Category: words

In Search Of Literary Fame

“Young man, literary glory, or the fame that comes from learning and then writing, is one of the very few forms of glory presently available to the commoner. Admittedly, it’s not as impressive or satisfying as the glory that derives from public service, since action is much worthier and nobler than thinking or writing, and more natural. We weren’t made to spend our lives sitting at a table with pen and paper, and doing so can only be detrimental to your health and happiness. All the same, as I said, this is a glory that can be achieved without initial riches and without being part of a large organization. Theoretically.”

What’s ‘Receptive Multilingualism’? It’s Something Found All Over The World

Americans are most likely to encounter it among the (guilty-feeling) children of immigrants or near the borders with Mexico or Quebec — it’s when someone can understand a language but not speak it. It occurs in many polyglot cities as well as along linguistic borders; it can also be observed on islands with multiple native ethnic groups. On one island, off the north coast of Australia, whose 500 people speak a total of nine languages, receptive multilingualism is basically mandatory, grounded in deep social conventions.

Rethinking Plagiarism (Or At Least How We Think About It)

“I recognize that when students plagiarize they often do so not because they have some nefarious agenda but because they feel enormous pressure to succeed or are confused, uncertain, forgetful, exhausted, or pressed for time. But I am optimistic that at least some students walked away from the class feeling empowered as scholars and thinkers, that they began to see citation as a means of bringing different voices to bear on critical conversations from which they’ve been consciously or unconsciously excluded, and that they carried this knowledge to other classes and spaces where the representation of voices is not always equitable or even. Most simply, I wanted them to leave as active participants in an ongoing conversation about plagiarism and citation rather than as passive onlookers.”

2018 Dictionary.com’s Word Of The Year: Misinformation

“In 2018 we need to be talking about misinformation because misinformation is what’s driving people’s choices, behaviors, and action. There has been a lot of misinformation about what’s happening around the world, and it’s creating a lot of chaos.” Misinformation is defined by Dictionary.com as “false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead.”

A Graphic Novel Accused Of Being ‘Steeped In Islamophobia’ Is Pulled After Protests

The book, A Suicide Bomber Sits in the Library, was written by Newbery Award-winning author Jack Gantos and illustrated by artist Dave McKean, originally for a group of 2016 stories that Amnesty International put out “celebrating the power of books to transform lives.” But the publisher pulled the release after the Asian Author Alliance wrote a letter saying, among other things, “the simple fact is that today, the biggest terrorist threat in the US is white supremacy.”