Writing as Engineers
A Guide to Written Communication for Engineering Students
The quality of your design or idea will be evaluated based on your
ability to communicate it.
Many excellent projects were never accepted because they were poorly written.
Language, to an engineer, is a tool as important as a calculator or sophisticated software. Engineering is collaborative. Effective cooperation between team members requires precise understanding. Careless use of language and weak application of professional practice (convention) may render otherwise gifted engineers isolated and helpless in a world of complex cooperation.
Poets and novelists are language artists. They are driven by the beauty of words and the flow of passages. They communicate in a figurative reality.
Engineers are language craftsmen. They are precise. They strive for accuracy. Wasted words interfere with clarity, and passages without logical connection result in inefficiency in completing projects.
Engineers are writers. On the job, they prepare reports, submit proposals, create guides and manuals, and distribute information in letters and emails. Engineers may spend as much as 60% of their working hours writing to diverse audiences to achieve a variety of purposes.
Each document written by an engineer is produced to achieve a specific purpose. Each document is targeted to a specific audience who plays an essential role in a project in progress. Engineers who are skilled at using language as a precision tool enhance their potential for successful careers.
Engineering Handbook Sections
Click on the links to navigate to the section of interest
For many reports, the cover letter may act as an abstract or executive summary. The letter introduces the topic of the report. It summarizes the report and should follow the organizational scheme of the report.
The following example letter illustrates the standard business letter format and describes the basics of what is included and how the letter is formatted.
know your audience
All writing, including creative writing, is done with a specific audience in mind. In professional practice there are two distinct super-groups for which one is likely to write: an internal audience and an external audience. An internal audience is a group or person within your own organization, such as a boss, coworker or professional workgroup. Internal audience share common vocabulary, points of reference, and values with the author. It is acceptable to use local terminology, acronyms, and shared biases. External audiences are typically clients (or prospective clients), but can be any group or individual from outside your organization. They do not have the inside information or background shared by internal audiences. Avoid using jargon, spell out acronyms, and use terms that are easily understood. Provide necessary background information that would not be necessary when communicating with internal audiences.Page Numbering
● All pages in the report are numbered, excluding special pages like the title page, front and back covers.
● In contemporary design style, all pages use Arabic numerals.
● In traditional design style, all pages before the introduction, the first page of the body of the report, and after the last page of the report, use lowercase roman numerals. Arabic numerals are used in the body of the report.
● Page numbers are usually placed at the bottom center of the page (to be easily hidden). If page numbers are placed at the top of the page, numbers must be hidden when a heading or title is at the top of the page.
● For longer reports, double-enumeration page numbering is used to make adding and deleting pages easier. For example, pages in Chapter 7 are numbered 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, etc.
List of Figures and Tables
Create a new page with a list of figures, tables, illustrations, diagrams, and charts that are in the report. For shorter reports, lists of figures and tables are combing in one list and organized in the order of appearance in the report. In longer reports, create a separate list for figures and tables. Both lists can be placed on the same page. The title of the list and figure is left justified and the page number of appearance is right justified.Abstract
The abstract is a summary of the report and should be less than 5 percent of the body of the report. Most readers read the abstract to extract useful information rather than reading the entire report. Abstracts should summarize and identify the purpose or goal, the rationale behind the purpose, the most important data, findings, and brief interpretations of data and findings. Do not include references of quoted/ paraphrasing information. The abstract should begin on a separate page and be no more than 150-250 words.
The executive summary includes key facts and conclusions made about results or findings. For reports 10 to 50 pages long, the summary is 5% to 10% of the length of the report. For reports longer than 50 pages, the summary should not exceed three pages. The summary is similar to the abstract, but it is longer and has more details. The abstract, summary, introduction might seem repetitive, but this will allow the reader to pick up on all details, because most people do not read the entire report and skip around from section to section to pick out information.
The introduction gives the reader background information, history, statistics, and general purpose. Less than one-third of the introduction should cover background information and history. This will gain the reader's interest in the subject and provide context. Background information should be revealed to the report rather than general. Include brief overviews and background information on both topics covered and not covered in the body of the report. Any information the reader will need to understand the report is stated in the introduction. The introduction should be less than 10 percent of the body of the report.
This Body of the Report is the main section. Depending on the type and length of report, subheadings are used to denote different sections or topics. For example, an experimental report will have a “Theory/Methods”, “Results”, and “Discussion” section, whereas a project proposal may have headings such as “Overview”, “Timetable”, and “Budget”. Subheadings allow the reader to skim the report for information important.
Most reports include graphics and tables in the body. Any table or figure included in a section of the report must also be referred to in that section. For example: “The slope of the tangent line was used to determine acceleration after 3 seconds (See Fig. 2).”
Any table containing raw data which cannot be reasonably referred to within the body of the report, should be placed in an appendix. Graphics and tables should be presented professionally, and be labeled clearly and accurately. For further information, see “Appendix B: Equations, Figures and Tables.”
Depending on the information contained in the body, bulleted, numbered, or columned lists may be used to help emphasize key points, make information easier to follow, and break up solid blocks of text. The body may contain symbols, numbers, and abbreviations; the grammar rules about writing out numbers 0-10 do not apply to engineering reports. Remember to define acronyms or abbreviations the first time you use them.
Technical information full of numbers and symbols can become tedious to wade through. To assist your audience, organize your paragraphs into a logical sequence. Group small paragraphs with related information together and add short overview paragraphs at the beginning of subsections.
Check your grammar, word usage, and punctuation. Poor grammar and punctuation can lead to confusion in an otherwise good paper. Write clearly and concisely. Passive voice can be unwieldy and awkward, so use the active voice. Avoid redundancy and leave out unnecessary words and phrases.
The conclusion is similar in length to the abstract. In it, you present conclusions as they relate to your experimental objectives. The conclusion relates back to the introduction by providing general information on implications, applications, and possible future developments on the topic. However, where the introduction provides information from the body of knowledge available on the topic before this report, the conclusion must expand on those areas based on the new data or information presented in this report. No new information is presented in the conclusion. Instead, summarize the key points of the report, draw logical conclusions from the preceding discussion, and give the reader a sense of closure.References
Citing sources protects the authors of the information, and allows them to receive credit and acknowledgement for their work. It also protects you from being accused of plagiarism. Citing demonstrates to the readers that you have done research, you are aware of recent developments, and you give the readers information where they can find the information to read it themselves.
Fundamentals of Using Sources
● Summarize the most important and relevant information from the source.
● Use research to influence and support, rather to controlling your thinking and writing.
● Incorporate sources into the context of your work.
When Sources must be Cited
Always cite the following:
● Quoted or paraphrased quotations, opinions, and predictions.
● Another author’s statistics, theories, and visuals.
● Another author's direct research procedures, findings, experimental methods, or results.
Reference Page Format
● List sources in the order they are cited in the text, not alphabetical order.
● In the IEEE system, only the author's initials first name is given. The titles of journal articles are in the form of a sentence not a title.
● Single space individual references and alight the second or third with the first.
● Double space between separate references.
● Use common abbreviations for journal titles if there is one. If not, give the full name of the journal.
● End each reference with a period.
● If a source is referred to more than once in the text, only list the source once in the reference page.
Integrating Sources in the Text
● Only use sources if it is absolutely necessary in the introduction and conclusion.
● Use sources in the middle of the paragraph, not the beginning or ending of the paragraph.
● Integrate sources within the paragraph to blend your ideas with the ideas of the source's.
Links to Helpful Websites for Citing and Listing References
Appendix A: Symbols, Numbers, and Abbreviations
● Temperatures in Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Rankine are expressed using the ° symbol instead of the written word. For example: "The water is 22°C." Temperature in Kelvin is expressed as 32 K.
● Measured quantities, such as decimal points, dimensions, time, money, frequency, weights, degrees, etc. are expressed in Arabic numerals.
● Avoid starting a sentence with a number. If it is unavoidable, write out the number.
● When using acronyms or abbreviations for the first time, write out the complete name and then place the abbreviation in parenthesis following it. After this is done once, the abbreviation can be used alone for the rest of the report.
Appendix B: Equations, Figures, and Tables
Formulas and equations are used to efficiently communicate ideas to the other engineers. Equations should not slow down the reader and must be appropriate for the audience.
● Short, uncomplicated equations can be included as part of the sentence without special spacing.
● If the equation is in the sentence and is too long for a single line, break the equation before an =, +, -, or x sign, use these signs to start the line and then continue the equation.
● Longer, more complicated equations should be centered and set off on a new line.
● When centering an equation, skip one line above the equation and one or two after the equation.
● Define symbols and members of equations just after the equation, by introducing them with the word "where."
● If possible, do not let the equation continue from one page to the next.
● If equations need to be referred to more than once, the equation can be numbered in parentheses at the right-hand margin. In the text the equation can be identified by the number of the equation in parentheses.
Figures and Tables
fundamentals for figures
● Do not label tables as figures. Figures are drawn or photographed pictures, charts, and graphs.
● Arrange figures from left to right.
● Label the axes of the graph with complete words and units in parentheses. Use "Temperature (Celsius) versus Time (Seconds)" rather than "T (*C) vs. t (sec)."
