perspectives to the Island of Jiji! The first semester of my teaching in the United States, about a decade ago in Kentucky, one student wrote an essay arguing, essentially, that the United Nations is an inefficient organization run by corrupt foreigners. After supporting this claim by citing various dubious …
Pacing Grading Pacing – Tricks and Tips on How to Organize and Manage Grading Papers (9/10/2016) - Ahhh…the fall… Colorful leaves, crisp breezes, pumpkin-spice everything. These seasonal wonders might not be fully upon us yet, but never mind that “autumn” doesn’t officially begin until September 22. For most intents and purposes, the summer, sadly, is over. As if the inevitable temperature decrease isn’t souring enough, the looming workload of grading papers is nigh as well. But there’s hope, well, maybe more “madness …
Advanced(A) Placement(P) City (7/2/2016) - Joe Labriola, or Prof Labs, as his students call him, is a writer, editor, professor, etc. living the dream of insomniac nights chugging caffeine, grading papers, and writing fantasy/sci-fi/contemporary fiction novels. He writes both prose and poetry, and, sometimes, actually does semi-lucrative work like copy-editing.
Online teaching: the good, the bad, the promise and the peril (3/24/2016) - Online classes are increasingly popular with students because of the untethering they offer from both classroom and campus and increasingly popular with administrations because $$$. What about the professors teaching these classes? What do they think and feel about this growing medium? I spoke with four Stony Brook professors who’ve all taught online to learn what they’ve noted about their experiences and their students’, and …
Visual Rhetoric, Visual Argument: Reading Images Responsibly by Rita S. Nezami (3/18/2016) - “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.” – John Berger, Ways of Seeing The power of visual rhetoric is monumental. An image can often have a greater impact on an audience than a written text. Visual images, like written texts, are rhetorical. That is, they possess both a way of representing and carrying representational content. As we …
Google Documents (as of early 2015) for Teaching Writing, Part 2 (2/24/2015) - by Shyam Sharma In part one of this piece, Shyam Sharma talked about the set-up and function of Google Docs, and how it impacts teaching writing, professor feedback, and student agency. Here in part two, he looks at its workshop application, reader response, opportunities for collaboration, and reasons for caution. COLLABORATION, ENGAGEMENT Google Docs helps to make writing a more social activity. Students can more …
Google Documents (as of early 2015) for Teaching Writing – Part 1 (2/19/2015) - by Shyam Sharma I was more impressed when Steve Jobs said that he didn’t let his kids use the iPad than when he called it “magical” while launching it. So, as I share these teaching tips about effectively using Google Docs in this post, I hope that I don’t sound like I have my own type of “technomagicology.” In fact, this post is a follow up …
My “GWID” conundrums (12/9/2014) - by Shyam Sharma When I taught the graduate-level writing in the disciplines (or “GWID,” as I call it) course last spring, which had a lot of nonnative English speaking (NNES) students, I faced a lot of conundrums. How much time should I allocate to help students with basic writing skills in an advanced writing course like that? Especially when NNES students seek help with their …
Promoting Students’ Ownership (5/17/2014) - Part I Part II Part III Part IV (coming) . . . of Their Ideas and Their Writing . . . Shyam Sharma, Christopher Petty The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do. –B.F. Skinner Writing teachers generally tend to be skeptical about technological determinism that rules the academic airwaves these days. And yet, to the extent that they assume that more and newer …
Training Wheels . . . (4/30/2014) - . . . What a Writing Tutor Can Bring into the Classroom as a Writing Instructor Michael Reich There are many different approaches to both Teaching Writing and Tutoring Writing, but how do they intersect, where do they intersect, and finally, does a Writing Teacher have anything to gain from these intersections? In this post, I hope to lay out, through some examples in my classroom this …
Commenting Conundrums . . . (4/22/2014) - Part I Part II Part III Part IV… . . . Teaching Students the Levels of Sharing Christopher Petty and Shyam Sharma* “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think –” (for, you see, Alice had learnt several …
