The Penn English Grads Teaching Page

Teaching Tools Created and Used by English Grads

• Style and Usage
  • Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Notes, much more comprehensive than the title indicates
  • Erika Lin's Grammar and Style handout, which excerpts some material from Jack's "Notes" and adds some other tips.
  • Some Notes on Gender-Neutral Language, Carolyn Jacobson
  • Erik's Top Ten Quick Keys to Better Style, Erik Simpson

   

   

• Thesis Construction
  • How To Be Original, by Michael Barsanti, which makes more concrete one of the mystified generalities writing teachers like to toss about; related and equally useful is his Writing a Thesis.
  • Thesis and Introduction Worksheet, Katherine Milligan
  • On Thesis Statements, Hester Blum
  • Erik Simpson's Five Ways of looking at a Thesis, constructed in part by looking at the other resources on TeachWeb
  • On Thesis Statements, by Sam Choi

• Structure and Argument
  • On Structure, by Michael Barsanti, which cautions against the paragraph-per-text comparison paper and offers an alternative
  • Owen Williams's handouts to guide students through the wilds of Definition,Comparison and Contrast, and Cause and Effect.
  • Jean Feerick's Evidence Paragraph Exercise and Jean's brief note explaining her thinking behind the assignment.

• Documentation
  • Jennifer Chen's Parenthetical References and her MLA Format for Works Cited, a quick run through the basic types of sources.

• Grading Standards
  • Grading Standards for Papers, Erik Simpson
  • Evaluation Standards for Formal Essays, Katherine Milligan

• Plagiarism/Academic Integrity Policies
  • Erik Simpson's Plagiarism Policy
  • That of Owen Williams

   

• Tools for Writing Workshops
  • Erik Simpson's Writer Review Form and Reader Review Form for workshops. The Writer Review Form can also be turned in with papers to help the student start a conversation with the teacher.
  • Peer Review Guidelines Katherine Milligan

• Other Tools and Handouts
  • Using the OED On Line, a guide and class assignment from Owen Williams
  • Jeremy Braddock's Portfolio Guidelines, a document that guides students through the portfolio process, wittily warns against common pitfalls, and recommends and explains some basic research tools
  • Carolyn Jacobson's Guidelines for Group Work, Part One and Part Two
  • Things to Consider in a Stage Performance, by Erika Lin
  • Erika Lin's Teaching Feedback Questionnaire, which asks students to answer more detailed and specific questions than standardized evaluation forms do.

Syllabi of English Writing Program Classes

• Rewritten Classics, Sheila Allen
• Epic Traditions in Transition, Rob Barrett
• Writing Non-Fiction, Sam Choi
• Cybertheory, Sam Choi, Jack Lynch, and Mark Shanaman
• Black Women's Autobiography, 1800 to the Present, Patricia Hopkins
• Big Books of the Victorian Period, Carolyn Jacobson
• Sex, Women, and Violence in Medieval Culture, Jack Lynch
• From Epic to Hypertext, Jack Lynch
• The Age of Reason?, Jack Lynch
• American Literature and Culture Wars, Jonna Mackin
• Clowns and Tricksters in Modern American Literature, Jonna Mackin
• Plays in Performance, Kirsten Miller
• Writing About Short Fiction, Kirsten Miller
• Plays in Performance, Kirsten Miller
• Writing About Short Fiction, Kirsten Miller
• 20th-Century American Novel: Experiments in Style, Katherine Milligan
• An Introduction to Nonfiction Film, Mark Shanaman
• A Chicken for Every Road: Techniques of Comedy, Erik Simpson
• Romance and Revolution: The Romantic Novel in Context, Erik Simpson
• Plays in Performance, Roberta Stack
• Constructions of Gender on Page & Screen, Roberta Stack
• Picturing the Page, Roberta Stack
• Organic Self, Industrial Society, Darryl Wadsworth
• Narrative Strategies and AIDS, Sherri Wilcauskas

Links to Other Teaching-Related Sites

• Purdue University's guide to Writing Labs & Writing Centers on the Web

You are visitor number since September 1, 1997.

This page was designed and is maintained by Erik Simpson,
who eagerly solicits comments and suggestions.