Academics – Silicon Spatula

December 17, 2012December 18, 2012

Three Little Words

The saying goes “less is more.” Except, of course, in academic writing, where “more is more.” Effectively, the more verbose, wordy and academic-sounding a work reads, the better it seems, regardless of actual content. This logic has unfortunately mixed into the worlds of Literary Criticism, Gender Studies and Postcolonial Theory, with awful results. Consider titles. … Continue reading Three Little Words

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012

The MLA Now has Guidelines for Citing Twitter

In keeping with the “modern” part of its name, the Modern Language Association has instituted guidelines for citing a tweet. It’s admittedly neat that Twitter posts now have enough resonance to merit inclusion, though the Association’s example – a Pakistani man’s May 2011 observation of a helicopter carrying SEAL Team 6, who shortly thereafter killed … Continue reading The MLA Now has Guidelines for Citing Twitter