Since today’s Wordplay Day occurs on Halloween, this morning’s Scrabble blog post is devoted to words for ghosts. Two of the words (banshee and eidolon) are seven letters long, enabling a player or team to Scrabble, or bingo, earning an additional fifty points for the play. Another two are eight letters long (barguest and fairyism) and can be formed by adding letters to a word played previously.
banshee: a female spirit in Gaelic folklore that wails to warn of a family member’s imminent death. Note that this word is featured in Stephen King’s short story “Strawberry Spring,” which we studied in class on Monday.
barguest: a goblin (also barghest)
bogy: a goblin
daimon: a spirit (also daemon and demon)
eidolon: a phantom or specter
fairyism: the quality of being like a fairy (not really a ghost but a great word)
haint: a ghost
kelpie: a water sprite in Scottish folklore known for drowning sailors
wraith: a ghost of a person, often appearing just before that person’s death
Yesterday in class, for the interview and bibliography exercise, you selected a phrase or sentence from your interview and introduced it with a signal phrase or clause. You also drafted a bibliographic entry, including a three-paragraph annotation (with a paragraph of summary, a second of commentary, and a third that identified your subject as a freshman at High Point University, majoring in . . . ).
Although you are not required to type your complete interview, I encourage you to do so. If you decide to include in your annotated bibliography or your final essay a phrase or sentence other than the one you included on your worksheet, having a document file of your complete interview will enable you to easily copy and paste.
Transcripts of my own interviews with students are included below as models for your own.
Interview with Jesse Brewer
Jane Lucas: Jesse, what experience did you have with playing Scrabble before you encountered the game in English 1103?
Jesse Brewer: So, whenever I would go up to my grandmother and grandfather’s house in Pennsylvania, we would play Scrabble pretty consistently there. We had a lot of fun playing Scrabble at my grandmother’s house whenever I was a young child.
Lucas: Has Scrabble changed your perspective on reading and/or writing? If so, how?
Brewer: While I wouldn’t necessarily say it has changed my perspective on reading or writing, it has most certainly introduced me to new words which allows me to read or write more capably in everyday situations.
Lucas: Will you continue to play Scrabble after the conclusion of the semester?
Brewer: Yes, my grandmother is still going to want to play it every summer.
Interview with Ava Salvant
Jane Lucas: Ava, what experience did you have with playing Scrabble before you played it in English 1103?
Ava Salvant: I didn’t have any experience with Scrabble beforehand. I didn’t know how to play it at all.
Lucas: Has Scrabble changed your perspective on reading and/or writing? If so, how?
Salvant: Probably it has influenced my ability to write. Not always when you sit down to write do you know the exact words you want to say. You kind of have to go with the flow. You have to put as many words as you can down on the board in Scrabble or on the paper when writing.
Lucas: Will you continue to play Scrabble after the end of the semester?
Salvant: I might come back to it a few times to refresh or just use as a pastime.
Note that no quotations appear in the transcripts of the interviews because I am not quoting the interviews; I am presenting the interviews themselves, which is why there are no works cited entries either.
Bonus Assignment
As practice in creating a file of an interview transcript, type the interview that you conducted with your classmate yesterday.
Directions
Review my interview with student Ava Salvant posted in the sample papers folder on Blackboard.
Using that file as a model, type your interview and save it as a Microsoft Word file or PDF.
Print a copy of your interview, and submit it at the beginning of class on Friday, November 7. You are not required to post a copy online; you will turn in only a paper copy.
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources on a subject that includes a summary of each source. Some bibliographies include additional information, such as commentary on the source and the authors’ credentials, which is the type of bibliography that you will compose along with your final essay for the course.
Key Features
Your final essay, an introductory essay of three or more paragraphs, presents the subject of your bibliography and addresses your purpose for compiling it. In other words: What drives your research? What interests you in the subject, and what question, or questions, do you seek to answer about it? Also, it considers what larger project might develop from your final essay and annotated bibliography, and lastly, what would serve as its theoretical framework? In other words, through what academic lens would you examine your subject?
A complete MLA-style bibliography entry for each source.
A one-paragraph summary of each source, followed by a shorter second paragraph that addresses the purpose that the source might serve in a larger project. Would it serve as a point of comparison or contrast to another source? Would it support or challenge an idea presented in another source? Is it a secondary source that sheds light on the meaning of a primary source? The last question pertains primarily to bibliographies that focus on one of the writers studied in the course. Lastly, a brief third that names the author and includes his or her credentials.
