Take a look at this elegant little collection of recent posts about writing, gathered and designed by plain language goddess Cheryl Stephens. Lots of good thoughts in here.
http://paper.li/CherylStephens/1290310985
I was especially interested in the Language Lab’s “Profanity and the Power of Language: When Words Offend,” given the many squeamish years I spent moderating a teenagers’ Banned Books Club. Turns out that even 16 year olds can conclude that when you overuse profanity, it loses its rhetorical value.
If, even so, you are interested in facilitating your own Banned Books Club, here is a link to a three-month series that really worked for one group of sophomores.
Writing, Reading, Talking 