Why are they so quiet? (4/15/2014) - by Liz Kotseas “Why are they so quiet?” is a common question from teachers who want to encourage English Language Learners (ELLs) to collaborate with peers or participate during class discussions. I, too, wondered why some of my students in ESL writing classes were quiet and why they waited until after class had ended to ask questions. It wasn’t until they began to share details of …
Using Digital Stories in the Writing Classroom (4/8/2014) - Cathleen Rowley Sometimes I obsess over writing assignments I create for my classes. Should I use a novel or story or essay for a text analysis assignment? What is the best way to explain the researched argument and how many parts should I break the assignment into? But for my WRT 303, the personal essay class, I know my final assignment is going to be …
The Meta-Game: Focusing on Skills in the Writing Classroom (4/1/2014) - Katherine Miscavige There was a discussion earlier this semester on the Composition and Rhetoric listserv about the transferability of the skills we teach in the writing classroom. To a certain extent, we are valued for and tasked with teaching students a broad skill set that is supposed to support them in the rest of their college careers – and hopefully, as educated citizens, the rest …
Faith as a Foundation of Professoring (3/26/2014) - Matthew Miranda As a second-year professor, I’ve found some of my first-year anxieties were year-one specific. I’ve come to realize no matter how eager and willing I am to make myself available for each and every one of the living breathing miracles in my classes, no matter how sincerely I stress there’s no reason they can’t all get an A, and that the surest way …
Understanding Veteran Students – Part I (3/18/2014) - Roger Thompson As writing instructors, we see a much wider swath of the student population than other faculty. And, as writing instructors, we are likely confronted with personal histories in ways that faculty in other disciplines encounter. Those ideas were at the heart of much of the research Alexis Hart (faculty at Allegheny College and a Navy veteran) and I have conducted in recent years. …
Twitch Plays ePortfolio? (3/11/2014) - Writing ePortfolio Corner Cynthia Davidson Today’s Writing ePortfolio Corner isn’t so much about eportfolios as about the possible future of interactive spaces for reflection (which eportfolios are). I’m talking about the “Twitch Plays Pokemon” phenomenon that is taking the web by storm this week. Full disclosure: I know nothing about Pokemon. I never played it. This is a pleasure that passed my generation by–well, some …
Teaching Global Issues: Bringing the World into the Writing Class (3/3/2014) - Rita Nezami As Mohamed Bouazizi’s charred body lay in a hospital bed in Tunisia, I walked into the writing classroom in January 2011 and asked my students what they thought about the young Tunisian’s self-immolation. They looked at me with blank, bewildered eyes. I could see they had no idea what I was talking about. A month later, as thousands of Egyptians gathered on the …
Student Post – 2 (3/3/2014) - Celebrating Student Writing Terri Squires There is an old saying to write what you know, and that is what my stories will do. While my books are primarily fiction with a bit of fantasy, they are going to cover some real world tough subjects, such as bullying, abuse, and drug addiction. A little over a year ago in one of my writing classes, I recall …
Putting Everything On the Line? (2/26/2014) - Part I Part II Part III Part IV… … Optimizing the Affordances, Minding the Pitfalls Shyam Sharma and Christopher Petty Especially after the advent of web 2.0 applications, the landscape of teaching writing is drastically changing. In many ways, writing teachers greatly benefit by moving into web-based, increasingly shared, and peer-involved practices especially at the post-secondary levels. New developments in technological applications are allowing highly effective …
Mentoring Veteran Students (2/18/2014) - Roger Thompson Today I had a meeting with a graduate student in higher ed administration, and she is working with our Veterans Affairs office. Herself a veteran, she is seeking ways to encourage mentorship of student veterans, and she was investigating the possibility of faculty working with the veteran population at Stony Brook. Of course, I think this is a valuable idea, and I think …
The Class on Fire… (2/12/2014) - … Why I Taught The Hunger Games (in my college writing class) Becky Goldberg In the spring semester of 2012, in the first two writing classes that I taught as a lecturer and not a graduate student, I took a risk in teaching something that I feared might garner some criticism (or at the very least, skepticism) from my peers. I taught The Hunger Games …
