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I'm just starting this. Has anyone read it? I'll get back to this thread when I'm further along.

I think Spiegelman intended it to be "mouse." I love Maus. It's both horrifying and funny.

Sofia, this is it: http://com3.runboard.com/bthemoshpit

But obviously college admissions committees are judging literacy in these essays, along with a bunch of other things. They way they assess literacy is by reading the essays. You could not, for instance, fairly judge a writer like Hemingway (just as one example) based on the length of his...

Why lock the thread instead of just letting it die a natural death? Someone might have something else to say.

I went to the Mosh Pit and everyone was talking about it.:p

Yeah, fair enough. Not saying you need to prove everything you say, just asking. I wonder if this is true, though. I heard a radio show featuring some high school seniors admissions essays for college not long ago and they were absolutely beautiful--moving, well structured, and great...

First of all, what is your thesis here? You don't exactly say. I'm sort of getting that you think literacy of the 'cream of the crop' has declined. Is that what you think? And is this just an anecdotal argument, or are you going to provide some kind of proof to back up what you're saying...

For those who don't want to register, I'm going to paste in the sidebar, because I think it's good. Hope that's okay. Science Fiction for the Ages (from the NY Times, March 9, 2006) By DAVE ITZKOFF Following is a list of favorites, with commentary, by the writer of the Book...

But you are clearly implying here that kids in 1890 had better math skills and could do those problems. I'm saying only 3% could probably do those problems, whereas 100% of kids are expected to pass today's high school math tests.

Here's a link to the first one, with a sidebar on classic SF reads. You need to register for NYT, but it's free. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/books/review/05itzkoff.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1141930921-WO0t8Rr52zS4qkpkgjQMkw

Less than 5% of kids in the US went to high school at all in 1890. Less than 3% graduated. About 50 percent made it through the third grade. In 1893, the NEA appointed something called the Commission of Ten to broaden public high schools' mission and curriculum to make it more accessible to...

The percentage of kids who graduated from 8th grade in 1890 was just a tiny fraction of what it is today (probably even smaller in the farm states like Kansas), and they were older, having gone part-time to one-room schoolhouses. Most US teens in those days had financial responsibilities...

Rather than have a formal bibliography, fictional works based on or incorporating true stories often have an Acknowledgements or Notes section in which the author mentions various sources and thanks the authors. If these other works are nonfiction and you are just using them as sources, not...

This is a nonissue, which you would know if you read the whole article. Book sales were up almost 10% from 2004 to 2005. Adult readers are reading more nonfiction--someone says this may be because we are living in 'serious times." A 10% drop over 20 years (from 1982 to 2002), based on a...

The judge commuted the man's sentence from life imprisonment to a five-year jail term. There are several things wrong with your version. Primarily, it can be read as the judge reducing his own sentence. Also, the judge's act is to commute the sentence, so saying 'because of the judge's...

I like music from every era. I love Renaissance choral music, Gregorian chants, Handel's Watermusik, early 20th century French piano music. I love early jazz, like Bix Beiderbeck, Benny Goodman. I love St. John's Infirmary Blues. From the 40s I love Artie Shaw, Louis Armstrong. There's so...

Since I first saw that, I firmly believe every conversation needs subtitles.

Um, go up in flames, like? How do you like that book, The Fuckhead and the Penisauraus (I may have the title wrong)? Please share your big thoughts.

Thanks, Poppy, for such a nice comment!:) Though I know Under Milk Wood, I'm not familiar with its genesis. I referred to John Ashbery because I read a profile of him not long ago. Apparently he rarely revisits his poems, just writes first drafts and publishes them. He writes, generally, in...