Fall for the Book 2019 included a session titled “So You Want to Write for a National Magazine?” by Ken Budd--a speaker chosen for Composition students specifically. Budd is author of The Voluntourist: A Six Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi, former editor of AARP and contributor to numerous national publications including The New York Times, Smithsonian, McSweeney’s, and The Washington Post.
In his morning session on Friday, October 11th, Budd described the article writing process for students, from finding a publication, to researching, and considering the rhetorical situation. In this way, his presentation was especially applicable to the English 101 Argument for Change assignment, in which Composition students are asked to argue for a specific change to the audience of an existing national publication.
In particular, Budd focused his remarks on choosing a specific audience—something that is difficult for our Composition students, and something which is arguably as important as a specific topic. Reflecting on Budd’s session, Courtney Adams Wooten noted, “he also made a great point about how broad topics are not suitable for written pieces; topics have to have a particular angle or argument in order to engage audiences, and often it can help to think about the perspective ‘only you’ can write about.”
We’re thankful our Composition students had the opportunity to learn and hear from Budd. Plans are underway for a similar session—one which is relevant to Composition courses—at Fall for the Book 2020. Stay tuned for more details.
October 18, 2019
