writing

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8

What the author meant doesn't matter: what the reader thought they meant does.

To what extent should a reader consider the author’s intention in producing the work? Is the reader’s individual relationship to the written work more important than the author’s intended effect? Does the author have any right to dictate what the work should mean to the reader? Or, can the author only provide an interpretation of their own work and leave the rest to the reader? Consequently, are all interpretations of a written work, however absurd, valid and worthwhile? Whose opinion matters more?

  • I really like this topic. An author's intent is important. – Tigey 8 years ago
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  • One thing: your title seems leading. – Tigey 8 years ago
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  • Authorial intent is a massive can of worms - one that I hope someone has the guts to open. I would love to see this article written, but I do caution anyone that tries will risk earning the ire of literature PhD's everywhere. – Tarben 8 years ago
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  • It's important that people read and interpret things on their own but also with knowledge of the culture the writer was producing in and that's what should be focused on. – Slaidey 8 years ago
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  • To do this topic justice, it'll be necessary for whoever writes this topic to discuss the importance of New Criticism, namely the theoretical contributions of John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks, Robert Penn Warren, I.A. Richards, T.S. Eliot, Stanley Fish, and particularly William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley (for their essay "Intentional Fallacy," which is about precisely this). – ProtoCanon 8 years ago
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  • Tarben, is the "can of worms" you mention the tension between old historicism and New Criticism, or something else/more? – Tigey 8 years ago
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  • It would be interesting to look at Wolfgang Iser's reader response theory in relation to this too. – Lauren Mead 8 years ago
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  • The author's intention is really important, for instance if you want to do Thomas Hardy or Sylvia Plath, you need to understand how they feel...otherwise you'd end nowhere. – Anya 8 years ago
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  • As mentioned above, it's definitely worth reading up on Literary Criticism before attempting this (and even then, there has never really been one definitive answer to this question). It's definitely worth checking out Roland Barthes' "Death of the Author" as that has been the, possibly now slightly outdated, backbone of the authorial intent debate for a while! – LucyViolets 8 years ago
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Writing through History; how Writing has Impacted America

Through the centuries, writing has been a powerful form of communication. Whether be it a political pamphlet, a provocative essay, or a news article, writing was an important way to translate individuals’ ideas and viewpoints. Analyze how writing has helped to empower and shape American history. Compare and contrast historical speeches and/or important, influential writers, authors, or essayists. Simply put, writing helped shape our country.

  • Love this topic, it would really be interesting to maybe also cover the change as to who people see as influential. Nowadays, many people look towards comedians and TV/Film writers as influential towards politics instead of journalists and politicians. – Austin Bender 8 years ago
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  • I think there are plenty of great examples to delve into where the written word ventures into sociopolitical territory. – MichelleAjodah 8 years ago
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  • Would it be better to focus on a specific part of American history i.e. American culture in evaluating this topic? – Ryan Errington 8 years ago
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  • I think this is an excellent topic and I do agree that whomever decides to take this one should concentrate on a particular period in time. While reading this topic suggestion, I immediately thought of the civil rights movement due to the amount of varying literature that was disseminated at the time. Some was bitter, and visceral, while other writings were beautiful and unifying. This is a very important topic...nice contribution, and one that I do hope to see as an article! – danielle577 8 years ago
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  • You might want to be careful with your title. America is actually misused by many Americans; it refers to the entirety of North and South America. You may want to alter your title to "How Writing has Impacted the United States" or something of the sort. I know it wouldn't bother Americans, but it might bother readers from elsewhere in the Americas. – Laura Jones 8 years ago
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Published

The Neediness of a Writer

As we all know, when you write something, you put yourself "out there." You put your work up for criticism. We all dream of everyone loving our writing, and be respected, or loved, or both. A simple "good work" can make your day. However, your writing is not that special. People will disagree. Some will not like it. Others will hate. How do you deal with that? Answering this question would be the thesis for whoever wants to pick this topic.

  • The beauty of creative expression, including writing, art and film, is that it does provoke some kind of feeling. A good example is Van Gogh. Even if people hate the work, feedback is useful but your creation is still your baby. Perfect in your own eyes. – Munjeera 8 years ago
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  • There's an awkward balance between the "good works" and criticism for people who create art. You want people to think your art is good, but you also want them to provide their thoughts and feelings so that you can make it better. The fact of the matter is no matter what you write and how much time you spend on it, someone in the world will have issue with it. And then there will be people who don't provide any assistance and just say it's "really good." Finding the right balance between the two is the eternal struggle for artists and writers. – Nayr1230 8 years ago
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  • Right, and then you can have a hundred good impressions, but if only one person doesn't like it, it will bug you. I tend to focus on that one person who didn't like it even though the overwhelming majority thought it was good. I don't like to do that, but it is just my unconscious reaction. I also always suspect whether those people who say that is good are telling the truth. – ismael676 8 years ago
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  • Having people disagree does not necessarily mean that the writing is bad or not special. It just provokes further argument or creates the need for more writing. Look at academic writing. Every article posted is well thought out and edited. However, I have written plenty of essays that are grounded on refuting one of those said articles. Negative criticism is a way of life, but as long as you continuously look at it as criticism that you can build off of and not as just someone telling you "you're terrible," then I think you will survive as a writer. – cletkiewicz 8 years ago
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Race and Film

Analysis of films as they relate centrally to race as a primary lens.

