Teaching the Anti-Essay - 18 Creative Nonfiction Essay Prompts for the English Classroom

This book helps secondary school ELA teachers introduce literary nonfiction and creative nonfiction essay writing to their students, demonstrating how writing is a fun and engaging activity where students can see tremendous value in "thinking on paper."

List of contents

Meet the Author
Author's Note: Teaching the Anti-Essay
Preface by Toby Rosewater, Managing Sports Editor, The Amherst Student
Acknowledgments and Shout-Outs
Introduction by James Treadway, CEO of GrowthWise Tutoring
Chapter One: The Wax Pack: Breaking Wax
Chapter Two: The Philosophy of You: Your Students Are Deeper than You Think
Chapter Three: Consider the Lobster
Chapter Four: When the Hitmakers Knock, You Answer
Chapter Five: The Unicorn College Essay
Chapter Six: Emily's Way and How to Wrangle a Guest Speaker
Chapter Seven: My Lipogram: The no "E" paper
Chapter Eight: The Usual Suspects: A Dialogue Essay from England with Love
Chapter Nine: The Living Artists Literary Research Paper
Chapter Ten: Nice to Meet You and Goodbye: 7 Intros and 7 Outros
Chapter Eleven: Ranting and Raving: Why Complaining Is Good for Your Students
Chapter Twelve: Dave's Way: The Humor Essay a la Dave Barry
Chapter Thirteen: The Poetry Forgery Unit: How Imitation Breeds Greatness
Chapter Fourteen: The Feature Article: Journalism Your Classroom Needs
Chapter Fifteen: The Autopsy of You: When Students Metacognate Good Things Happen
Chapter Sixteen: Ebert's Way: Lessons From a Late-Great Film Critic
Chapter Seventeen: The Video Essay Is Not Just For YouTubers
Chapter Eighteen: The Interrogative Mood: Questions Only, No Answers
Chapter Nineteen: Grading Essays Means Never Having to be Alone Again

About the author

Wesley Phillipson has taught writing for 30 years - most of that time at Scarsdale High School, on the same campus where Kohlberg conducted much of his field research on community-based education.

Product details

• Authors: Wesley Phillipson, Wesley (Scarsdale High School) Phillipson
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 13.10.2025
• EAN: 9781032987859
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3298785-9
• No. of pages: 226
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > School education, didactics, methodology; Non-fiction book > Art, literature > Literature: general, reference works; EDUCATION / Essays, Literature & literary studies, Secondary Schools, Teaching skills and techniques, Educational strategies & policy, Teaching skills & techniques, Teaching of a specific subject, Creative writing & creative writing guides, Creative writing and creative writing guides, Educational strategies and policy, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / Academic & Scholarly, EDUCATION / Schools / Levels / Secondary, EDUCATION / Teaching / Subjects / Language Arts