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How to Write an Obituary

How to Write an Obituary

by Malia Wollan

“An obituary should be more about how someone lived versus the fact that they died,” says Victoria Chang, a Los Angeles-based poet and writer who wrote 70 obituary poems in the two weeks after her mother died of pulmonary fibrosis in 2015. Ever since, Chang has been a student of obituaries, seeking them out in newspapers and alumni magazines. “The diction is very flat and matter-of-fact,” she says. An obituary tends to have three distinct parts: the beginning (name, age, date of death, cause of death [if possible to include], work, education); the middle (anecdotes that celebrate the person’s life); and the end (so-and-so is survived by, which Chang calls “a very efficient way of saying who’s grieving.”) 

 If the deceased is a public figure, the job of writing an obituary falls to a journalist, probably a stranger. But most who pass will be eulogized by someone in the family. If you’re tasked with writing one, remember that your aim is to center the person’s life and not your grief, profound though it may be. In fact, your sorrow might act as a kind of writer’s block. Chang suggests jotting down the functional bookends first (who died, who survived), and then let yourself free-associate themes and memories that might end up in that middle part. If you’re feeling stuck or you had a difficult relationship with the person, ask friends and relatives for their recollections. “Everyone is special and quirky, and I think the best obituaries capture the essence of those qualities about each of us,” Chang says. What things did she collect? What did she love to eat? What brought her joy? 

 An obituary is for the living, but you should consider the sensibilities of the deceased. How would the person want to be remembered? “Imagine what they would write about themselves,” Chang says. It’s OK to be funny. “There’s a lot of humor and oddity, strange tensions and funny stuff about people and the things they do together,” Chang says. Obituaries, even simple ones, remind us of our briefness. After watching her mother die, Chang understood in a visceral way for the first time that she, too, would die. She thinks that if people spent more time acknowledging their mortality they’d live differently — kinder, more present. Writing an obituary can be a wake-up call. “This person is dead,” Chang says. “You’re alive.”

Grant Writing Textbook

 Date:    Thu, 10 Dec 2020 18:10:39 -0600

From:    Joe Grohens <joe.grohens@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Grant Writing Textbook

Wioleta -

An outstanding text is the “Grant Application Writers’ Workbook”. 

It is very specific, and comes in different versions adapted to NSF, NIH, and other agencies. So, I’m not sure how it would work in your class. However, the writing advice is excellent.

See http://www.grantcentral.com/workbooks/


Joe Grohens
UIUC

On Sep 30, 2020, at 4:43 PM, Wioleta Fedeczko <WFedeczko@UVU.EDU> wrote:

Hello friends,

Do people have suggestions for a really good grant and proposal writing textbook?

I’ve been using snippets of multiple texts, including portions of Writing Proposals by Johnson-Sheehan, but it’s the second edition from 2008 (!), and I don’t see a more current edition.

Please email me off-list at wfedeczko@uvu.edu <mailto:wfedeczko@uvu.edu>

Thank you for any suggestions. Stay safe and sane.

Wioleta 

-- 

Wioleta Fedeczko, Ph.D.
Associate Professor 
Department of English and Literature
(801) 863-5403

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Arguments for Tenure-Line Writing Center Director

Hi Mike, I'm thinking of three possible arguments:

1. The position is far more competitive as TT, so you're more likely to get stronger candidates. 
2. The WC is more sustainable with leadership in positions that are more secure and have more leverage in the university (an argument we make in Sustainable WAC).
3. The WC will be stronger and more informed if the director is expected to take part in the scholarship of the field of writing center studies. 

Wish I could point you to a WC article that makes this case, but I'd have to do a search. You may be able to find something on the CWPA website about WPA positions that would be helpful.

Take care, Michelle.

Dear Mike, 

If you see (or can imagine) your writing center as a key component of support for writing across the curriculum, you might consult with Michelle Cox and Jeff Galin (I think that's right?) and their work on creating sustainable WAC Programs. While every institution is different and the authority and efficacy of individuals and structures of individual programs are quite varied, there are some important reasons to consider a TT director.  

One of the important reasons for a tenure line is continuity of stewardship (which can make such projects more productive and coherent).  TT faculty often have reporting lines which can increase accountability (in both directions), and can support the teaching, research, and service missions of the institution more fully (teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, generating research (with students, staff and faculty across the institution) on many areas of writing studies. TT WC directors may have more purchase in creating collaborative projects with service learning and social justice initiatives at or beyond the institution. They may be able to raise the profile, visibility, and viability of the Center as full and equal members of the academic community in department, academic senate, or key committees or initiatives that may require faculty status. Of course, all of this depends on the mission and aims of your writing center, as well as its structure, history, and mandate There are many other arguments to make and I am glad to follow up with you if you like, but these come to mind immediately. 

Hope this is helpful,

Cinthia Gannett

On Rubrics

Anson, Chris M., Deanna Dannels, Pamela Flash, and Amy L. Housley Gaffney. "Big Rubrics and Weird Genres: The Futility of Using Generic Assessment Tools Across Diverse Instructional Contexts." Journal of Writing Assessment 5.1 (2012). 

On Genre

The Rhetorical Situation

Genre in the Wild

My FYC students have responded well to Kerry Dirk's "Navigating Genres" and Mike Bunn's "How to Read Like a Writer."
Both are available via WAC Clearinghouse.

Devitt, A. J. (1993). Generalizing about genre: New conceptions of an old concept. College composition and Communication, 44(4), 573-586.