Author Description

Originality is an important part of learning to write, but are today's students sacrificing precision and clarity for the sake of creativity? Are modern students being given the tools they need in order to communicate effectively in the adult world? Are today's composition classes focusing on the wrong elements of writing? Relying on over twenty five years of teaching experience, Thomas Rodd's series of essays on composition focus on teaching novice writers the basics, using the traditional methods of imitation and repetition. While these methods may have fallen out of fashion, the author presents compelling arguments to indicate that these techniques are extremely effective in teaching the hardest to define aspects of writing, such as flow and rhythm, which comprise vital components of tuning a literary ear. Without the ability to know the sound of good writing when they hear it, many modern students are adrift in a world of mediocre, sloppily-constructed language. In Sounds of Silence, scholars are given the opportunity to revisit traditional styles of writing instruction in order to better hone their own literary sensibilities. Instructors are given suggestions on how to better prepare their students to function successfully in a world still governed by the quality of the prose they are able to produce.