Language and Writing

All writers in this collection speak for themselves—and themselves alone.


Kiera Butler, a senior editor at Mother Jones, asks author and food linguist Dan Jurafsky to analyze the menu at Taco Bell.

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Demian Farnworth, a contributor to CopyBlogger, gives advice on composing effective sentences.

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In this humorous essay, Garrison Keillor examines the long forgotten art of writing letters. Published in 1987, this essay predates e-communication and creates a longing for a simpler time.

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CEO Kyle Wiens explains the correlation between someone's grammar competence and that person's readiness for professional life.

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Award-winning writer and editor Jason Heller (of the science-fiction genres) evaluates a variety of formulas, or rules, for literary success.

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John Kaag, a professor of philosophy and expository writing, explains how his mother's constant and consistent criticisms of his essays affected his writing.

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Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, explores how people think and how that thinking process is often unclear to the audience.

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Former Presidential speechwriter John Pollack points out the function of analogies in American politics.

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Jacob Gershman, who covers law for the Wall Street Journal, explains how a single adverb can change a court's interpretation of the law.

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This article suggests that focused, expressive writing can lead to greater insight and personal satisfaction, which means that everyone with a journal will one day see the light of their own lives.

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