  • Examples? – Darcy Griffin 8 years ago
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  • Hmmm...what comes to mind is actually Disney's recent film, Zootopia. Totally hilarious, classic Disney fare. But also a pretty clear race allegory, as many reviewers have noticed. Gets to the heart of racialized discourse: are people of certain races (or in Zootopia's case, bunnies) inherently passive, while others (see wolves in the film) are aggressive and still others (see foxes) sneaky and conniving? Of course not, but these are the assumptions we inherit and perpetuate, even on the subtlest levels. Ruminating on these topics in animated form is, I think, rather ingenious. – alissac 8 years ago
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  • There are a ton of different ways this could go. Some specification is probably needed: films from a certain era? Country or region? About certain race(s)? Different genres? There are a lot of different factors that will affect the role race plays in a movie. – chrischan 8 years ago
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  • Qu'Allah bĂ©nisse la France (2014) a French film, shot in black & white that takes a look at the racism, France's well-known unemployment issue as well as heavy drug use and how these factors affect the youngsters in a devastating manner. The film is based on a true story. – oksly 8 years ago
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  • I might be interested in this topic. But, in order to give any step further, I am going to need examples, a project with a thesis, an explanation of the relevance of the undertaking, and proof that this idea is original and hasn't been explored before. – T. Palomino 2 years ago
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Allow Writing Students to Choose Their Own Courses

With Journalism, English, or other writing-based majors, students should be able to choose what classes they want to take, rather than forcing them to take general electives and studies that will not benefit their chosen career path. The student can choose which courses will best help them develop their sense of writing style and technique. Students will then be able to take classes about topics they are interested in writing about.

With all majors, there a certain core classes one must take, and then there are electives that they can take, but most of these electives need to be in their school– Journalism College, or College of Arts and Sciences. Instead of restricting their electives to their college of degree, students could take a course from any college that would best fit their chosen category of writing. For example, let’s say a student is majoring in creative writing. That student might creatively write about cultural differences, or even hotel management experiences. That student would normally have to take electives that are other forms of creative writing, but with my idea, they could cover the aspects they want to creatively write about, and still receive credit for them.

Also, if a writing student wants to take another beneficial writing course, rather than a mandatory math class, they would be able to swap out for certain courses.

  • This could also translate to other categories other than writing. For example, a theatre major would be well served to take certain Business classes, since Theatre Management is a lucrative career and offers employment possibilities outside of acting and technical theatre (which are what most undergraduate theatre programs are centered around). Ditto Computer Science courses. It would be interesting to argue the angle of taking an elective instead of mandatory general education course (swapping writing for math), but I think that might be a separate article; additionally, it would be easier to argue why they are important rather than superfluous. Students often underestimate how often they will use courses such as math in their chosen field. Algebra, for example, is often used in scenic construction and design, and even writers still need to do their taxes! While they may seem like a waste of time when pursuing a specific degree in the arts, often they are useful later on (especially when looking for alternate means of employment to support yourself while you write/act/illustrate/film/animate/etc.). – Katheryn 8 years ago
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  • A thought to consider would be the cost of these classes and finding staff to run them. The university I attend has cut back staff so we have to video call into another campus in order to take our class. Not only is this disruptive to the learning process it would also would assume that it would be frustrating to teach. I do however love this idea as I have been forced to take journalism classes for my degree to make up credit points, all that time spent learning how to write media releases will be wasted in my field. Good luck to the writer of this topic i look forward to hearing your ideas. – geopikey 8 years ago
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  • I'm not exactly sure what this topic is exactly. What exactly do you want the author to write about that you haven't already stated? – Lexzie 8 years ago
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  • I think you should narrow down what you're trying to say here. I think it's extremely beneficial for budding writers NOT to study literature straight away, and instead study something that will broaden their views on the world, thus allowing them to have interesting ideas that will then lead to creative writing. As an author myself, I have extremely benefited from not studying creative writing at university. – CJFitpatrick91 8 years ago
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  • As an English undergrad, I would love to read about the possibility of having a more open course that would facilitate more creative writing about topics that the students could choose, and the pros and cons of the class. – HelenaH 8 years ago
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  • The University of Indiana's Individualized Major Program (I. M. P.) allows one to designs their own curriculum. Under this program, Will Shortz, the New York Times' crossword puzzle editor, became in 1974 the only degree holder in enigmatology, the study of puzzles. Your topic could start out by reporting how students at that university have used the I. M. P. to create new majors related to the traditional English major. – Tigey 8 years ago
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The Formatting and Style of Writing

Most writers might be aware of the tedious rules that are involved in writing, particularly when they intend to publish in the media. Generally these guidelines are relaxed in the entertainment value of publishing, though there are larger expectations when dealing with other major groups, such as scholarly journals and education platforms.
The subject here pertains to the various formats designated to various organizations, and offers to investigate the reasons/causation for these different writing styles. It is suggested to review the details of what separates one format style from another, and what could it mean about their importance on the academic scale. An idea might also be to argue in favor for benefits to the formatting changes, or perhaps to dispute if a uniform format might serve best in the academic world. What is your contribution to the format standardization in writing?

  • Remember not to discuss the topic itself, but to provide ideas for fixing, expanding or clarifying the topic for others! – N.D. Storlid 8 years ago
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  • We can always use another voice on this topic! I think a focus on the purpose of it all would be very helpful for people. – Ian Boucher 8 years ago
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