● Use line graphs to plot continuous variables such as time or temperature.
● Use bar graphs or pie charts for discontinuous variables such as percentages or sampling in intervals.
● Use photographs or drawings to visually present the materials such as a poppet valve or a built up diesel engine.
● Use flowcharts to present a series of events and outcomes.
● Use footnotes for additional or explanatory material such as “values are estimated” or “values are based on a study from 2003”.
Fundamentals for Tables
● Do not label figures as tables.
● The title of the table should be clear and explain what the data represents.
● Each entry in the left-most column (called a stub) must apply across the entire row, and each heading of a column must apply to all entries below it.
● Stub items are arranged logically -- smallest to largest, alphabetically, or categorically.
● Stub headings will include the units in each column or row, if necessary.
● Straight lines are used to separate the table's title from the column headings, the column headings from the body of the table, and the bottom of the table from the paper's text. Straight lines to box the table is appropriate to separate the table from the text.
● Construct tables so the reader can read down a column rather than along a row.
● Use footnotes for additional or explanatory material such as the fact that values are estimated or values are based on a study from 2003.
textual references to figures and tables
● Figures and tables are numbered consecutively, beginning with number 1. Figures and tables are numbered separately from each other.
● Capitalize the "t" in table and "f" in figure, when referring to a specific table or figure in the text.
● Introduce figures and tables in the text in logical places. "See Figure 3" can be written in parentheses at the end of a paragraph or at the beginning of the paragraph, where the paragraph will be written based on the figure.
● After the table or figure is presented explain and interpret it in the text. Avoid re-writing the information from the table or figure in the text, unless you interpret the information.
● When a reference to the table or figure is the subject of the sentence, use a verb like “shows” or “compares”, to describe how the figure or table works.
captions for figures and tables
● The caption appears below the graphic for a figure and above for the table.
● Bold or underline the word "figure" or "table" and the number in the caption. Present the caption in plain text with the first letters of important words capitalized.
● Write complete, descriptive captions for figures and tables, so it would make sense even if the caption was ripped from the paper. For example, instead of "Figure 4: Air Flow" use "Figure 4: The Air Profile of a Helicopter Above the Rocky Mountains"
● If the table or figure is the same or based on another author's, include the words "Adapted from" followed by the author's name in the caption.
● Always cite the table or figure when presented, using the same citation style as the paper. The citation appears at the end of the caption.
Appendix C: Common Jargon
Jargon should only be used when talking to people within a subject or particular profession because it allows communication to be clear and precise. Using jargon in papers where the audience is not familiar with the subject makes the writing imprecise, confusing, condescending, or intimidating to the reader because the audience is not familiar with the words and phrases. For instance, to the average person ATM means automated teller machine, but to an electrical engineer it means asynchronous transfer mode. Jargon is necessary for technical papers of specialized fields to provide clear and concise energy. There is common jargon between general fields in engineering, and within specific fields of engineering such as mechanical, nuclear, or electrical engineering. For instance, an electrical engineer would use words like "transient" "phasor" "conductor" to analyze a circuit.
Alternatives to common jargon words and phrases are in the list below:
Engineering Jargon Meaning
CAD Computer aided (assisted) design
CAM Computer aided manufacturing
CFD Computational fluid dynamics
CIM Computer integrated manufacturing
CNC Computed numerically controlled
DSP Digital signal processing
FEA Finite element analysis
IP Internet protocol
ISO International Organization for Standardization
RF Radio frequency
TQI Total quality improvement
Alpha particle Positively charged particle; consists of two protons
and two neutrons
Beta particle High-speed electron or positron emitted in
Conduction Transfer of thermal energy through a substance due to
a temperature gradient
Convection Transfer of heat from one region to another
Damping ratio Ratio of resistance in damped harmonic motion that is
necessary to produce critical damping
Decay heat Heat released as a result of radioactive decay
Electrical resistance Opposition of current flow
Equilibrium All conditions of a system are balanced
Engineering Strain Ratio of the change in deformation to the
Engineering Stress Force exerted per unit area
Fanning friction factor Dimensionless number used to study fluid friction in pipes
Half-life Time it takes for a substance undergoing decay to
decrease by half
Isotope Types of atoms of the same element with different
number of neutrons
Metacenter Intersection of vertical line through the center of
buoyancy of a floating body at equilibrium and
at an angle
Metacentric height Vertical distance from a ship's center of gravity
to the metacenter
Prandtl number Ratio of momentum diffusivity (kinematic viscosity)
and thermal diffusivity
Prototype An original, full-scale, working model of a product
Radiation Emission of energy in the form of rays or waves
Reynolds number Ratio of inertial forces and viscous forces
Jargon Word/Phrase Alternative
Additional Added, Other, More
Adjacent to Next to
Advantageous Helpful, Useful
Afford an opportunity Allow, Let
Alleviate Ease, Reduce
As a consequence of Because
As a means of To
As well as And
At present Now
At this point in time Now
At the present time Now
Basic fundamentals Basics
By means of By
Capable of, Capability Can, Ability to
Close proximity Near, Close
Comes into conflict Conflicts
Cutting edge Progressive, Leading
Despite the fact that Although
Due to the fact that Due to, Because, Since
Empower Allow, Let
Exhibits a tendency to Tends to
Facilitate Help, Ease, Make possible
Feedback Opinion, Reaction
For the duration of During
For the purpose of To
For the reason that Because
Foreign imports Imports
Forthwith Now, Immediately
Future prospects Prospects
Give consideration to Consider
Has a requirement for Needs
Holds a belief Believes
If at all possible If possible
In a timely manner Quickly
In addition to Also, Besides, Too
In close proximity Near, Close to
In order to To
In regards to About
In the course of During
In the event of If
In the majority of Usually, Most
In the near future Soon
Initiate Start, Begin
Input Advice, Response, Comments
Make an attempt Attempt to, Try
No later than By
On numerous occasions Often
On the grounds that Because
Parameters Boundaries, Limits
Personnel Staff, People
Pertaining to About
Possibly might Might
Postpone until later Postpone
Prior to Before
Provide guidance for Guide
Qualified expert Expert
Real-world problem Social (or Business) issue or problem
Refer back to Refer to
Regarding to About
Solicit Ask for
State of the art Latest
Subsequent to After
That being the case If so
The majority of Most
Thereafter Then, Afterwards
Until such time as Until, When
Vast majority Most, Majority
Wide range Range
Wide variety of Variety
With the exception of Except
Without further delay Now, Immediately
Appendix D: Headings and Lists
Headings and subheadings in technical reports should be in parallel form. Headings must be in the same grammatical form. For example, if giving instructions for a laboratory process requires a set of steps, each with a series of operations, heading for each step should be in the same form as other headings of the same level.
Pour the dirt
Mix the dirt
Dry the dirt
Weigh the dirt
Parallel construction is useful in giving directions within each step. In the example that follows, each action is described by an active verb followed by a description.
Turn heat to high.
Pour 1 gram of agarose solution into flask, forming a 100 mg sample.
Pour 100 milliliters of 1x buffer (TAE) into flask
Insert a magnetic stirring rod into flask.
Cover the mouth of the flask with cling wrap.
Pierce cling wrap, making a small hole which will prevent pressure build-up.
Place the flask on heat plate.
Turn on magnetic stirrer, ensuring that no clumps of agar form.
Wait for the agar to come to a boil.
Transfer flask to a water bath, preventing solidification.
Essential Skills for Academic Writers


Holocaust/Shoah: Educational Resources and Projects
Belated moral condemnation and humane regret are not enough. The historical facts must be made known, the social causes that made them possible must be understood, and we must become aware of our own responsibility for what goes on around us. We do not escape the past by thrusting it to the back of our minds.
Gerhard Schõnberner The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-1945
Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Scholarly Journal)
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies: The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, is "a high priority for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It supports scholarship and publications in the field of Holocaust studies, promotes the growth of Holocaust studies at American universities, seeks to foster strong relationships between American and international scholars, and initiates programs to ensure the ongoing training of future generations of scholars specializing in the Holocaust."
Other Holocaust Education Resources and Projects
America and the Holocaust — The American Experience: This documentary, originally broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and now available on DVD, "paints a troubling picture of the United States during a period beset by antisemitism. It reveals a government that not only delayed action, but also suppressed information and blocked efforts that could have resulted in the rescue of hundreds and thousands of people." The Web site and the DVD come with a teachers' guide for using America and the Holocaust in the classroom. The DVD includes teaching materials in the form of a 1.2-MB PDF document; I include this document here for the benefit and convenience of teachers who may not have access to a computer with a DVD-ROM drive. (For supplemental reading, I higly recommend David S. Wyman's The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust: 1941-1945 [New York: Pantheon, 1984]; Dr. Wyman is interviewed extensively in America and the Holocaust, and is an authority on the subject matter.)
Anne Frank Trust UK: The Anne Frank Educational Trust UK is a "non-profit registered charity whose aims are to educate against all forms of racism and discrimination by explaining the history of Anne Frank and the Holocaust." The Anne Frank Trust is the "only British organization licensed by the Anne Frank House to use Anne Frank's name for educational purposes."
