Writing to Express Love

2021

Writers: Craft & Context V2.1 Abstract In this autoethnography, I share my lived experience as a writer and look for how I have come to enact (self-) love through my writing by taking an asset-based lens to analyze family-inspired literacy practices. In so doing, I aim to share ways in which writing instruction in school contexts can help students develop individualized writing processes that help them love writing even when it’s hard. As such, this piece illustrates my personal experiences with writing and writing instruction and explores how to apply them to writing pedagogy. I assert that, as writers and writing educators, we must rethink the function of writing and reclaim what kind of writing is productive: writing for/as love is functional and relational; it is a radical act.

Journal of Innovation in English Language Teaching and Research, 2013

Expressing emotions (e.g., love) in another language is a daunting task for L2 writers. This article presents how poetry writing is introduced to four Thai L2 writers as a tool for them to express love both in Thai and in English. By providing personally significant written prompts, L2 writers can reflect on their personal experiences and gain a better understanding of themselves linguistically, culturally, cognitively, and emotionally. The study shows that poetry writing is helpful in creating venues for L2 writers to become aware of linguistic, cultural, and emotional use of their first (Thai) and second (English) languages. Future studies on emotions and L2 learners may focus on both positive and negative emotions in writing in different languages. These studies should have pedagogical implications for including poetry writing in the language curriculum and teaching emotions through poetry writing.

2022

In my online classes I use these texts as discussion topics for my students. Each week I ask students to choose four of these texts to comment upon. These texts are also referenced in my podcast Explore Ecstatic Sensuality which is a scholarly exploration of sensuality, sexuality and love through the perspectives of philosophy and psychology.

Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology, 2014

This letter tells the story of a young woman and a man I met during fieldwork with some university students in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2007/08. Here, Hiranthi – the narrator – writes a letter to her boyfriend of nine months Anish, interpreting the twists and turns of their relationship and highlights the ways in which the relationship fails to meet her expectations. Describing her expectations of romantic relationships and the efforts exerted in the making of it, this letter highlights that my interlocutors aspired towards a particular kind of romantic relationship – a 'serious' relationship. In this piece of writing, I use authorial and creative license to contextualise and interpret Hiranthi's and Anish's story within a frame of contemporary life in Sri Lanka, which I put together with the stories of others I met during fieldwork. I use the letter to highlight that romantic relationships of my interlocutors are embedded within particular discourses about the normativ...

Annals of the International Communication Association, 2011

When communicating love, what is the right thing to do or say, when, where, by whom, and to whom? This chapter focuses on how love is expressed across culture and time. Following a review of defi nitions of love (including the questions of prototypicality, universality, and social construction), the chapter details historical and contemporary practices, in particular communication variables (such as mode, context, and gender), cultural dimensions, and recent changes in the use of verbal love expression in a number of cultures. The chapter concludes by grounding the prevailing understandings of love within the dialectics of expression versus restraint, autonomy versus unity, and role versus personal. EXPERIENCE The jury is still out whether the phenomenon of love itself is universal. On one hand, according to the naturalist view, sexual

Approaches to Teaching the Works of Italo Calvino, ed. Franco Ricci, Modern Language Association, 2013

International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2020

Poetry is one of the genres in Swahili literature; it is categorized in written literature. Poetry is composed and presented to the audience however; each author has his way of communicating his messages which promote themes. This research is on The writing techniques used in presentation of love themes in some of Muyaka's Poems. Although there are studies that have been carried out concerning the elaboration of themes by researchers, there was still a shortage of research done basing on The writing techniques used in presentation of love themes in some of Muyaka's Poems. The main objective is to analyse the writing techniques used in presentation of love theme in some of Muyaka's poems in Muyaka's poetry book. The research is conducted in Muyaka's poetry. The selection of this poetic book was done using purposive technique. This is a library based research hence the technique used to collect the data is the document analysis technique. Data is analyzed descriptively based on the prisms. The main purpose of this paper is to cover the gap that has been left without being researched on which is writing techniques used in presentation of love themes in some of Muyaka's Poems. The research is guided by two theories; New Critism that emphasizes on the close reading analysis and Stylistic theory that emphasizes on how language can be used in a literally work. The method mainly involved the use of observation and reading. The data is analyzed based on the prisms of the two theories. The findings indicated that the writing techniques used in presentation of love themes are used effectively in Swahili poetry, the writing techniques used include Similes, Imagery, Hyperbole, Repetition, Rhetorical questions metaphors, Sayings, and Parables, the study revealed that the techniques used in the presentation of love themes are appropriate hence they are likely to make the language interesting, to enable the reader think, encourage community members and it makes communication effective. This paper will help a common man to be aware of how love themes can be presented in the African society, the countries that use Swahili language will give guidance to their scholars on poetry, also this work will be a good reference material to other research works.

2015

Please include a brief session description (not to exceed 100 words).If your proposal is accepted, this description will be printed in the conference program. Many OBTCers share a love for teaching and a love for our students. However, is it OK to demonstrate this love and, if so, how? This session utilizes Coleman's 5 Love Languages (5LL) as a framework for an interactive session discussing the advantages and challenges in expressing one's love for his or her students. Participants are encouraged to complete the 5LL survey prior to attending the session at http://www.5lovelanguages.com/ to use in an interactive exercise on expressing one's love. The facilitators will discuss their own experiences when they let their love flow. Come out and feel the love!

References for paper on Symposium on "Naming Love in the L2 classroom" (organized by Rebecca Oxford and Ana Barcelos) at the conference Psychology for Language Learning (PLL 2) in Jyvaskyla, Finland, 2016

Language & Communication, 2003

This article examines the ways in which romantic love was experienced, discussed, and written about by Nepali villagers in the 1990s. Love letters written by young village residents illustrate how love came to be reconceptualized during this time period as a desirable rather than an embarrassing emotion, one linked up with other achievements perceived as admirable, such as education, development and success. Because love letter correspondences were only made possible by increased female literacy rates in the village, the article also explores some of the socioculturally and historically specific impacts of the acquisition of literacy skills on gender hierarchies and intimate relationships. #