Biblical Aesthetics and Godly Poetry
A Forma Classic from June 4, 2004
writing
The Holy Grail of Classical Education
The holy grail of classical education is the integrated curriculum. What a chalice that would be! Two things have kept us from finding it. The first is that we’ve been looking in the wrong place. The second is that there hasn’t been an integrating tool. First, we’ve been looking in the wrong place. Put simply, …
The Five Paths to Great Writing
Careful observation has confirmed that there are five paths to writing excellence. Neglect of any one of them will undermine a writer’s potential. They are: The Theoretical path The Practical path The Critical path The Literary Path The Linguistic Path I suspect that some readers may have a visceral reaction to the inclusion of the …
Could Faulkner Write
I don’t like to travel without an interesting compelling time-filling book, and I’m driving up to PA tomorrow in what is still called a car because that is what the people over at Hertz call it – a bright cool air-conditioned chamber with the windows all closed because as a man I realize that hot …
Is Life a Sentence?
So then is life more like a run-on sentence that takes in whatever pops up and includes what it likes and excludes what it doesn’t if it can and as it arises and just tries to make the best of things, content with contradictions and confusion like when I’m writing and my wife comes into …
How My Students Learned to Marry Form and Content
I teach a group of homeschooled 12th graders. This is my second year teaching them, having followed them from 11th to 12th grade. I introduced them to The Lost Tools of Writing Level 1 at the beginning of the 11th grade and we’ve continued the lessons into this second year. I have often encouraged them …
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The Sentence: The Unifying Life Principle
I think it is safe to say that many students today, even adults, do not very well understand the sentence. It is quite common to find a hazy vagueness in regard to what a sentence is and how to make one. This is understandable; we live in a fragmented, distracted age. But fortunately, if we …