Anti-Defamation League — Braun Holocaust Institute: The Braun Holocaust Institute's programs for educators, students, community leaders, and families "explore the enduring impact of the Holocaust and apply its lessons to contemporary issues of prejudice and moral decision making. Through these efforts, the Institute hopes to ensure that the Holocaust — and the brutality that humankind inflicted upon itself — is never forgotten." Educators and students will also be interested in viewing the Anti-Defamation League's main Holocaust Web page for additional resources, ideas, and announcements.
Australian Memories of the Holocaust: Sponsored by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, the purpose of this Web site is to educate about the Holocaust: "The site is aimed at students, teachers and people with a genuine and serious interest in the subject. It reflects the moral imperative to teach and learn about the Holocaust/Shoah in order that it may never be repeated anywhere in the world, to any other peoples or nations."
Beth Shalom Holocaust Web Center: This Web site is a portal — created and maintained by the Beth Shalom Holocaust Center in Nottinghamshire, England — providing information on the Center's ongoing projects for commemoration, education, scholarship promotion, and genocide prevention.
Center for Holocaust Education: Although this Web site is almost entirely in German, it provides a useful resource about the Holocaust for teachers and students. The origins of the site lie in the pioneering Holocaust studies of Dr. Matthias Heyl of Hamburg, Germany, who intently explores the issue of Holocaust education, particularly Holocaust education in Germany. (Matthias Heyl has authored, co-authored and co-edited several books and more than twenty essays, in German, English and Dutch.)
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Created and maintained by the University of Minnesota and directed by Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies offers a virtual museum of Holocaust and genocide art; histories, narratives, and documents; educational resources; links and a bibliography; and, contact information. The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies was established in the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts in 1997 as a resource for teaching and informing the public about the Holocaust and contemporary genocide.
Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion) is "dedicated to teaching the Holocaust to promote tolerance and diversity. The only center of its kind in the Tri-State, the educational initiatives at the Center tell the stories of the Holocaust using eyewitness accounts that are compelling, and inspire action. The Center trains teachers and clergy, sustains permanent and traveling exhibits, and educates the community through a variety of public outreach programming."
"Cybrary" of the Holocaust: The Cybrary of the Holocaust is part of an extensive project to create educational materials about the Holocaust. The site offers many resources and sponsors on-line, educational events.
Facing History and Ourselves: The Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation is "a national educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry." Facing History conducts workshops, institutes, and seminars for teachers — and offers a wide variety of resources, including books, periodicals, speakers, and videotapes.
Forgotten Holocaust (Five Million Forgotten): Sponsored by the nonprofit Holocaust Forgotten Memorial, the goal of this Web site (and the organization) is "to acknowledge and memorialize the millions of non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust."
History of the Holocaust from A Personal Perspective — Lesson Plan: Created and maintained by George Cassutto, this lesson is "intended to supplement any teacher's implementation of the standard Holocaust Education curriculum. It involves the integration of basic historical research, oral history, creative writing, and analysis of primary and secondary documentation."
Holocaust Chronicle: This presentation is a companion Web site to the book, The Holocaust Chronicle, containing the complete book, on-line, at no charge. The site is an excellent, searchable reference tool for teachers and students.
Holocaust and Jewish Studies Sites: Created and maintained by Professor Dan Graf of Virginia Wesleyan College, this Web page contains an unannotated set of links to Web sites relating to the Holocaust and the field of Jewish Studies.
Holocaust Educational Foundation: The Holocaust Educational Foundation is "a private, non-profit organization established in 1980 by survivors, their children, and their friends in order to preserve and promote awareness of the reality of the Holocaust."
Holocaust Remembrance Days Collaborative Project: The Holocaust Remembrance Days Project has received recognition and support from many Holocaust museums around the world. Marsha Goren describes Holocaust Remembrance Days Project herself: "I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. My mother, Sonia Frenkel, was one of the lucky survivors of the one of the harshest concentration camps in Poland — Majdanek — and she lived through Auschwitz as well. Before passing away in 1991, she requested that I teach the next generation about the Holocaust. It was important to her, and I decided to utilize my project, Global Dreamers, for this important mission in promoting tolerance to children around the world. I believe in the power of the Internet and have been implementing an international project for five years now. Global Dreamers prompts students at Ein Ganim, Israel — and from around the world — to join in a multicultural project that captures students' thinking in a visual way. It inspires children to take a deeper look at the world by exploring, exchanging ideas, and using research tools. It supports a positive learning environment and a shared learning experience. In addition, it aims to encourage crosscultural communication and to promote global understanding." Holocaust Remembrance Days: "We will never forget!" (Note: This Holocaust education project is appropriate for elementary and junior high school educators and students.)
Holocaust Resources — Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: This Web site by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh provides an annotated bibliography of Holocaust education resources. The categories include dictionaries and encyclopedias, books, DVDs and videotapes, museums and memorials, and Internet resources.
Holocaust Studies Center: The Holocaust Studies Center at Bronx High School of Science was established in 1978 by founder and director Stuart S. Elenko, with the ongoing purpose of maintaining "public awareness of the important lessons of the Holocaust which continue to be . . . important today." The center has received international praise and houses a "collection of original and important Holocaust documents, diaries, photographs, letters, posters, books, uniforms, autographs, and Holocaust-related artifacts."
Holocaust Teacher Resource Center — Holocaust Education Resources for Teachers: The Holocaust Teacher Resource Center (TRC) Web site is "dedicated to the memory of the six million Jewish people slaughtered during the Holocaust and the millions other people slaughtered during the Nazi era. It strives to combat prejudice and bigotry by transforming the horrors of the Holocaust into positive lessons to help make this a better and safer world for everybody. (This site is sponsored by the Holocaust Education Foundation, Inc.) Educators (kindergarten through college) will find on this site materials that can be brought into the classroom and studied. Whenever possible entire documents are included and may be downloaded for direct use in the classroom."
Jehovah's Witnesses — Courageous in the Face of Nazi Peril: Presented by the Web version of The Watch Tower, the official publication of the Jehovah's Witnesses, this site offers information about Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust; the information originally appeared in Awake! magazine in 1995.
HopeSite Home Page — Centre for Holocaust Education: "The Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education Society invites you to remember and learn about the Holocaust, to reflect on what it means for us today, and to rekindle hope for a better future." (This site is sponsored by the Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education Society.)
International Baccalaureate Holocaust Project: Created and maintained by Daniel Blackmon's contemporary history class in the International Baccalaureate program at Coral Gables Senior High School in Dade County, Florida, this site provides student research on topics such as the "Aryan" myth, Hitler's world view, the Nuremburg Laws, the SS, the "Final Solution," the ghettos, resistance, and modern persecutions.
iEARN's Holocaust/Genocide Project (Archive): The Holocaust/Genocide Project of iEARN was an international, nonprofit, telecommunications project focusing on the study of the Holocaust and other genocides; it involved schools (Grades 7-12) in several countries — including the United States, Israel, Australia, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Cambodia, Argentina, Romania, Russia, and South Africa. Although the project is no longer part of iEARN, this Web site provides and archive of its activities and continues to serve as a research tool.
Kindertransport Association: Founded by Edward Behrendt, the Kindertransport Association (KTA) is a "not-for-profit organization of child holocaust survivors who were sent, without their parents, out of Austria, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain." The mission of the KTA is "to locate, reunite, and bring together those individuals who, many years ago, were directly involved in the Kindertransport, and who have since immigrated to North America; to educate and inform the 'Next Generation,' as well as the public in general, regarding the story of the Kindertransport as an important part of Holocaust History, and, to be involved with charitable work, particularly as it pertains to needy children without parents, regardless of race, creed, color or religion."
Learning about the Holocaust through Art: Available in English, Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian, this Web site provides high-quality reproductions of art works produced during the Holocaust. In addition, the site includes biographies of the artists and histories of the ghettos and camps in which they were interned. Study resources and lesson plans support the site's use in the classroom, and an interactive section enables users to choose and annotate works for their own on-line collection.
Literature of the Holocaust: Presenting materials related to the University of Pennsylvania course "Literature of the Holocaust," this site is maintained by Dr. Al Filreis, Professor of English, and contains links to other sites.
March of the Living: The March of the Living is an international one which "brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to retrace the infamous death march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, and then to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. The goal of the March of the Living is for these young people to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and to lead the Jewish people into the future vowing 'Never Again'."
Massuah — The Institute for the Study of the Holocaust: Massuah, which means "beacon" emphasizes the main purpose of this organization: "to serve as a guide, to warn, to enlighten, to shed light in the darkness and ambivalence associated with the Holocaust." Massuah was established as a nonprofit organization in the 1960's at Kibbutz Tel-Itzhak. Its education credo is "dealing with the moral, political and cultural issues raised by the events of the Holocaust [because they] are still relevant to all human beings." Massuah has developed many educational programs for today's young people, students, and educators. (Note: THis Web site is in Hebrew.)
Maven — Holocaust and Antisemitism: Maven is an on-line Jewish resource with information in over 190 categories. Its page of links relating to the Holocaust and antisemitism is quite extensive.