Preliminary Work—What to Complete in Class Today
Personal Interview
Your final essay and annotated bibliography will focus on one of the authors we have studied or one of the elements of the course, including (1) blogging in the classroom, (2) limiting screen time, (3) writing longhand, and (4) playing Scrabble. As a starting point, you will conduct a short personal interview that will serve as one of the sources for your project. If you decide that you do not want to use the interview that you conduct today, you are welcome to include another one in your project. Keep in mind, however, that the interview you include in your project must be conducted with a student currently enrolled in section eight or eighteen, and the subject of the interview must be the subject of your project.
Questions to ask your interviewee include the following:
What experience, if any, did you have with the subject (the reading or the aspect of the course) before you encountered it in English 1103?
Has it changed your perspective on reading and/or writing? If so, how?
Will you continue to pursue the subject (read more work by the author, continue the classroom practice or activity) after the conclusion of the semester?
After you conduct your interview, compose on the worksheet provided a sentence in which you introduce a quotation from the interview with a signal phrase, such as, According to . . . , or [insert first and last name] notes or observes or points out that . . . .” Your quotation will not be followed by a parenthetical citation because it is a form of oral communication (without page or paragraph numbers). See the sample on your worksheet.
Follow your quotation with an annotated bibliography entry in this format:
Annotated Bibliography
Last Name, First Name. Interview. Conducted by Your First Name Your Last Name. Day Month Year.
Your bibliographic entry will be followed by three paragraphs. See today’s worksheet for details.
Final Essay and Annotated Bibliography Assignment
Begin by conducting a short personal interview and composing an annotated bibliographic entry for the interview. For more information, see today’s worksheet and the paragraphs under the header PRELIMINARY WORK—What to Complete in Class Today.
Compose an annotated bibliographic entry for the source that serves as the starting point for your research. See the list of texts that follows.
Use the HPU Libraries site, and Google Scholar to locate a minimum of three additional reliable and relevant print sources (articles, essays, and/or books) devoted to the same subject. Compose your summary, commentary, and credentials paragraphs in complete sentences, introduce quotations with signal phrases, and include parenthetical citations where needed. Your bibliography must include five sources, four of which must be print. (Your personal interview is a nonprint source.) If you wish to include an additional non-print source, such as a video, you may include that as a sixth source. Also, if you choose to use both articles on limiting screen time that were distributed in class (Allison Aubrey’s and Maryanne Wolf’s), you will need to include an additional print source.
After you have composed your annotated bibliography entries, write an introductory essay that (1) presents the subject of your bibliography, and (2) addresses your purpose for compiling it. In other words: What drives your research? What question do you seek to answer about your subject? Also, (3) What larger project might develop from your bibliography? Would it be a project for a course in psychology, science, education, or another discipline? What would serve as its theoretical framework? In other words, through what academic lens would you examine your subject? Address all five of your sources in your essay and quote at least two of them.
Though your introductory essay will precede your annotated bibliography, you will compose it last because you will need to reread and summarize your sources before you will know how to address them in your essay.
Directions for Researching, Drafting, Revising, and Submitting
Devote today’s class primarily to conducting a personal interview and composing an annotated bibliography entry for the interview. You will have two additional Wednesdays to work in class on your final essay and annotated bibliography before you post your revision to Blackboard and to your WordPress blog.
Before class on the due date: Post a copy of your revision to Blackboard and to your blog. In your blog post, omit the first-page information included in your file submitted to Blackboard (your name, professor’s name, course and section, and date). Add to your blog post an image that documents some part of your writing process away from the screen, such as the summary of your source in your journal, today’s worksheet, or a page of your draft. Also, add an embedded link to a relevant website. Even though your work for this assignment will take place primarily in front of the screen, your writing process still involves putting pen to paper, and photographic documentation of that on your blog is a requirement of the assignment.
Keller, Helen. “The Day Language Came into My Life.” https://janelucasdotcom. files.wordpress.com/2025/08/a0461-3.thedaylanguagecameintomylife_keller.pdf.
King, Stephen. “Strawberry Spring.” Nigh Shift. Anchor, 2011. pp. 268-82.
An A final essay and annotated bibliography includes these components:
An introductory essay of three or more paragraphs that (1) presents the subject of your bibliography, and (2) addresses your purpose for compiling it. In other words: What drives your research? What question do you seek to answer about one of the subjects that you’ve studied in the course or about one aspect of the course? Also, (3) what larger project might develop from your bibliography? Would it be a project for a course in science, psychology, education, or another discipline? What would serve as its theoretical framework? In other words, through what academic lens would you examine your subject?
A complete works cited/bibliographic entry for a minimum of *five reliable and relevant sources, four of which are print. Alphabetize the list by the writers’ last names.
