Cuurriculum Vitae
MIRIAM REED, Ph.D.
miriam@miriamreed.com
www.miriamreed.com
(917) 710-2354
SPECIAL INTERESTS:
PUBLICATIONS:
Margaret Sanger: Her Life in Her Words
(Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2003)
Vera; or, The Nihilist by Oscar Wilde. A Critical Edition
(Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellon Press, 1989)
"The Sentence as Structure and the Structure of Content, or,
How to Write Great Prose (almost) Instantly" (Under submission) See below
PROFESSIONAL FEMINIST PRODUCTIONS and PERFORMANCES:
| Talking Abortion. Forty-minute one-woman portrayal of individual women who discuss abortion. Presented at 2002 National Women's Studies Association Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada. | |
| Oscar Wilde’s Women. Forty-minute dramatic reading with historical slides from William Andrew Clark Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Presented by University of Bologna, Italy, at 2001 International Oscar Wilde Conference. | |
| Hurrah for Woman Suffrage! Songs from the Woman Suffrage Movement 1840-1920. Engineered by Studio Obscura, Studio City, California. Cassette/CD with introduction and songbook. | |
| Margaret Sanger: Radiant Rebel. Ninety-minute one-woman play in two acts. Costumed by Sylvia Moss, directed by Elaine Moe. First presented at Masquer’s Cabaret Theatre, Los Angeles. Presented on December 1, 2002, by National Portrait Gallery of Smithsonian Institute at Dillon Ripley Center, Washington, DC. | |
| Louisa May Alcott: Living Little Women. Forty-minute one-woman play. Costumed by Sylvia Moss, directed by Andy Griggs. Presented on Heartland Chautauqua, Missouri. | |
| Mrs. Stanton and Susan. Two forty-minute plays drawn from the writings of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Costumed by Sylvia Moss, directed by Michael Hackett. First presented at University of California, Santa Barbara. Available on cassette and CD. |
| 1998 to 2002 | Visiting Lecturer, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles. | Technical Writing and Oral Presentation for the Engineer; English Composition |
| 1991 to 1997 | Instructor, English Department, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California. | English Composition |
| Fall 1990 | Assistant Professor, English Department, California State University, Northridge. | Major English Writers |
| Spring 1984 | Assistant Professor, English Department, California StateUniversity, Northridge. | The History of Women in Theatre | 1980 to 1982 | Visiting Lecturer, Department of English, University of California, Los Angeles. | English Composition |
COMMUNITY ACTIVITY:
1999-2001 Founder and Producer, CelebrateWomen, Los
Angeles Annual Free Theatre Festival celebrating Women’s History Month, bringing free
performances that presented positive images of women into Los Angeles local
community libraries, bookstores, and theatres.
1994 Founder and Co-producer, Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival,
Los Angeles Theatre Center, March 24-27, featuring 24 women solo feminist
performances. Festival ongoing under Barnes in 2004.
EDUCATION:
1992 Yale University/British American Drama Academy Midsummer in Oxford
Program, England.
1980 Ph.D., Department of
Comparative Literature, University of California, Los Angeles. "English,
German, and French Nineteenth-century Dramatic Literature."
1978-79, Fellowship, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA; 1975-76,
Graduate Abroad Program, UCLA at Goettingen, West Germany; 1974, M.A.,
"Twentieth-Century English and German Dramatic Literature,"
Department of Comparative Literature, UCLA; 1971, B.A.Independent Major: Language
in the Performing Arts, UCLA.
DISSERTATION:
1980 Vera: or, The Nihilist by Oscar Wilde. A
Critical Edition
Director: Professor Frederick Burwick,
Departments of English and Comparative Literature, UCLA
This edition sets forth the final version of Wilde’s first performed play as it
was revised by him for its New York production in August 1883. The only version
of Vera generally available is based on the 1882 prompt copy, which does
not incorporate the many significant alterations made by Wilde during 1883.
Included in the edition are transcripts of the only known draft of Vera,
held by the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, and important
manuscript materials from The British Library. The introduction to the play
compares the Vera draft with the printed prompt copies and illustrates
the development of Wilde’s craft as playwright. Also discussed are the sources,
contemporary and social, that suggested Vera to Wilde. The dissertation
has been revised and published as a library edition by The Edwin Mellen
Press.
EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE:
1986-1990 Editorial Associate, The Environmental Professional,
Department of Civil Engineering, UCLA. Copy editing, rewriting, desktop
publishing, and production of 96-page quarterly journal and 12-page newsletter.
OTHER ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE:
1986-1992 Research Assistant, Professor Maximillian E. Novak, Department
of English, University of California, Los Angeles, biography and works of
Daniel Defoe; 1977-1983 Editorial Assistant, Professor David S. Rodes,
General Editor, The Augustan Reprint Society, William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, UCLA.
PROFESSIONAL THEATRE TRAINING (selected list):
1996 Voice, Arthur Joseph
1985, 1987 UCLA Summer Theatre Workshops
1986 UCLA Acting classes, Norman Welsh
1992 Voice Fran Bennett (formerly Guthrie Theatre)
PROFESSIONAL ACTING EXPERIENCE (SAG, AFTRA):
Commercials; General Hospital (1997);Gream Clifford's Deception (1991).
