Summer 2011

Back for another round of teaching English 255, Public Writing. Frankly, this course is a real bear to teach for me because--- well---what IS public writing anyway? And whatever it is, is it teachable? In a single semester?

So I think I need to start my planning for the course this summer with a definition: Public writing is writing FOR the people, BY the people.

Any writing that we do to serve and sustain the communities we identify with counts as public writing. Public writing, unlike academic writing, i does real work, enhancing, motivating, advocating, informing, promoting, educating, directing and coordinating action tin a community. And unlike private professional writing, it serves the collective, not the individual. It's a form of citizenship.