A one-paragraph summary of each source followed by a shorter paragraph of commentary, and a third that names the author and includes his or her credentials.
An A final essay and annotated bibliography complies with the requirements above and is also cohesive and relatively free of surface errors.
A B final essay and annotated bibliography effectively meets all of the requirements above but may be flawed by minor issues of organization and/or surface errors.
A C final essay and annotated bibliography meets most but not all of the requirements above and may also be flawed by issues of organization and/or surface errors.
A D final essay and annotated bibliography meets only a few of the requirements above and may also be flawed by issues of organization and/or surface errors.
An F final essay and annotated bibliography fails to meet the requirements above and may also be flawed by substantial issues of organization and/or surface errors.
Tomorrow morning, before you begin work on your final essay and annotated bibliography, we will revisit Stephen King‘s “Strawberry Spring” and discuss the answers to your collaborative exercise on the story.
For that exercise, I asked you to determine whether you could identify any details that indicate why the narrator may have murdered any of his victims. Although there is no indication that the narrator knew Gale Cermann, Adelle Parkins, or Marsha Curran, he did know Ann Bray, which he reveals after he tells the readers that she was editor of the school newspaper: “In the hot, fierce bubblings of my freshman youth I had submitted a column idea to the paper and asked for a date–turned down on both counts” (275).
I also asked you to identify words and phrases that illustrate how the story is not only a horror story but also a commentary on war, the Vietnam War in particular, and the Vietnam era. I offered these examples as models:
King’s description of the snow sculpture “caricature of Lyndon Johnson” (269) signifies the derisive responses to the President’s Vietnam War policy.
The description of the snow sculpture “caricature of Lyndon Johnson” (King 269) signifies the derisive responses to the President’s Vietnam War policy.
Some of the words and phrases you may have identified include these:
In addition to those questions on your assignment sheet, I asked you to try to identify the two literary allusions in King’s story. The first is an allusion to J.R.R. Tolkein‘s The Lord of the Rings trilogy: “You half expected to see Gollum or Frodo or Sam go hurrying past” (269). The second is an allusion to a poem by Carl Sandburg, titled–perhaps unsurprisingly–“The Fog” (272).
Noteworthy Blog Images and Embedded Links
Kudos to the twelve students who took the initiative to respond to Thursday’s blog post and detail their selections for the most effective images and embedded links in the analyses. For their efforts, those students, whose names are listed below, have been credited with a bonus assignment.
The image featured above, from Reese Danback’s post of her analysis, “Seventy-Four Classroom Pets Later,” does not include a page of her handwritten draft or her journal notes. However, the act of writing the names of the tombstone can be construed as part of her writing process–and it may have inspired her to craft a title that emphasizes the multitude of deaths that Edgar and his students experience.
Embedded Links
These students’ embedded links in their analysis posts were mentioned by their peers as particularly effective choices:
When you add a link to your blog post, be sure to embed it in a word that is part of the sentence; otherwise, the link name will create a faulty line of prose.
The link in Chloe Freeman’s analysis, “Fingers to Freedom,” a page devoted to Helen Keller on the website for the eye research foundation named for her, is a model I recommend. The link is embedded in Keller’s name in its first appearance in the analysis.
Next Up
At the beginning of tomorrow’s class, we will continue our discussion of “Strawberry Spring.” Afterward, you will have the remainder of the period to devote to your preliminary work for your final essay and annotated bibliography. Details TBA.
Today in class we will read Stephen King‘s short story “Strawberry Spring,” which was published in Ubris magazine in 1968 and included in King’s first short story collection, Night Shift (1978).
For the collaborative exercise that you will complete after we read the story, I will ask you to determine whether you can identify any details that indicate why the narrator may have murdered any of his victims. Although there is no indication that the narrator knew Gale Cerman, Adelle Parkins, or Marsha Curran, he did know Ann Bray.
I will also ask you to identify words and phrases that illustrate how the story is not only a horror story but also a commentary on war, the Vietnam War in particular, and the Vietnam era.
Lastly, I will ask you to try to identify the two literary allusions in King’s story. We will address these questions near the end of class today or at the beginning of class on Wednesday, and I will post the answers on my blog.
Next Up
We will review “Strawberry Spring” at the beginning of Wednesday’s class, and you will have the remainder of the period to begin your initial work for your final essay and annotated bibliography.
