cfp.english.upenn.edu

Writing teachers have been talking about style forever, yet the errors keep rolling in. What's the deal? Isn't the medium the message? Here at Writing Commons, we're interested in ways new media can be used to revisit a vital but persistent problem—style. We ask that you creatively address (using multimedia components or through unique activities) a principle/topic from the list below:

Grammar
Subject/verb agreement
Pronoun-antecedent relationships
Comma splices
Misplaced modifiers
Dangling modifiers
Run-on sentences
Sentence fragments
Shifts in verb tense

Point of view
First-person point of view
Second-person point of view
Third-person point of view
Unnecessary shifts in point of view

Punctuation
Quotation mark usage
Hyphen usage
End punctuation usage

Sentence construction
Varying sentence structure
Parallel structure
Avoiding primer-style sentences

Spelling and capitalization
Checking spelling and meaning
Homonyms
Capitalization rules

Word choice
Appropriateness in word choice
Eliminating unnecessary words
Using concrete, sensory language
Using language that is sensitive to the target audience
Using appropriate academic language

Word order

Rephrasing awkward word order

Submissions should be emailed as an attachment to Jennifer Yirinec at jennifer@writingcommons.org no later than May 1, 2012. For more details, please see our guide for authors.