Museum of Tolerance: The Web site of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance (MOT) offers extensive teaching and learning resources about the Holocaust, antisemitism, and tolerance. Visitors can access the Museum of Tolerance multimedia learning center and Tools for Tolerance for Professionals, "a leading provider of transformational workplace learning and leadership development," which offers classes and resources for educators and students. In addition, the Web site provides the MOT teachers' guide (various sections of which are available in multiple languages); the teachers' guide includes the Simon Wiesenthal Center's famous 36 Questions about the Holocaust, in English, Spanish, and Swedish.
National Catholic Center for Holocaust Studies: The mission of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education is "the broad dissemination of scholarship on the root causes of antisemitism, the relation of these causes to the Holocaust — and the implications from the Catholic perspective of both for today's world." The Center is an active member of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations.
Remembering for the Future: Remembering for the Future is "a scholarly forum for the evaluation of the Holocaust in an age of genocides. Its aims are to assess the impact of new material and research, particularly in the post-Communist era; to reassess the Jewish-Christian dynamic in the light of the Holocaust and provide a unique opportunity for eye witnesses and scholars to work together; to disseminate new findings. It will seek to assess the legacy of the Holocaust and encourage the continued development of its study."
Remembering the Holocaust: Written by Louie Volpe for the Jewish Post of New York, this review covers technologies which "are presenting some interesting ways in which we can remember to 'not forget'. Using these tools of the times, we can explore the past, present and future of the Holocaust by way of CD-ROM, the World Wide Web and on video tape."
Remembering the Holocaust: Based in Australia, this Web page is an annotated set of links to sites about the Holocaust: "The Web is an invaluable way of keeping alive the memories of the Holocaust. On this page are but some of the many resources available on the Internet. (If you know of others please tell me.) I created this page as my simple way of remembering those who perished and of honouring those who survived."
Responses to the Holocaust — A Hypermedia Sourcebook for the Humanities: Maintained by Dr. Robert S. Leventhal of the Department of German at the University of Virginia, this archive "is intended to introduce the viewer/reader to the various discourses, disciplines, media and institutions that have produced significant critical and theoretical positions and discussions concerning the Nazi Genocide of the Jews of Europe, 1933-45. In this hypermedia sourcebook, a hypertextual research, teaching, and learning archive, the responses of disciplines, various media and institutions includes, but is not limited to, literature, philosophy, literary criticism and theory, sociology, psychoanalysis, history and historiography, religious studies, film, art and architecture, political theory, informatics and the history of technology, and popular culture or cultural studies."
Simon Wiesenthal Center: The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) "is an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. The Center confronts important contemporary issues including racism, antisemitism, terrorism and genocide and is accredited as an NGO both at the United Nations and UNESCO. With a membership of over 400,000 families, the Center is headquartered in Los Angeles and maintains offices in New York, Toronto, Miami, Jerusalem, Paris and Buenos Aires. Established in 1977, the Center closely interacts on an ongoing basis with a variety of public and private agencies, meeting with elected officials, the U.S. and foreign governments, diplomats and heads of state. Other issues that the Center deals with include: the prosecution of Nazi war criminals; Holocaust and tolerance education; Middle East Affairs; and extremist groups, neo-Nazism, and hate on the Internet."
Simon Wiesenthal Center Digital Archives (Sample Holdings)
Simon Wiesenthal Center — Digital Archives: The Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance's Digital Archives provides teachers, students, and researchers with access to the photographs, documents, and artifacts of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance Archives. The Digital Archives includes images owned by the Library and Archives, which are available to users worldwide — to access, browse, and download at a low-resolution level. (High-resolution images may be requested.) The archives are searchable by various criteria, and users may keep personalized records of retrieved items, or purchase high-resolution copies from the Digital Archives.
Social Studies School Service — Teaching the Holocaust: This section of the Social Studies School Service Web site is an on-line catalogue of Holocaust-related teaching materials, including books, videos, DVDs, posters, and CD-ROMs. (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Social Studies School Service and offer this information as a service to teachers and others interested in educating young people about the Holocaust.)
Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation: "In 1994, after filming Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg established Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation with an urgent mission: to videotape and preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. Today, the Shoah Foundation has collected more than 50,000 eyewitness testimonies in 57 countries and 32 languages, and is committed to ensuring the broad and effective educational use of its archive worldwide." Via its Web site, and with products, programs and partnerships, the Shoah Foundation conducts global educational outreach.
Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust: Created and maintained by the University of South Florida, this Web site provides an "overview of the people and events of the Holocaust through photographs, documents, art, music, movies, and literature."
Teaching the Holocaust through Stamps: The Holocaust education project, Teaching the Holocaust through Stamps, is "an interdisciplinary and computerized program through the use of stamps, pictures, texts and paintings by children in the Holocaust" The site is available in English and Hebrew.
We Remember Anne Frank: Sponsored by the children's book publisher, Scholastic, this educational Web site relates the stories of Anne Frank, her childhood friend Hanneli Pick-Goslar, and Miep Gies (who helped the Franks in hiding). The site provides interviews with Pick-Goslar and Gies, a teacher's guide with lesson plans and a bibliography, and brief stories about selected Holocaust rescuers and survivors.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research: "The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is one of the world's preeminent repositories of library and archival materials on the fate of European Jews during World War II. The Institute's collections are open to the public, and may be consulted during regular working hours." The Institute's extensive Holocaust collections are held in two separate departments, "the Library and the Archives — according to type of material: Books, periodicals, and newspapers are kept in the Library; manuscripts, organizational files, and photographs are held by the Archives."


who died June 9, 2000 at the age of 82, was one of America's greatest
20th Century artists with a spectacular flair for composition
and social comment.
colored works are a blend of realism and abstraction and have
a kindred spirit with the oeuvres of Stuart Davis and Ben Shahn,
but his inventive eye places him with Monet in the pantheon of
those artists gifted with infinite riches of compositional creativity.
introduction to the exhibition catalogue, Peter T. Nesbett, founder
and director of the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project,
and Michelle DuBois, observe that Lawrence "is an iconic
figure, one of the great modern painters of the twentieth century,
a distinction he earned early in his career when he gained widespread
recognition for the narrative painting series, 'The Migration
of the Negro in 1941.'"
has walked a careful line between abstract and figurative art,"
they wrote, "using aesthetic values for social ends. His
success at balancing such seemingly irreconcilable aspects of
art is a fundamental characteristic of his long and distinguished
career. Lawrence is one of the first American artists trained
in and by the black community in Harlem, and it was from the people
of Harlem that he initially obtained professional recognition.
He was also the first African American artist to receive sustained
support from mainstream art museums and patronage outside of the
black community during an era of legalized and institutionalized
segregation. In 1941, at the age of twenty-four, Lawrence joined
the Downtown Gallery, becoming the first artist of African descent
to be represented by a major commercial art gallery. There he
exhibited alongside such established modernists as Stuart Davis,
John Marin, Charles Sheeler, and Ben Shahn, all of whom later
became close friends. For over sixty years and with intentionally
limited means (water-based paints on boards or paper), he has
harnessed the seductive power of semi-abstract forms to address
many of the great social and philosophical themes of the twentieth
century, especially as they pertain to the lives and histories
of African Americans: migration, manual labor, war, family values,
education, mental health, and creativity. He made visible a side
of American history that includes the contributions of African
Americans; has presented scenes of daily life that provide a compassionate
counterpoint to stereotypical images of African Americans; and
painted poignant social commentary on the effects of racism and
bigotry in American culture."
numerous other fine African-American painters such Romare Bearden,
Horace Pippin, Robert Gwathmey, Robert Duncanson, and Osawa Tanner.
While the African-American experiences and history make up much
of the subject matter of Lawrence's oeuvre, a preoccupation with
the importance of racial interests takes much away from a full
appreciation of his art, which transcends its important subject
matter and is not limited by it. It is a bit unfortunate that
his materials were so inexpensive as they also tend to distract
a viewer from his always powerful and dynamic imagery. While there
is no question that Lawrence was a great "black" artist,
he was, more importantly, a great artist. While Lawrence unquestionably
was very focused on black concerns and issues and his oeuvre is
very important in its social statements, it wrongly marginalizes
his powerful artistic talents to view him merely as an ethnic
Jr. was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917. Lawrence's
mother and her children moved to Philadelphia in 1924. She moved
to New York City in 1927, but her children stayed in foster homes
in Philadelphia until 1930 when they joined their mother in Harlem
in an apartment at 142 West 143rd Street. Lawrence attended PS
68 and the Frederick Douglass Junior High School and after school
he studied arts and crafts with Charles "Spinky" Alston
at the Utopia Children's House at 170 West 130th Street. In 1932,
Lawrence attended the High School of Commerce and continueed to
study with Alston at the WPA Harlem Art Workshop in the 135th
Street branch of the New York Public Library and then at 306 West
141st Street and from 1934 to 1940 he rented space in Alston's
studio. In 1934 he dropped out of school and delivers newspapers
and liquor and works for a printing shop. The next year he meets
Charles Seifert, a lecturer and historian who encourages him to
make use of the Arthur Schomburg collection at the New York Public
Library and visits museums with him and sees Afrian Negro Art
at the Museum of Modern Art and he begins painting Harlem scenes
using commercial tempera (poster) paints on lightweight brown
Lawrence works for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) near
Middletown, New York and watches Alston painted Magic and Medicine,
a WPA mural installed in 1937 at the Harlem Hospital.