Keeping a u on your rack before the q is played is one way to decrease the chances that you will be left holding the q, a deduction of ten points. Learning q words without u’s, such as the ones listed below, which start q-a, will increase your word power and provide you with more options for playing the q.
qabala(s): an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. Also qabalah, cabala, and kabbalah.
qadi(s): an Islamic judge. Also cadi.
qaid(s): a Muslim tribal chief. Also caid.
qajak(s): a kayak.
qamutik(s): a sled drawn by dogs. Also komatik.
qanat(s): a system of underground tunnels and wells in the Middle East
qapik(s): a monetary subunit of the manat (Azerbaijan).
qat(s): a shrub
qawwali(s): a style of Muslim music
Qi, the central life force in Chinese culture (also ki), is included in the Scrabble post for September 19. The list above is limited to words that start with the letters qa.
In class on Monday we will examine a horror story for Hallowen. We will study it on Monday because Halloween is Wordplay Day, and Wednesday you will begin work on your final essay and annotated bibliography. As an introduction to the writer, read the author’s note on his website and compose a one-paragraph summary, followed by a one-paragraph response in your journal.
At the beginning of class tomorrow, I will collect your blog response assignments. If you were absent when I distributed copies or you have misplaced yours, refer to the directions below.
Directions
Go to the class blog page, and click on the link for the blog of the classmate whose name precedes yours on the roster. If you are first on the list, go to the blog of the student whose name is last on the list.
If the student’s blog is not accessible, choose another student’s analysis for your response.
Read the classmate’s analysis and compose a response (75 words, minimum) that addresses one or more of these elements: the title, the thesis, the support for the writer’s claims, the conclusion, the image documenting part of the writing process away from the screen, the embedded link to a relevant website.
Does the blog post include an image that documents part of the blogger’s writing process away from the screen? (yes or no)
Does the post include a relevant embedded link? (yes or no)
Bonus Assignment
Consider how the images and embedded links included on your blog enhance your posts; the pictures offer readers a glimpse of the writing process that isn’t evident from the typed words on the screen, and the embedded links provide readers with valuable additional information about your subject. View your classmates’ posts of their analyses, and carefully examine the images and the pages they have linked to their posts.
Directions
Determine which of the images and which of the embedded links are most effective. Consider what draws your attention to the picture. Does it include anything in addition to the required element (a portion of the blogger’s handwritten prose)? If so, what is that additonal element? To determine your choice for the most effective embedded link, ask yourself what further information it offers about the subject of the analysis–the essay, article excerpt, chapter, or chapter excerpt–or the author of the text. You are welcome to choose among the posts of analyses by students in both sections eight and eighteen.
Compose a comment of two complete sentences or more that includes (1) the titles of the analyses enclosed in quotation marks, (2) the first and last names of the students, and (3) a brief explanation of the image’s and embedded link’s effectiveness.
Post your comment as a reply to this blog entry no later than 9 a.m. Monday, October 27. (To post your comment, click on the title, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will then see the image of an airmail envelope with a leave comment option.)
I will approve your responses (make your comments visible) after the 9 a.m. deadline on Monday. Commenters will earn a bonus assignment credit in the course work/short assignments category.
This morning in the first half of class, you will deliver your group presentations, and in the second half, you will compose reflections. Directions for your reflections are included below.
Directions
Compose a short piece of writing (two paragraphs, minimum) that reflects on your individual preparation and delivery of your portion of the presentation and your group’s presentation overall. Elements to address include the following:
The roles of your reading and writing: How did the processes of rereading the text and writing and rewriting your remarks contribute to the effectiveness of your delivery?
The introduction of your group members and opening remarks
The examination of points in the article or textbook
The conclusion
Poise, eye contact, and avoidance of filler words
After you complete your reflection on your group’s presentation, compose an additional paragraph that addresses a presentation by one of the other groups. Choose the one that stands out the most to you. What element or elements of that presentation made it particularly effective (or not) and why?
As you continue to prepare for your presentation, be mindful of the valuable roles that reading and writing play in the process. Although the final product is your group’s three-to-four-minute oral presentation, your work began with reading and writing: reading the article or textbook sections that serve as your subject, and writing the plan that you composed in class yesterday.
Have you read more than once the article or textbook sections that serve as your subject? If not, turn back to the text itself at least two more times before Wednesday. Chances are, on a second or third reading, you will notice details you didn’t notice before, ones that you may want to add to your presentation.
In addition to recording key words on your notecard, write out your portion of the presentation in your journal. Though you will not be permitted to have your journal in hand during your presentation, the act of writing down your remarks and rewriting them will help you commit them to memory.
As you practice delivering your presentation, be sure to limit the time that you look down at your notecard and your copy of the reading. Your ability to limit those glances will be greater if you spend ample time rereading the text and writing and reviewing your remarks in your journal.
Next Up
In class tomorrow, you will deliver your group presentations. Afterward, in the second half of class, you will compose a short essay that reflects on both your own presentation and one by another group.
