Search Results for: mayhew

Phonics and the State of the Union

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Robert Basil

Our friend Jonathan Mayhew has been wondering whether the “balanced literacy” approach to teaching reading has neglected fundamental ways the brain apprehends and organizes sound itself, to the detriment of a generation or more of young would-be readers. Professors of … Continue reading →

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The scale of a work

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Robert Basil

Our friend Jonathan Mayhew, on finding the right size (for a book): I like saying that [my upcoming book on Lorca and music] is a medium sized book on a vast subject.  So it is with scholarship. You are rarely … Continue reading →

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How to write

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Robert Basil

I love my old friend Jonathan Mayhew’s prose. His blog, Stupid Motivational Tricks (Scholarly Writing and How to Get it Done), is often very charming (and it is always illuminating). Read this bit on the use of “scare quotes.” The … Continue reading →

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10% and “the crisis in knowledge”

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Robert Basil

Writes Jonathan Mayhew: Knowledge is under attack from several fronts at once. In science itself, it is due to corporate corruption and the inherent bias toward interesting but possibly false results. There was that paper about how most scientific findings are false.  … Continue reading →

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Elitism in the classroom

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Robert Basil

Professor Mayhew’s recent take on the topic: Teaching is transactional. The instructor is not feeding information to the students, teaching them that information, but interacting with them. A third element is the text in the class. The text is not … Continue reading →

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Practice

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Robert Basil

As a teacher and as an editor, my counsel to students and writers often seems too obvious even to say. For instance: “You can’t complete a large project in a short time. Proceed bit by bit” (or “bird by bird“). … Continue reading →

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Mental Hygiene

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Robert Basil

In a post called “Cognitive” my good friend Jonathan Mayhew explores one of NoContest’s recurrent themes: There is the idea that you can prevent decay in cognitive function by doing inane, mindless games on the computer, such as those peddled … Continue reading →

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More on Clichés …

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Robert Basil

From professor Jonathan Mayhew: One of Orwell’s sillier pieces of writing advice is “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Orwell advises “scrapping of every word or idiom which … Continue reading →

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What would be on *your* “shadow CV”?

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Robert Basil

Regarding Devoney Looser’s ‘Chronicle of Higher Education’ article “Me and My Shadow CV: What would my vita look like if it recorded not just the success of my professional life but also the many, many rejections?” my friend Jonathan Mayhew … Continue reading →

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On Poetry

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Robert Basil

My friend Jonathan Mayhew has been on a tear of late, publishing a series of manifestos on poetry in his wonderful blog, Stupid Motivational Tricks. Some snippets (but read the whole thing): Manifesto (1) Nobody knows what poetry is for. … Continue reading →

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