Lawrence completes his first series, The Life of Toussaint
L'Ouverture, a group of 41 paintings about the establishment
of the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere in Haiti.
In 1937, he obtains a two-year scholarship to the American Artists
School at 131 West 14th Street, an organization that the catalogue
notes was "organized by the John Reed Club, a Communist organization."
He applies to the WPA Federal Art Project but is rejected because
of its age requirements. In 1938, he begins a series on the life
of Frederick Douglass, the Maryland slave turned abolitionist,
speaker and writer and is hired by the easel division of the WPA
Federal Art Project. The Douglass series of 39 paintings
is completed in 1939 and he gives it to the Harmon Foundation
as collateral against a loan of approximately $100 and he begins
work on a series about Harriet Tubman, a former slave who became
an abolitionist and an important figure in the Underground Railroad.
In 1938, Lawrence has a solo exhibition at the Harlem YMCA sponsored
by the James Weldon Johnson Literary Guild and he also exhibits
in the Twenty-one NYC Negro Artists at the Harlem Community
Center. In 1939, Lawrence exhibits with Samuel Wechsler at the
American Artists School and ARTnews notes that his "style
is easy to call primitive but closer inspection reveals draughtsmanship
too accomplished to be called naïve." The Toussaint
series is shown as part of the Contemporary Negro Art
show at the Baltimore Museum of Art and Newsweek singles
it out as a "discovery." The series is then shown at
the De Porres Interracial Council headquarters on Vesey Street
in New York and he is praised by Alain Locke in Opportunity
magazine as an "intuitive genius."
Lawrence wins second prize at Exhibition of the Art of the
American Negro, 1851-1940 at the American Negro Exhibition
in Chicago and the Toussaint series is shown at Columbia
University. Also in 1940, Lawrence gets a $1,500 fellowship from
the Julius Rosenwald Fund to do a series on "the great Negro
migration during the World War" and his application is accompanied
by recommendations by Alain Locke, Lincoln Kirsten, Helen Grayson
and Carl Zigrosser. In 1940 he moves to 33 West 125th Street,
a building where Romare Bearden also has a studio.
year, he works on 60 panels of the Migration series simultaneously,
completing them with the assistance of Gwendolyn Knight, an artist
who prepares the gesso panels and helps write the captions and
he marries her and soon joins the Downtown Gallery where he exhibits
regularly until 1953. The Migration is shown at the Downtown Gallery
and Fortune magazine publishes 26 of the panels. In 1942, Adele
Rosenwald Levy purchases the even-numbered works in the Migration
series for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Duncan Phillips
agrees to exhibit the entire series at his Phillips Memorial Gallery
in Washington, D.C., and he purchases the remaining 30 panels.
Also in 1942, he is a summer art instructor at Wo-Chi-Ca (Workers
Children's Camp) in Port Murray, New Jersey, a camp loosely affiliated
with the IWO (International Workers Organization), a Communist
organization. According to the catalogue, Lawrence "is recruited
to join the Communist Party but never does."
Lawrence is inducted into the U. S. Coast Guard and the next year
he is assigned to the USS Sea Cloud, a weather patrol boat and
the first racially integrated ship in U.S. naval history. His
paintings of the Coast Guard are shown at the Museum of Modern
Art in October, 1944. In 1946, he teaches at the summer session
at the Black Mountain College in Asheville, N.C., at the invitation
of Josef Albers, who, the catalogue notes, "hires a private
train car to transport the Lawrences to and from Asheville so
they need not move to the 'colored' section of the train at the
Mason-Dixon Line." In 1947, Walker Evans of Fortune magazine
commissions him to do paintings of Negro Life in the South. In
1948, Lawrence voluntarily enters Hillside Hospital in Queens
for depression and Edith Halpert of the Downtown Gallery contributes
to his medical expenses. He stays at the hospital for almost a
Halpert decides to create a new gallery, the Alan Gallery, that
will represent the work of the Downtown Gallery's younger artists
such as Lawrence and Jack Levine, but Lawrence is unhappy with
the arrangement and when four years later the Alan Gallery "restructures"
itself, Lawrence is no longer represented by it, but that same
year, 1957, he serves as president of the New York chapter of
the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1958, he joins
the faculty of Pratt Institute where he stays until 1960 when
he is given a retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
In 1962, he joins the stable of the Terry Dintenfass Gallery "through
the encouragement of Robert Gwathmey and Philip Evergood, and
the following year serves as president of the artists' committee
of the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In
1965 he works as artist-in-residence at Brandeis University at
the invitation of Mitchell Siporin, an artist with whom he had
exhibited at the Downtown Gallery.
Lawrence has a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American
Art and Milton Brown wrote in a catalogue essay that Lawrence
was "the first wholly authentic voice of the Black experience
in the plastic arts," adding that "he avoided the appearance
of sophistication, though his use of 'expressionist' distortion
would indicate an awareness of modern art forms."
Lawrence is a co-founder of the Rainbow Art Foundation with Romare
Bearden, Willem de Kooning and Bill Caldwell to assist young printmarkers
and artists whose art is seldom seen including the work of "indians,
eskimos, asians, hispanics, and blacks."
is exhibited regularly and makes murals for the Joseph R. Addabbo
Federal Building in Queens and the Orlando International Airport
and the Times Square subway station. In 1990, President Bush awards
him the National Medal of Arts. Three years later, Robert Hughes,
the art critic of Time magazine observes that Lawrence's
Migration series, then on view at the Phillips Collection
in Washington, is "of far greater power than almost all the
acreage of WPA murals that preceded them in the 1930s."
In her catalogue
essay, "Inside-Outside, Uptown-Downtown, Jacob Lawrence and
the Aesthetic Ethos of the Harlem Working-Class Community,"
Leslie King-Hammond quotes Charles Alston as stating of Lawrence
that "there was always something very simple and direct about
is approach." She quotes Lawrence that "Our homes were
very decorative, full of pattern, like inexpensive throw rugs.
It must have had some influence, all this color and everything.
Because we were so poor the people used this as a means of brightening
their life. I used to do bright patterns after these throw rugs;
I got ideas from them, the arabesques, the movement and so on."
emphasis on Harlem as the primary subject matter in his nonserial
paintings of the late 1930's and early 1940s," King-Hammond
wrote, "is distinct from the art of many of his colleagues
and mentors at the time. Whereas Lawrence drew thematic inspiration
from his immediate environment, many other artists crated images
that strongly recalled their lives and experiences in the south.
Figurative imagery was important to African American artists and
their communities who longed for a representation that would honor
their likeness. However, the lure of abstraction and the question
of modernism charged the intellect of artists like Norman Lewis,
whose Umbrella tests abstraction's potential to convey
modernist interpretations of African American life. Alston, [Ernest]
Crichlow, Lewis, and Lawrence worked closely during the years
of the 1930s and acted as mutual catalytic forces on each other's
lives and art. From this small sample of images - all produced
in Harlem in the 1930s - it is clear that no two artists in Harlem
worked in the same style. The diversity of styles and approaches
available gave the artists freedom to express themselves individually
while having the support and admiration of their peers."
produces lithographs by Alston, Crichlow and Lewis that clearly
indicate that those artists are very worthy of more attention
points out that "pivotal to the success of the [Migration]
series were the complementary texts that accompanied each panel,"
adding that "Because looking at art was new to the New Negroes,
Lawrence tried, through the text panels, to underscore the message
of his art and to validate his viewers' newly found sense of literacy."
few artists have devoted much of their careers to large narrative
series of paintings, meant to be seen as an ensemble, as opposed
to a thematic series of independent works. Lawrence is certainly
the foremost American artist to have produced several important
narrative series and surely he was influenced to an extent by
the popularity of the Mexican muralists whose work inspired many
artists of the WPA period when large-scale public works required
grandiloquent, if not grandiose, visions.
sounds and music of the jazz age were not lost on Lawrence as
he incorporated the aural elements of rhythms, breaks, and changes
into the visual polyphony of Harlem's environment, people and
culture. Technically, his work in the medium of gouache became
more sophisticated through the assistance of Romare Bearden, who
had a studio in the same building and who also shared a love of
Harlem and jazz," King-Hammond observed.
In her catalogue
essay, "The Education of Jacob Lawrence," Elizabeth
Hutton Turner notes that Frank Lloyd Wright once observed that
Lawrence "would make a good architect" and that early
in his artistic training Lawrence "began making pictures
inside card-board shipping cartons." "Lawrence did not
keep the boxes, but he has described them. They were, as he said,
'places where I had lived.' He did not conceive of them as replicas
- like ships in a bottle. Rather, they were arrangements. He said
that he filled the boxes as one would design for the stage, though,
in his words, 'I didn't know about theatre at the time.' The idea
of people on a platform posing or performing like players would
be carried over to such paintings as Lawrence's migrants and builders
themes. Lawrence has confirmed that he did indeed discover an
analogue to painting while working within the present geometry
of the boxes. 'They were just like any two-dimensional painting
- only they were three-dimensional,' he said."
creating his earliest cycles," Turner wrote, "Lawrence
first wrote captions and completed sketches (sometimes as many
as ten to twenty) for each scene. Lawrence's first question, in
fact, when he met [José Clemente] Orozco making a mural
in New York in 1940 was, 'Where's your sketch, where's your detail?'