Summer Theatre:
Miss La Creevy, Nicholas Nickleby; Aunt Abby, Arsenic and Old Lace;
Annie, Foxfire.
REFERENCES:
Professor Michael Hackett
(310) 206-8393 mhackett@tft.ucla.edu
Department of Theatre, University of California
950 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Professor Emeritus Maxmillian E. Novak
(310) 825-1975 novak@humnet.ucla.edu
Department of English, University of California
950 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Professor Emeritus Sylvia Moss
(310) 829-0324 sylviamoss@aol.com
Department of Theatre, University of California, Los Angeles
950 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095
A COURSE PREPARING FOR THE EFFECTIVE ORAL PRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE:
In the competitive world of American academia and business, effective communication
is paramount. High grades, ground-breaking research, brilliant
intellect can be completely overlooked if the student cannot write with clarity
and speak with authority.
In the UCLA Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, I designed a course that teaches these needed writing and speaking skills. In seminars averaging twelve students, a supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere allows students to become accustomed to facing an audience--eventually with aplomb. During the group meetings, students offer one another criticisms that are constructive, and in my office, I offer as much one-on-one time as is needed.
Using my text, "The Sentence as Structure and the Structure of Content," students write and rewrite what is to be their oral presentation, honing writing skills that are theirs for life. Once written, the presentations are given before the group and videotaped. The tape is reviewed by the presenter and the group; constructive suggestions are offered, and each presenter has several opportunities over the course of the seminar to re-present and improve the presentation.
With this approach, writing and speaking skills of students have become marketable, and the class received good student ratings.
THE SENTENCE AS STRUCTURE AND THE STRUCTURE OF CONTENT, OR
HOW TO WRITE GREAT PROSE (ALMOST) INSTANTLY
A Textbook for the Would-be Great Writer and Speaker by Miriam Reed, Ph.D.
This text grew out of the need to teach
engineers and engineering students how to write other than engineerese. Thus,
many of the writing examples are drawn from various fields of engineering, but,
in fact, the text gives easily implemented remedies for fixing bad writing in
any discipline.
The book has two sections. The first section, "The Sentence as Structure," is a review, or a reference, depending on how much the student recalls of English grammar. For to remedy poor writing, the would-be good writer needs to have in mind some basic grammatical principles. "The Sentence as Structure" sets out these basics as well as a working vocabulary for ongoing reference and discussion.
The specific remedies are found in the second section: "The Structure of Content." First, the introduction to the second section explains the principles basing this approach. In the pages that follow, the student is given specific examples of poor prose and equally specific remedies for correcting the problem.
The remedies draw on the Reader Expectation theory of Joseph Williams (University of Chicago) and George Gopen (Duke University), i.e., writing to accommodate the expectations of the reader; on the work of Richard Lanham, which eliminates redundancy and empty phrases; and on classic rhetorical devices, such as polyptoton, chiasmus, and parallel structure.
Table of Contents of "The Structure of Content"
Part I. First Impressions
1. First Impressions: On Seeing the Page
2. First Impressions: On Seeing the Text
Part II: Building the Sentence
3. Building the Sentence: The Point Comes at the End
4. Building the Sentence: The Subject Comes as the Beginning
5. Building the Sentence: Keep Verb Tenses Consistent
6. Do You Really Need All Those Words?
7. Do You Really Need All Those Words: Beware to Be
8. Do You Really Need All Those Words: Use Strong Verbs
9. Keep Things with Things: Keep Verb with Subject
10. Pack in the Details: Enclosing Commas and Lurid Extras
11. Locate the Reader: Introductory Phrases and Clauses
12. Locate the Reader: Set Ups
13. Locate the Reader: Set Ups for Suspense
14. Pack in the Details: Verbals Add Verve
15. Keep Things with Things: Keep Verbals with That Which Is Modified
16. When You Really Do Need All Those Words: Fudged Comparisons
17. When You Really Do Need All Those Words: Pronoun Madness
18. Pattern Your Prose: Parallel Structure with Words and Phrases
19. Pattern Your Prose: Parallel Structure with Clauses
20. Pattern Your Prose: Compare and Contrast
21. Help the Reader Every Chance Your Get: Signal the Reader
22. Help the Reader Every Chance You Get: Coordinate with Correlatives
23. Help the Reader Every Chance You Get: Break up Noun Series
24. No More, No More, No More: Sexist Language
Part III. Building the Paragraph
25. Coherence: Logical Organization of the Paragraph
26. Coherence: Limit Your Vocabulary
27. Coherence: Choose Words with the Same Root: Polyptoton
28. One Thing Leads to Another: Concatenation
29. One Thing Leads to Another: Concatenation Techniques
30. One Thing Leads to Another: Set Ups Support Concatenation
31. Coherence: Conjunctive Adverbs
32. Use Only When Needed: Passive Voice
33. All Too Common and Not to Be Forgiven Errors
34. Before and After Examples
Copyright @ 2001 Miriam Reed Productions