This morning in class, after your Scrabble debriefing, I will distribute your group presentation assignment, and you will have the remainder of the class period to devote to planning the short presentation that you will deliver in class on Wednesday. An additional copy of the assignment is included below.
As an exercise in collaboration and oral communication, you and two or three of your classmates will plan, rehearse, and deliver a concise presentation focusing on a reading that addresses one of the practices implemented in the course. If you were absent when copies of the articles were distributed (see the titles in the group assignments below), download and print copies from the Blackboard readings folder.
Presentation Assignment Directions
Plan a presentation of three or four minutes that addresses the most significant points covered in your group’s designated reading. (The lists of group assignments and designated readings are included below.)
Include in your presentation the elements listed below (in items three through five).
An introduction that mentions (1) each group member’s first and last name (each group member may introduce himself or herself, or the group may assign one member the responsibility of introducing everyone), (2) the title and author, or authors, of the reading, and (3) a brief overview of the text.
A close examination of two or more points in the reading.
A conclusion that provides closure without restating the introduction and that invites questions. One strategy to consider for your conclusion is to address the relevance of the practice (the subject of your reading) to your work in English 1103, your work in other courses, and/or your life outside of the classroom.
Do not create a digital component, such as a PowerPoint or Google Slides show. You will not be permitted to use any digital devices during your presentation. Instead, you will rely on your index card with your notes and on your paper copy of the reading.
Every group member is not required to speak for the same length of time, but every member is required to deliver a portion of the presentation.
Directions for Rehearsing
In preparation for rehearsing, write your notes on an index card. If your initial notes are written in complete sentences, rewrite them to include only words and short phrases for your key points. If your notes are too detailed, you will risk relying too heavily on them and making minimal eye contact with the audience. Plan to make as much eye contact as possible and be sure to make eye contact with people throughout the room rather than fixing your eyes on one or two people.
Practice good posture. As you deliver your presentation, your ears should be directly above your shoulders. If you tend to shift your weight from one foot to the other, stand with your feet perpendicular to each other. If you do so, you will not be able to shift your weight from one foot to the other.
Avoid filler words, such as uh, um, like, and you know. If you tend to use filler words, practice pausing at the points where you are likely to use fillers.
Take turns delivering your portions of the presentation, and offer feedback to your group members. Offer both suggestions for improvement and words of encouragement.
Group Assignments for Section 8
Writing Analytically: Gi Amitrano, Amanda Franco, Madux Iovinelli, Campbell Nelson
“Skim Reading is the New Normal”: Casey Burkom, Aly Deters, Raven Houston, Luke Simpson
“Blogs vs. Term Papers”: Angelina Anzideo, Avery Falor, Ethan Howard, Nikki Parbhoo
“To Remember a Lecture Better,Take Notes by Hand”: Kylie Bussell, Dorian Grosber, Nolan Lafayette, Chloe Freeman
“A Break from Your SmartphoneCan Reboot Your Mood . . .”: Reese Danback, Preston Erwin, Lexie Owensby
Group Assignments for Section 18
Writing Analytically: Niko Bencharit, Mariana Pavajeau, Haven Tucker
“Skim Reading is the New Normal”: Annaliese Abboud, Grayson Crouch, Bella Richardson, Heloise Richer
“Blogs vs. Term Papers”: Kamauri Brown, Garrett Hickey, Maddie Tyranowski, Bailey Upchurch
“To Remember a Lecture Better,Take Notes by Hand”: Adrienne Brown, Myra Chatwal, Connor McFadden
“A Break from Your SmartphoneCan Reboot Your Mood . . .”: Cameron Anderson, Ellie Tejada, Jorja Mangeot, Shane Richardson
Grade Criteria
An A presentation includes all elements outlined in the directions for planning and rehearsing and demonstrates the group members’ poise and ability to avoid filler words.
A B presentation includes all elements outlined in the directions for planning and rehearsing but may be marred by group members’ lack of poise and/or inability to avoid filler words.
A C presentation includes most but not all elements outlined in the directions for planning and rehearsing and may also be marred by group members’ lack of poise and/or inability to avoid filler words.
A D presentation includes only some elements outlined in the directions for planning and rehearsing and may also be marred by group members’ lack of poise and/or inability to avoid filler words.
An F presentation includes few if any elements outlined in the directions for planning and rehearsing and may also be marred by group members’ lack of poise and/or inability to avoid filler words.
Next Up
In class on Wednesday, you will deliver your group presentations. Afterward, in the second half of class, you will compose a short essay that reflects on both your own presentation and one by another group, one that was notable for its strengths.
Jane Lucas 