Orozco told Lawrence that he did not need one. By 1941 Lawrence
would eliminate the separate step of sketching on paper by drawing
directly on his same-sized gessoed panels of hardboard. He created
rhythms of horizontal and vertical panels as he laid out the narrative
sequence. As [Diego] Rivera said, 'The subject is to the painter
what the rails are to a locomotive.' Set down like a track on
his studio floor, the thirty to sixty panels of a given cycle
could be seen together and, most important, painted all at once.
Lawrence painted color by color, building up pattern and, in so
doing, buttressing dark to light. His choice of colors - black
and burnt umber moving to cadmium orange and yellow - achieves
an overall decorative unity and consistency in The Migration
of the Negro series, for example. Conceived as image and word,
the poetry of Lawrence's cycles emerges from the repetition of
certain shapes. The enlarged single spike or nail, the links of
chains, o lattice, the hand and hammer serve as refrains in the
lives, the decisions, the struggle of African Americans in the
face of injustice."
In her essay,
"The Critical Context of Jacob Lawrence's Early Works, 1938-1952,"
Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins provides the following commentary:
began his career during the waning years of the Harlem Renaissance,
an outgrowth of modernism, when primitivism was current in the
minds of an intellectual world that also included blacks. Harlem,
and its performers and artists who utilized and visually portrayed
black folk idioms, was perceived as exotic. Cabaret acts featuring
black performers who performed a black popular repertoire and
even sacred songs were sought as entertainment, in this country
and abroad, for largely white audiences. Second only to American
Indians, black people were valued in the white American consciousness
and culture only for their so-called primitive qualities. Although
Lawrence was too young to be considered an artist of the Harlem
Renaissance, he and many black artists of the time were met by
a critical reception that perpetuated such ideas. They faced a
dilemma as they concentrated on presenting their new modern black
communities and especially nationalistic folk themes. If not modern
- and they could not be that completely in the eyes of white modernists
- the Negroness expressed in their literature and art was perceived
as primitive by their white audiences. For members of an art world
that delved into the primitive only as voyeurs, Lawrence perfectly
fit the white notion of a black artist. He was not privileged
but poor; he was not light-skinned like his mentors but very black;
he was not university-trained but was characterized as self-taught.
Writing about The Migration of the Negro series in the
New York Sun in 1941, Henry McBride remarked, 'there is
little in Lawrence's work that departs from this saga of sadness.
Its appeal lies in the fact that in his emotional reactions to
it he has really gone native - has preserved the Negro's instinct
for rhythm and love for crude brilliant colors which he handles
with unfailing decorative felicity.' When he produced the Tubman
and Douglass series, these heroes were not yet well known outside
African American communities. His introduction of these characters
into art thus also introduced them to many Americans, and it called
for a bold style. In the Tubman paintings, for instance, Lawrence
shows Tubman's strength through her physical stature: broad, square
shoulders, large blocklike hands, and arms that work like machines.
The artist often stretched this figure beyond the confines of
the frame, expanding the viewer's scope. Lawrence used this abstract
pictorial device in other works, especially those that focused
on manual labor, such as the gouache on paper The Shoemaker.
When The Life of John Brown was first exhibited in 1945,
Lawrence's work - often compared to cartoon and poster work -
was viewed as stylistically similar to that of such other American
artists as Milton Avery. With this series critics began to cast
a more critical eye on Lawrence's compositional designs."
his stay at Hillside Hospital, critics noted that Lawrence's work
became more sophisticated and subtle with a more varied palette.
In his catalogue
essay, "Harmonizer of Chaos, Jacob Lawrence at Midcentury,"
Richard J. Powell minimizes Lawrence's hospitalization and analyzes
his evolving styles.
longer wedded to pictorial storytelling or sequential visual narration,
by the 1950s Lawrence had introduced into his work a heightened
compositional dynamism, bold geometries, and thematic ambiguity.
This shift is important, for it removed him from the social realist
painters and their emphasis on sociopolitical redress in art and,
instead, pushed him closer to the abstractionists and their preoccupations
with intellectual interiority and open-ended interpretations.
Not abstract by any stretch of the imagination nor part of the
roster of 'modernist' art masterpieces as formulated by the critic
Clement Greenberg, Lawrence's new paintings - figurative and anecdotal,
but also decorative and frenetic - put him in league with many
other midcentury American artist and intellectuals. These writers
(e. g., William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg), musicians (e.g.,
Ornette Coleman and John Cage), and visual artists (e.g., Larry
Rivers and Jasper Johns) often sought refuge in intentionally
vague, indeterminate art vocabularies: devices and languages that,
although unresponsive to the particulars of a social reality,
performed on the fringes of contemporary life and employed elements
of abstraction as a way, ironically, of restoring some semblance
of meaning and order to a decidedly disaffected body politic.
Although it is more the custom to view Jacob Lawrence's art as
essentially humanitarian and stylistically conservative, a closer
look at work he produced during the 1950s reveals abrupt stylistic
departures from earlier formulas, subtle yet stinging observations
about life, and a compositional armature that defied the standard,
several specific paintings and notes that Lawrence's work begins
to convey "an existential blackness that was incidentially
'colored'" rather than blatant "heralding race consciousness."
Powell also observes that Lawrence begins to "compose in
a manner similar to that of many abstract painters [and] one stylistic
stream of painterly abstraction - specifically the investigation
of anthropomorphic, glyphic, and 'all-over' forms - was of growing
fascination to him."
the following commentary on "In the Garden," shown above,
a 1950 casein tempera on paper, 22 3/16 by 30 1/16 inches, which
is in a private collection and one of the most striking works
in the exhibition:
within the painting's humanistic themes are swaying and bending
plant stems, flying saucer-like blossoms, arabesque vegetation,
and miniscule insects buzzing overhead and crawling underfoot,
which collectively contribute to a discordant mood and the emotionally
charged subject. More than just establishing In the Garden's
outdoor setting, these organic elements, rendered with equal measures
of verisimilitude and license, impart a primordial energy and
life force that, ironically, counters the painting's 'work therapy'
subject and an assumed drudge-like and/or institutional subtext.
As with the works of many abstract artists, Lawrence's painted
and drawn lines - at times undulating, or other times staccato
- can be interpreted not solely in terms of what they represent
but, rather, in terms of their implied dynamism and space/time
expressivity; concepts that, in the context of the narrational
concerns of the hospital pictures, shift the painting's emotional
terrain from depression and convalescence to spiritedness and
is one of Lawrence's masterpieces and is worthy of Homer, Van
Gogh, Brueghel, Crivelli, Kirchner and Botticelli. Its persective
is low and looking slightly upwards. Its precision is delicate
but its composition is very strong and compressed. It is flooded
with sunlit air. It is mysterious and strenuous. It is an exuberant
nexus of man and nature, toil and celebration.
discusses another remarkable Lawrence painting of the same year,
"Slums," shown above, a 25-by-21 1/2-inch casein tempera
on paper in the collection of Elizabeth Marsteller Gordon of San
both a contrastive and a comparative way, Lawrence magnified the
actions of flies, cockroaches, and other vermin, while simultaneously
minimizing the painting's subject: crowded and substandard urban
housing. The ultimate visual effects are an amazing blend of social
documentary squalor, an almost surrealistic inversion of realistic
scale and proportion and, most important, compositional overtures
to diminutive, calligraphic- and grid-informed abstractions. Lawrence's
decision in Slums to deemphasize human suffering and underscore
the almost incidental presence of foraging insects denied spectators
the assurances of relying on a classic, social realist 'art script.'
Instead, Slums (like In the Garden) draws one's
imagination away from reality and its attendant social agenda
to a highly animated pictorial maelstrom that, though still grounded
in figuration and signification, resonates with abstract, value-free
conceptualizations and an art of linear tracings, visionary markings,
and arresting colors."
is compartmentalized horror. While it is brilliantly conceived,
it is not as superbly finished as "In the Garden." It
is, nonetheless, a wonderful work.
would soon shift his focus to performances as subject matter and
then in 1956 he completed another major cycle entitled "Struggle
From the History of the American People." These works are
markedly dynamic and forceful. No. 23 in the series, shown below,
entitled "if we fail, let us fail like men, and expire together
in one common struggle-Henry Clay, 1813," is quite astounding.
The 16-by-12-inch egg tempera and on hardboard, collection of
Dr. Kenneth Clark, is a stunning abstraction.
the following commentary on this work:
the explicit narrative in Struggle painting No. 23 was America's
military shortcomings during the war of 1812 (specifically, the
high death toll that resulted from an 1813 clash with the British
on Lake Erie), Lawrence's jagged 'building blocks' and accents
in black, white, gray, and red construct a pictorial space that,
like paintings by the noted abstractionists Robert Motherwell
and Franz Kline, can be interpreted as portraying something social
and/or behavioral (i.e., aggression, confrontation, and resignation).