Metaphor, the Magic Modifier (2/4/2014) - MaryAnn Duffy My favorite part of the semester is about halfway through when the students can identify the elements of a sentence and start focusing on their own writing style and its rhetorical effects. Students first complete a tally of their sentence patterns. Many discover they favor longer sentences laden with wordy modifiers, particularly dependent clauses. I then ask them to generate a list of …
Student Writing – 1 (2/4/2014) - Celebrating Student Writing Linda Milano* When companies recall products due to the potential dangers they pose to public safety, customers normally expect them to take full responsibility and be completely transparent. However, how a company that is in trouble in the aftermath of a product recall should respond to mistakes it made is a rather complex and multifaceted matter. From the perspective of the general …
Helping International Students Transition and Succeed – II (11/26/2013) - by Shyam Sharma Part II: Specific Suggestions In the first part of this post, I highlighted some general difficulties that international students face during their academic transition, focusing on the challenge of understanding/embracing new ideas, assumptions, and approaches about learning and teaching in a new academic system/culture. In this follow up entry, I list some specific suggestions for helping int’l students with their academic transition and success. …
Critical Response in the Writing Classroom (11/19/2013) - by Christopher Petty In my previous blog post (“Fostering Feedback: Dramaturgy and the Writing Classroom”), I discussed a similar need for constructive peer feedback between theatre and the writing classroom. I also mentioned that one of the biggest obstacles regarding peer review in writing classes is the difficulty of getting students to give each other useful and detailed responses while avoiding overly prescriptive or negative …
Helping International Students Transition and Succeed – I (11/19/2013) - by Shyam Sharma Part I: The Big Picture Moving from one academic context into another, including in the case of academic disciplines and even levels, can be challenging for any student. But transitioning from the educational culture of one country to that of another altogether can add a whole new set of difficulties. In this post, I would like to highlight how significantly difference in …
Teaching the Personal Essay (11/12/2013) - By Rita S. Nezami I love teaching the personal essay. Writing the personal essay deeply engages my students in the process once they get started and understand that they’re not trying to complete an assignment so much as they are exploring themselves, their topics, and how both relate to the larger world. The personal essay is a journey into the self. It invites students to …
Common Core (11/12/2013) - by Matthew Miranda “Common Standards, then, far from offering solutions, exacerbate the problem, making our schools more like the vast tracks of monocultural corn fields blanketing the Midwest, fields that produce corn syrup for the processed food industries. If we allow our schools to be dominated by the logic that created industrial agriculture, we risk processing our children like fast food.” —Stephanie Wade, Associate Professor, Unity College …
Blogfolios: Remediation of Ethos as Dwelling Place in the ePortfolio (11/5/2013) - Writing ePortfolio Corner Cynthia Davidson A home has doors to let people and goods and resources in and out, windows to let the air in and out. There must be adequate access. This brings to mind a story about my friend who builds houses and hotels; he spent the month in the Bahamas working on a convention center. He made such beautiful doors that he …
Writing Obstacles (10/23/2013) - by Gene Hammond My favorite thing about being Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric here is walking through the halls hearing the many one-on-one conversations spilling out of offices about writing, and seeing students sitting or standing or texting in the halls waiting to begin such conversations. There’s no doubt in anyone’s minds at that point that important work is taking place. The …
Why I Teach Grammar (10/15/2013) - MaryAnn Duffy With this blog I would like to begin an informal and open discussion about teaching grammar. During some of our calibration Brown Bags, we’ve had at least one paper whose primary weakness was at the sentence level. This spurred a discussion about how to address grammar mistakes. It seems there are as many approaches as there are instructors, which is not necessarily a …