As keynote speaker for the "Metaphors, Models, and Measurements for Writing" seminar at the 16th conference of the City University of New York Association of Writing Supervisors, professor Ann E. Berthoff of the University of Massachusetts at Boston spoke on the need for teachers of creative writing to engage their students in nonlinear concept formation. To prove her point, she compared a student's five-paragraph essay on capital punishment to Rodney King's "Can we all get along?" statements at his press conference in Los Angeles immediately following the riots.

"King's bursts of eloquence, his balance between image and topic, particular and universal, reveals a mind and heart that are engaged by their topic," said Berthoff. She went on to point out that listeners and readers are provoked "to ask how come we all cannot work it out."

Berthoff urged her audience to focus on King's "interactive movement between personal and public" that should be encouraged in all students' writing. As proof of King's skills, she presented an excerpt from the speech that included: "You know, I mean we're all stuck here for a while. Let's, you know, let's try to work it out. Let's work it out."

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