The implicit narrative here is the universal, uphill 'battle'
with life, and the inevitable feelings of personal entrapment
and loss that all human beings experience."
a great painting.
Jacob Lawrence maintained that he was not a
"protest" painter but a depictor of scenes. He had ambitious
visions and experimented considerably with his styles over the
decades. Some of the works in the series are a bit clumsy, but
most likely intentionally so and always strong and there is little
ambiguity about his sympathy for his subjects.
This is a splendid show and an excellent catalogue.


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Start the new year by investigating events that happened 100 years ago this year. (Grades 5-12)
From the Land, Of the Land: An Interdisciplinary Lesson on Indigenous Peoples
Energize a geography or language arts lesson with this online activity for grades 7-12. Students research the concept of indigenous people then write a diamante poem about what they've learned. Both the research and the poem creation are done online.
In this lesson, K-5 students select a pet and a travel destination, then find four things the pet could do at that locale. Designed for use with Inspiration/Kidspiration, the lesson can be adapted for use with other programs.
This Bird Can Blog!
Want to improve your students' quality and quantity of writing? Check out this lesson plan for grades 3-5! Students assume the persona of a real or imagined classroom pet and write a blog describing daily activities in the classroom.
Daily Language Practice Builds Skills, Test Scores
Turn daily language practice into a game, build test scores too. (Grades 3-12)
Scriptwriting with a Wiki
This middle- and high-school lesson plan uses a wiki -- a Web site that allows users to add and edit content collectively -- to write a one-act play.
Biography Brainstorm: Using Word and the Web to Jumpstart Research
Students use Internet resources and Microsoft Word drawing tools to brainstorm (through webbing) questions about a person they will research and write about.
A Picture's Worth 1000 Words
In this interdisciplinary lesson, K-8 students try to interpret what pictographs -- pictures that symbolize a word or concept -- really mean. Then they write sentences using their own pictograph system.
What's the Word?
In this activity for grades 3-8, students define 4-5 vocabulary words, use a free online tool to create crossword puzzles with the words, and then share their puzzles for review.
Portrait of a Hero
Students select and research someone they consider a hero and then use facts about that person and quotes by that person to create micrographic portraits.
As Easy as A, B, C
Are your students learning their ABCs? Then check out these easy-to-use and fun Web sites filled with ideas for teaching and learning the alphabet. Whether you make the sites available in a computer center or display them on a projector, something valuable is just a click away!
No Place Like Home
Students learn to "read" digital content as they analyze photographs of high plains sod homes and read accompanying narratives. They then choose one photograph and identify characteristics, points, differences, and questions they find in that photograph.
A Lesson in Proofing
Students in middle and high school learn to use Word's Find/Replace feature to check written work, increase accuracy, and improve their grades. Teachers might want to use the feature too.
Teaching Writing on a Computer
Students love seeing their work in print, so why not have them write some of their work on the computer? Walk students through the basics of typing and saving on a computer.
Edit Essays with Word Tables
Still grading essays, red ink pen in hand? Next time your students have an essay due, ask them to submit their work in Word, help them identify their grammar and spelling errors, and then have them correct those errors using Word's table feature.
Fun Activities Get the School Year Off to a Good Start!
Every teacher has a different approach to the first few days of school. Whatever your approach, Education World has an activity for you!
Books Give Us Wings
In this Letters About Literature lesson, students read and discuss letters written by young readers to the authors of books that "gave them wings."
Will the Leaning Tower Fall?
Students in grades 9-12 research the Tower of Pisa and write a report about its history. They examine the physics of why the Tower leans and whether it might fall. Finally, they plan a trip to Italy to see the Tower, developing an itinerary and budget for the trip.
A Favorite Poem
Students explore a variety of poems, find one poem they feel a particular connection to, and share that poem by reading it aloud to their classmates. Students then create videos of their readings to share with other classes.
Create A Poetry Calendar
In this lesson, students research, design, and create a school-year calendar based on the work of famous poets. The activity, which can take 4-5 class periods to complete, is a great culminating activity for a poetry unit for grades 3-12.
Help your K-8 class celebrate Women's History Month. Students research an influential woman, then create on the computer a quilt block with text and graphics. Quilt blocks are then printed and combined to form a quilt of connections.
Students in grades 9-12 learn three ways to define a term in technical writing, search the Web for scientific text, then copy and paste sections into a Word document. Finally, they use the highlighter feature of Word to highlight examples of definitions within the text.
Write a Number Story
Make writing across content areas fun with this K-3 computer activity. Students use AppleWorks (or Office) to write and illustrate number stories. The stories then are used to create a Keynote or PowerPoint show and displayed for the class (or parents!) to see and share.
Poetry From Photos: A Lesson on the Great Depression.
Getting information from the Internet often is just a copy and paste operation. The challenge for teachers is to teach students to apply and extend what they learn online. In this lesson, students view photographs of migrant families during the Great Depression, try to interpret the photos to answer questions about the subject's life, and then write a cinquain poem based on their interpretations.
PowerPoint Poetry Slam
Make poetry come alive with this English lesson for grades 7-12. In a unique twist to a standard poetry reading, students select poems, create PowerPoint presentations that use graphics and text to enhance their poems, and then display those presentations as they read their poems aloud.
Prehistoric Pen Pals
Students research dinosaurs, then assume the personality of a specific dinosaur species in this lesson for grades 3-5. Each student/dinosaur writes an online "getting to know you" letter to another student/dinosaur in class. Students swap letters and reply to each other's questions, improving research and letter writing skills while learning fun dinosaur facts.
The News Behind the (Short) Story
Transform students from passive readers to gritty journalists. In this lesson, students read a short story, then create a one-page newspaper depicting the facts of the fictional story as real-life events. Included: Links to an online newspaper template as well as to a classic short story site are included.
Take the Polar Express to Learning
Polar Express, the movie, arrives in movie theaters nationwide on November 10. Don't miss the movie and the opportunity to take advantage of this "teachable moment." Included: Education World connects you to lessons, resources.
Illustrating Illustrating Student Writing in Grades 1-3
In this lesson, students type in Microsoft Word a descriptive paragraph about a person or other creature they would most like to meet. They then draw in Microsoft Paint a picture of that person and/or of their meeting, and insert the image into the Word document.
What's New? Translating Foreign Newspapers With Word
Engage students while practicing translation skills. This activity helps foreign language students decode newspaper articles from around the world using Microsoft Word's Text-to-Table tool.
How Does it End? A Lesson in Creativity
Put students' creative talents to work by having them compose their own endings to a read-aloud story. Students use drawing software, such as Paint or AppleWorks, to draw, or write and draw, what they want to happen at the end of the story.
Celebrating Asian and Pacific-Island Heritage
Each May -- during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month -- we recognize the special contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. The lessons here introduce students to famous Asian Americans and explore their origins and their literature.
A Puzzle A Day Provides Practice That Pays
Puzzles exercise students' critical thinking skills while providing practice in many curriculum areas. Puzzles make great "bellringer" activities. Introduce a puzzle a day: A puzzle a day provides practice that pays Included: A year of puzzles!
Teaching Grammar Without the Hammer: Five Fun Activities
Learning grammar has been compared to other fun things -- like having teeth pulled or being assigned detention. But it needn't be a painful experience with these five lessons that teach grammar -- without the hammer!
Word Wall "Active-ities" Build Vocabulary, Spelling, Writing Skills
A classroom word wall has many uses. A wide variety of activities and games can be used to reinforce vocabulary words on the wall -- and to build students' vocabulary, spelling, and writing skills. Included: Teachers share favorite word wall activities.
Celebrate Books: A (Book) Week of Fun!
The calendar might identify November 17-23 as Children's Book Week, but for most teachers -- always on the lookout for new ideas to promote literacy -- every week is Book Week. Education World offers five new lessons for a week of reading fun.
Take Note: Five Lessons for Note Taking Fun
If recent surveys are any indicator, cheating and plagiarism are on the rise. As teachers, however, we might be able to reverse that trend by teaching our students to take good notes. Included: Five fun lessons that teach needed note-taking skills.
Spotlight on Spelling
Each May, the National Spelling Bee is held in Washington, D.C. Since most of your students won't be there, this week we offer lesson plans to help put them there next year! Included: Five new lesson plans plus links to many more. Voice of Experience: Revisiting Walden Pond in 2003
If your students were to head for a modern-day Walden Pond, what would they take with them? Kathleen Modenbach shares an activity that helped her students grasp Thoreau's sacrifices and appreciate his work. Included: Cross-curricular activities extend the lesson.
What is the Most Serious Problem Facing Earth? -- An Education World WebQuest
In this special Earth Day WebQuest, student teams research a critical threat to Earth's environment as they vie for $1 million in funding from the fictional Help Our World (HOW) Foundation. Included: student work sheets, lots of Earth Day resources, more.
Reviving Reviews: Refreshing Ideas Students Can't Resist
Is review time a deadly bore for you and your students? Add a little fun to review time and you might be surprised. Games will spice up reviews, revive interest, and ensure retention! Included: Five activities for use in all subjects, all grades!
Its Up for Debate!
