I ask them to write an essayon Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”and compare it to real life’s victimizing, scapegoating, mob mentality, human cruelty. I say exercise close readingand let your argument lead the way; textual evidenceshall follow. Explore, excavate, then explicate.Find your own voice. I want them to enjoy freedomof speech (in this course at least). But all…
Category: 2 Rules The Magazine
Dance Studio and Classroom
The other day, one of my second grade students, Sally, invited me to her seventh birthday party. Be Careful what you Wish For She is young for this grade. Most of the other students are seven turning eight. She actually skipped first grade. And when you think about the pandemic online year she suffered through,…
Oyster Sauce Gravy Wingettes: Childhood Memories
It should go without much dispute: for many people, our eating preferences came from the kitchen which our moms didn’t let us enter. The kitchen, soaked in lemon yellow sunlight late in the afternoon, or glowing fluorescent white in the evening, speaks magic. Dish after dish of vegetables and meat filled our grumbling stomachs; brought…
To the Future – Where We Know Ourselves
An Archaic Concept of Me. Recap In previous deliveries we meet Stuart and Aleena, as they begin married life together. They lead a life of comfort, and prospective wealth, and they take that privilege for granted, as their due, through their affirmative mind-states. They congratulate each other on the manifestations of abundance arising from their lithe…
Mr. Misunderstanding: Prof. Parker
In loving memory of David Parker (1943-2015) A Good Teacher is Hard to Find, Episode 2 As there’s no good place to start, let me walkbackwards till, I bump into you. Mr. Misunderstanding On numerous occasions, Prof. Parker asked me to call him David, but for some unknown reason, I had never been able to…
On Profiles
There are few genres of journalism I enjoy more than the profile: 2,000 to 10,000 words on a single individual. Sometimes this is a mega-famous celebrity, sometimes it’s an ordinary person, but the best profiles are of people who are well-known within certain circles, whose life and works are demonstrative of a larger trend in…
Bad Words
“Ms. Lacrete, Ms. Lacrete! Carlyle said a bad word!” Most of the time, when a student complains to me that someone in class said a bad word to them, the recourse is to sit the two students down, and figure out what made them so upset as to curse in the first place. My students…
Titanic: 25 Years Later
Titanic was my favorite film when I was a kid. Well, one of them at least. It holds my personal record for number of times I have seen a film in the theater—four. Titanic (Cameron, 1997) was released when I nine years old. I was truly obsessed—ripping every nuance to shreds and talking to my…
The Writing Group: No Single Authors
Writing is often seen as a lonely journey. Whether you’re a content creator, a novelist or the author of a journal article. Imagine having to hide in a cubicle the whole day, not allowing yourself to get out, eat or drink, go to the washroom… Or picture yourself getting up painstakingly early just to write…
An Archaic Concept of Me
Incremental Delivery #2 Editor’s Note: This is the second “Delivery” in the series. If you would like to catch up, you can do so here. The opening: I was young; I was anxious; I was bound to an archaic concept of me. She smoothed my mind and body with her sunny day thoughts and yoga…