Genre: 11th

MICHAEL LIN

A Journey Through the Familiar: William T. Vollmann’s California In 2006, Sean Wilsey and Matt Weiland came up with an idea to write a book. It took them two years to pull together a collection of travelogues, detailed narratives, and encapsulating essays. State by State: a Panoramic Portrait of America, was to be a compilation Read more…

JASON QIN

Jason is just beginning Intro to Rhetoric which uses State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America as textbook. Many years ago (10) another student wrote an essay on Joe Sacco’s inimitable style, but in Jason’s foray into the unit, he hit a line drive that kept on sailing until … HOMERUN! One of the Read more…

ALEX LIN

Sexually graphic books in school libraries and actual US Government censorship WARNING: Due to the nature of this subject, some sexually graphic information is included in the below. It is only named, but younger students should only read with parent supervision. by Alex Lin  The current issue of school library book banning was introduced to Read more…

EDWIN ZHAO

Hoaglund’s Shell The critic and editor Phillip Lopate has many insights on the personal essay – how it functions, what makes it tick, how it is attractive to readers, and its various unique aspects. In his second aspect of the personal essay (the first is “The Conversational Element”), he defines “Honesty, Confession, and Privacy” as Read more…

JONATHAN LIM

Seneca the Younger and The Art of the Personal Essay, ed. Phillip Lopate “On Noise” is an essay that reveals the musings of a man, known as a classic Stoicist, statesman, dramatist and satirist. Twelve of his essays survive, and in The Art of the Personal Essay editor, Phillip Lopate, four are collected. In this Read more…