Debates are a staple of middle and high school social studies classes. But have you ever thought about using debates at the lower grades -- or in math class? Education World offers five debate strategies and extra lessons for students of all ages.
Special Reading Fun for Read Across America Day
Each March, on Dr. Seusss birthday, schools celebrate Read Across America Day. This week, Education World recognizes this special day with five new reading lesson plans plus links to dozens of great reading projects culled from our archive.
It's a Mystery!
If it seems that something has been sneaking up on you this month, it is probably Kids Love a Mystery Week! Included: Five mysterious lessons -- focused on language arts, history, and forensic science -- to ignite critical thinking and spark interest in reading.
Winter Wonderland -- Lessons for Frosty Days!
Though the weather outside is frightful, wintry lessons are delightful! Whether the topic is snow, cold, or other icy treats, winter is a frosty focus that will motivate and entertain your class. Bundle up and brace for wild, windy, weather outside while showing your students the best of winter activities indoors! Included: Five lessons that make winter a winning subject!
Better Book Reports: 25 More Ideas!
Tired of the same old book report formats? This week, Education World presents a sequel to its popular "Better Book Reports -- 25 Ideas! article. Are you ready for 25 more practical book report ideas?
By the Book -- Activities for Book Week!
"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket" -- but getting kids to crack open books is often no walk in the park! During this year's observance of Children's Book Week, share the wonder and magic of books. Included: Five language arts lessons you'll want to "bookmark"!
Spice Up Your Spelling Lessons
Are you looking for ways to spice up boring old spelling routines? This week, Education World offers five activities to help you do just that!
Better Letters: Lesson Plans for Teaching Letter Writing
Is letter writing a lost art? This week Education World provides five new lessons to revive student interest in writing friendly letters. These letter-writing lessons are sure to get your stamp of approval!
Once Upon a Time
Activities to teach fables, fairy tales, folktales, myths, and more.
Turn Your Students Into Well-Versed Poets
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Education World offers more than 20 poetry lesson plans to help teachers integrate poetry into their classrooms and develop "well-versed" students. Stage a poetry slam for profit, find the funniest poems around, write synonym poems, more!
More 'Write' Stuff!
Engage students with writing activities that involve them in writing round-robin stories, "indescribably" excellent descriptions, persuasive alien essays, tabloid news stories, and books about younger students they interview.
Make the 'Write' Impression!
According to the NAEP Writing Report Card published in 1999, 23 percent of fourth graders, 27 percent of eighth graders, and 22 percent of high school seniors, write at the "proficient" level. The push is on in schools across the U.S. to improve students' writing skills. This week, Education World provides five lesson plans to support that effort.
Better Book Reports -- 25 Ideas!
Tired of the same old book report formats? Do your students grumble every time you mention the words book reports? Spice up those old book reports with some new ideas. Education World presents 25 ideas for you to use or adapt.
Lit to Fit: Literature Lessons for Every Grade
Instructor Marcia Goudie says, "The Internet has put literature into the teachers' hands." Her Web site -- Children's Literature Activities for the Classroom -- directs educators in the direction of lessons made to fit the literary works they teach.
Building on Biographies -- Bringing Real-Life Stories Into Your Curriculum!
Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of -- history, honest, and heroism. With the help of the Internet, every teacher can bring biographies into the classroom!
Vocabulary and Spelling: Do Your Students Say Boring?
It is hard to argue the fact that a good vocabulary is an asset in life. What greater service can teachers perform than to help students foster their understanding of words? The Internet offers many tools for young etymologists and an abundance of great ideas for teaching vocabulary and spelling. Dig for definitions and pry for pronunciations -- virtual vocabulary has no limits!
Spell It Out!
Spelling lessons and activities from Education World can help your students join in the fun of the 74th annual National Spelling Bee. It takes place next week in Washington, D.C.
Author! Author! Activities for National Children's Book Week!
Celebrate the joy of reading during National Children's Book Week! To recognize this special observance, Education World offers ten lessons to spark students' curiosity about the wonderful world of books! Included: Activities that engage students in writing sequels to a classic story, "interviewing" people in biographies, completing surveys about their reading interests, participating in a poetry slam, and much more!
Read All About It! Ten Terrific Newspaper Lessons!
Education World celebrates National Newspaper Week with ten lessons to help you integrate the newspaper into your classroom curriculum. Included: Activities that involve students in interviewing a local newspaper reporter, creating editorial cartoons, comparing newspapers, and much more!
Building on Biographies -- Bringing Real-Life Stories Into Your Curriculum!
Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of -- history, honesty, and heroism. With the help of the Internet, every teacher can bring biographies into their classrooms! Included: Ten activities that begin with biographies!
Harry Potter Haiku
Kids by the dozens are creating original Harry Potter haiku and posting them to the Web! If you are a teacher who is looking for a fun -- and educational -- activity, why not turn students' enthusiasm for all things Harry Potter into a creative writing opportunity?
Folktales of Cooperation for Your K-3 Class
Are you looking for a fun and effective way of promoting the spirit of cooperation in your K through 3 classrooms? This week ---National Library Week--- Elaine Lindy, creator of the Absolutely Whootie Web site, shares three favorite folktales that will get kids thinking and talking about the importance of cooperation! After you use the tales in the classroom, why not send them home so the discussion about cooperation can continue? Included: Lindy shares follow-up activities and tips.
Calling on the Muse: Exercises to Unlock the Poet Within
I think that I shall never see ... well-disciplined creativity! How often has that thought crossed your mind? Don't despair! The experts -- working poets who teach their craft--- share their secrets for instructing and inspiring budding poets. Included: Exercises to help students access their creative powers and produce well-crafted poems.
A Quotation a Day: Just What the Language Doctor Ordered!
Many teachers have discovered the power of famous quotations. Such quotations can be used to develop students' writing and critical thinking skills. Included: "Why use quotations?" *plus* a quotation a day for 180 days of school.
Priceless Works of Language Arts: Invaluable Activities!
There are many ways to enrich the language arts lessons you teach. One is to add gems from the Internet to your collection. Teachers everywhere share their priceless bits of wisdom through mailing lists and publish their best ideas on Web sites. Let's mine the Web for golden reading, grammar, and language activities!
Kids Can W.R.I.T.E. (Write, Revise, Inform, Think, and Edit) --- Activities for Every Grade!
In July of 1965, Snoopy's first line as an author was, "It was a dark and stormy night." We can't all have his wonderful way with words -- written at least -- but we can work on it! How do you help your students overcome their fear of the blank page? How can you make writing an exercise in personal expression, not drudgery? One key to better writing is better writing assignments -- and the Internet has them! Let's tour a few of the finest writing activities that the Web has to offer!
Vocabulary and Spelling: Do Your Students Say 'Boring'?
Henry Ward Beecher said, "All words are pegs to hang ideas on." If words are pegs, does it follow that the more words we know, the more ideas we may have? True or not, it is hard to argue the fact that a good vocabulary is an asset in life. What greater service can teachers perform than to help students foster their understanding of words? The Internet offers many tools for young etymologists and an abundance of great ideas for teaching vocabulary and spelling. Dig for definitions and pry for pronunciations --- virtual vocabulary has no limits!
'Every Day' Activities: Language
Build vocabulary skills, spelling skills, literature awareness, thinking skills, and more with daily fun. Make it a goal to work one of these Web sites into your lesson plans in the year ahead!
Rhyme Time: Poetry Plans and Projects
"If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry," said Emily Dickinson. Many students wouldn't disagree! Even the best teachers and students can be perplexed by poetry, but it doesn't have to be a painful experience. The Web is a rich source of verse and activities that make use of poetry. Bring poetry into your classroom through monitor and modem with the help of these activities!
Tired of the same old book report formats? Or worse, do your students grumble every time you mention "book reports"? Spice up those old book reports with some new ideas. Education World presents 25 ideas for you to use or adapt. In addition: Ideas for cyber book reports!
Taking the "Pain" out of Lesson Planning: Children's Book Resources on the Web
Teachers are the original "borrowers." But there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of a good idea -- especially when it is volunteered! National Children's Book Week (November 16 to 22, 1999) provides the perfect opportunity to take advantage of a few of the Internet's best resources for teaching with children's books. So, books closed, pencils away, and monitors on -- it's time for some S.S.R. (Super Story Resources)! Included: Resources for teaching literature for teachers PreK to grade 12!
ABC Books Aren't for Babies!
Looking for some inspiration for an activity that will engage students -- from kindergarten to college -- while they learn? Why not challenge students to create their own ABC books? Included: More than 200 ABC book ideas -- spanning the grades and the curriculum!
Reading Activities for Read-In! Day!
Teachers who've joined The Read In! share their favorite reading activity ideas. Included: Theme ideas for reading fun!
25 Ideas to Motivate Young Readers!
To celebrate Children's Book Week, the folks at the BOOK-IT! Program have given permission for Education World to reprint 25 great ideas from teachers -- ideas that are sure to get kids across the grades excited about reading!
Seventh Graders Writing Italian Sonnets? You Bet!
Glori Chaika's students at Slidell (Louisiana) Junior High School are among the most-often published poets in the country. Let's take a look at a program that has kids writing all kinds of poems---from quatrains to limericks to (yes!) Italian sonnets.