“Aphorism (noun): A statement that succinctly frames a principle; a short, compelling observation of general truth. Adj. aphoristic; adv. aphoristically; n. aphorist; v. aphorize
‘In a section titled “The Art of Love,” she remarks, with aphoristic felicity, “In real love you want the other person’s good. In romantic love you want the other person.”’”
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
“Figurative Language: Language which uses figures of speech; for example, metaphor, simile, alliteration (qq.v). Figurative language must be distinguished from literal (q.v.) language. ‘He hared down the street’ or ‘He ran like a hare down the street’ are figurative (metaphor and simile respectively). ‘He ran very quickly down the street’ is literal. See HYPERBOLE; METONYMY; SYNECHDOCHE.”
Excerpted from: Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. New York: Penguin, 1992.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged fiction/literature, poetry, readings/research
“Of Mice and Men: A novella (1937) by John Steinbeck (1902-68). It centers on two casual labourers, Lennie, a simple, sentimental giant who loves small animals but does not know his own strength, and his friend George. In a tragic ending, George’s efforts are not enough to keep Lennie out of the trouble that he has unwittingly brought upon himself. The title is from ‘To a Mouse’ by Robert Burns (1759-96):
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,
And lea’e us nought but grief and pain,
For promised joy.
A film version (1939) was directed by Lewis Milestone.”
Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.
“Allusion A seemingly incidental but often significant reference, as to a writer, event, or figure from literature or mythology; passing or implicit mention. Adj. allusive; adv. Allusively; n. allusiveness; v. allude.
‘I said that to tease Widmerpool, feeling pretty certain he had never read a line of Gogol, though he would rarely if ever admit to failure in recognizing an allusion, literary or otherwise.’ –Anthony Powell, The Soldier’s Art”
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged fiction/literature, poetry
“James Laughlin: (1914-1997) American publisher, editor, and poet. The son of a wealthy Pittsburgh steelmaker, Laughlin was best known as the founder and guiding force behind New Directions Press. After an extended stay in Italy, where he studied with Ezra Pound, he founded New Directions Press at the age of twenty-two. He published then-unknown writers, commissioned the translation of a vast array of foreign books, and reprinted older books that Laughlin felt deserved attention. His excellent judgement is attested to by a survey of the New Directions catalogue, which included early books by Tennessee Williams, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Borges, and Nabokov. Laughlin is also a respected poet. In Another Country: Poems 1935-1975 (1978) showcases his spare style and precise, vibrant imagery, reflecting the precedent of the modernist writers he once published.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
“Affective Fallacy The fallacy of judging the worth of a literary work by its emotional effect on the reader.”
Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
“Literary Art: Art with its subject matter drawn from a text; illustration. Literary art is generally thought to be aesthetically superior to narrative art. Many romantic painters, e.g., Eugene Delacroix and William Blake, worked in the literary tradition”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged art/architecture/design, fiction/literature, poetry, readings/research
Here is a Cultural Literacy Worksheet on the proverb For Want of a Nail the Kingdom Was Lost. It’s a half-page document with a short reading and three questions.
Because this is a classic proverb that originates in a Middle High German form as early as the 13th century, and has been a constant across the centuries. In its entirety, which is only seven lines, it’s a nice little chain of cause and effect. I think there is a lesson in all this about the consequences of omission and neglect.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: A historical study (1971) by Dee Brown (1908-2002) of the conquest of the American West and the destruction of the Native American tribes. The title comes from the last verse of a poem ‘American Names’ (1927), by Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943):
‘I shall not rest quiet in Montparnasse.
I shall not lie easy in Winchelsea.
You may bury my body in Sussex grass.
You may bury my tongue at Champmedy.
I shall not be there. I shall rise and pass.
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.’
Wounded Knee, in South Dakota, was the site of a massacre of Teton-Sioux by US forces on 29 December 1890, in which at least 150 Native Americans and 25 US soldiers were killed. It marked the final suppression of Native American resistance. In the Wounded Knee protest of 1973, two years after the publication of Brown’s book, some 200 armed members of the American Indian Movement occupied the symbolic site. The occupation ended after a 70-day siege, but helped to focus international attention on the US government’s treatment of Native Americans.”
Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.
Rotten Reviews: Notes from a Bottle Found on the Beach at Carmel
“…almost pure gingerbread. It has bite, a certain flavor, but it turns into a gluey mess when chewed.”
San Francisco Examiner
Excerpted from: Barnard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged fiction/literature, humor, literary oddities, poetry
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