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Paul L. Thomas authors book about teaching writing


Last updated February 28, 2019

By Tina Underwood

Furman Department of Education Professor Paul L. Thomas has written a new book about teaching writing.

paul thomas

Thomas’ book is the culmination of his experiences spanning nearly 40 years as both a writer and a teacher of writing.

His book, “Teaching Writing as Journey, Not Destination: Essays Exploring What ‘Teaching Writing’ Means” is the culmination of Thomas’ experiences spanning nearly 40 years as both a writer and a teacher of writing. It is published by Information Age Publishing, Inc., which offers this description:

This volume collects essays that examine the enduring and contemporary questions facing writing teachers, including grammar instruction, authentic practices in high-stakes environments, student choice, citation and plagiarism, the five-paragraph essay, grading, and the intersections of being a writer and teaching writing. Thomas offers concrete classroom experiences drawn from teaching high school ELA, first-year composition, and a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses. Ultimately, however, the essays are a reflection of Thomas’s journey and a concession to both writing and teaching writing as journeys without ultimate destinations.

The preface of “Teaching Writing as Journey” is penned by distinguished Furman graduate (2015-16 Furman Fellow) and current Travelers Rest High School English teacher and English Department Chair Kristen Marakoff.

Before joining the Furman faculty in 2002, Thomas taught high school English in rural South Carolina. He earned undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in education from the University of South Carolina.

He is a column co-editor for the English Journal, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, and series editor for “Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres” (Sense Publishers), for which he authored the first volume—“Challenging Genres: Comics and Graphic Novels” in 2010 and co-edited a volume about James Baldwin in 2014.

In addition to Baldwin, Thomas has published books about Barbara Kingsolver, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood, Ralph Ellison, and Haruki Murakami; and his recent books include “Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America” (Brill/Sense, 2018), “Trumplandia: Unmasking Post-Truth America” (Garn, 2017), “De-Testing and De-Grading Schools” (Peter Lang USA, 2016), “Pedagogies of Kindness and Respect: On the Lives and Education of Children” (Peter Lang USA, 2015) and “Beware the Roadbuilders” (Garn, 2015).

He was the 2013 recipient of the George Orwell Award presented by the National Council of Teachers of English, and has written commentaries for the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, Education Week, The State, and The Greenville News.

More information about the book may be found on the Information Age Publishing website. Or contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.

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