The Writer's Workshop: Imitating Your Way to Better Writing

by Gregory L. Roper

The Writer's Workshop takes an approach to teaching writing that is new only because it is so old.

Today, rhetoric and composition typically proceed by ignoring what was done for 2,500 years in Western education. Gregory Roper, on the other hand, helps students learn to write in the way the great writers of the past themselves by carefully imitating masters of the craft, including Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Charles Dickens, Sojourner Truth, James Joyce, and Ernest Hemingway. By living in their workshops and apprenticing to these and other masters, apprentice writers—like apprentice musicians, painters, and blacksmiths of the past—will rapidly improve the complexity of their art and discover their own native voices.

Interspersed into chapters full of sound practical advice and challenging assignments are reflections on Great Ideas from "Realism and Impressionism" to "Nominalism and Modern Science." Perfect for the college or even high school writing classroom—as well as a marvelous book for homeschoolers and others who would like to improve their own writing— The Writer's Workshop is a fine practical guide, and Dr. Roper a friendly yet demanding teacher-mentor.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Reference

300 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2007

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Escribo esta crítica para leerla en el futuro.

Everand has been annoying me so I tackled this in one day as I didn't want to "lose" it to the void of "Your title will be available in 30 days" again.

Reescribí todos los capítulos y las tareas de los capítulos en castellano. Necesitaré investigar y adquirir el clásico para utilizar este libro en castellano.

Creo que el libro avanza demasiado rápido para utilizarlo en cualquier curso anterior a Y10, a menos que el alumno esté MUY motivado para convertirse en escritor.

Quiero crear una lista de nivel elemental de los mismos conceptos de alguna manera.

I. Descripciones de la gente
a. Poetria Nova
b. Dickens
II. Describir Acciones
a. Hemingway
b. Joyce
III. Definiciones complejas
a. Pablo de Corintios
b. Sojourner Truth
IV. Reglas (reescribe una lista en tus propios palabras)
a. Diez Mandamientos
b. organizaciones
V. Una Pregunta Discutida (y escribe su respuesta)
a. Tomas de Aquino

VI. Persuadir a los Demás (retóricos)
a. Cicero

VII. Voces de la negociación
a. cartas de Papa Gregario VII y Enrique IV

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fine book on imitation in writing. The target audience is college age students and teachers, but the principles apply at every level of education and life. The early examples are well chosen to illustrate a genre but also show differences within a genre. Later examples are longer and don’t have a different style for pairing, which would have been a benefit. The exercises are very straightforward and consistent and Roper’s endnotes provide much help to those unfamiliar with the examples or with analysis.
I plan to use this with my high school seniors.

[Sarah Elizabeth Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has showed me how to use my own library to pursue excellence in writing. It seemed to really drag in the middle and I was losing confidence in the method, but stuck with it and find myself so glad that I did. Not only was it valuable to practice writing in styles I would normally eschew, but the assigned tasks were highly effective at training both me and my students to turn any text into an effective writing challenge.

[Debbie Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited by the concept and by chapter one, but then it kind of fell apart for me. I'm not sure if it was the texts he chose or the overly medievalist/christian tone, or what. I still love the general approach, but I didn't find the practical tips and examples I was hoping to find for implementing with my kids.

[Kelli Christenberry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the premise, but it is too creative writing project focused for me to use with my high schoolers in home education. They do most creative writing on their own. But I did pull portions for a few lessons. We basically use the same method by 'writing in the style of---' from who we are reading already. This seems better suited for a college creative writing class IMHO.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting workbook; it's perfect for exploring different writing styles and great for defeating writer's block!