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  • How To Write Like Annie Proulx

    How To Write Like Annie Proulx

    December 2, 2022

    Annie Proulx is an award-winning American novelist and short story writer, best known for The Shipping News and “Brokeback Mountain”. Below: features of her writing, as described by critics and readers (and me).

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  • Stand By Me Film Study

    Stand By Me Film Study

    November 30, 2022

    Stand By Me is 1986 a film directed by Rob Reiner, based on a Stephen King novella called “The Body”. Alongside the Karate Kid franchise, The Breakfast Club, Dead Poets Society and a few others, Stand By Me is a tentpole coming-of-age film from my 1980s childhood. Unlike The Breakfast Club (and especially Dead Poets […]

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  • Wednesday’s Child Is Full Of Woe: Symbolism and Close-reading

    Wednesday’s Child Is Full Of Woe: Symbolism and Close-reading

    November 27, 2022

    Wednesday (2022) is an eight-part Netflix series directed by Tim Burton, with a script by It is an Addams Family reboot. The original TV series ran from 1964-66.

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  • What is the definition of film noir?

    What is the definition of film noir?

    November 24, 2022

    Noir is a visual aesthetic in storytelling associated with certain plots and character archetypes. The term was popularised in the field of film criticism, hence film noir. It comes from several movements, notably the hard-boiled detective tradition of popular cheap paperbacks. Think Raymond Chandler, uber hard-boiled writer. A BRIEF HISTORY OF FILM NOIR SPOOF NOIR…

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  • What is the objective correlative in literature?

    What is the objective correlative in literature?

    November 23, 2022

    When a story about one thing is really saying something about a character’s emotion. Objective correlative: The tangible manifestation of an intangible, created and used by the author to help the reader grasp the intangible concept. Most literature is about emotions or ideals — things that you cannot see or touch. So the objective correlative becomes…

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  • Asexuality Reading List: Fiction

    Asexuality Reading List: Fiction

    November 23, 2022

    If you’re looking for aroace fiction, you should know about The Aroace Database. If you’re into fantasy or YAL you’ll be particularly well-served.

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  • The Things They Left Behind by Stephen King Short Story Analysis

    The Things They Left Behind by Stephen King Short Story Analysis

    November 14, 2022

    “The Things They Left Behind” is a post 9/11 short story by American writer Stephen King, first published in 2006.

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  • The Loaded Dog by Henry Lawson Short Story

    The Loaded Dog by Henry Lawson Short Story

    October 27, 2022

    “The Loaded Dog” is an Australian short story by Henry Lawson. The story is so memorable, the main imagery of a dog with a firecracker in its mouth has become Australian cultural iconography.

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  • What is a queer narrative?

    What is a queer narrative?

    October 26, 2022

    The word queer meaning LGBTQIA+ was first a slur, then reclaimed, then it got hijacked in the 1990s. (Some) people stopped using it. Now it’s back. Again. But because gender, romantic and sexual minorities continue to experience bigotry, the words used to describe those identities will be under attack for as long as bigotry continues.…

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  • Hairball by Margaret Atwood Short Story Study

    Hairball by Margaret Atwood Short Story Study

    October 25, 2022

    “Hairball” is a dark and playful short story by Margaret Atwood. Find it in the Wilderness Tips collection (1991).

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  • Art For Thanksgiving

    Art For Thanksgiving

    October 23, 2022
  • Little Red Riding Hood Movies

    Little Red Riding Hood Movies

    October 22, 2022

    These Little Red Riding Hood movies all draw inspiration from classic fairytale. Some are for kids; others very dark.

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  • Names Of The Smurfs

    Names Of The Smurfs

    October 21, 2022

    Here are the names of the Smurfs from the iconic cartoon TV series (1981-1989). I have included the Smurfs as they appeared in real life. Never before seen pics! (Made with artificial intelligence.)

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  • The Definition Of Boondoggle

    The Definition Of Boondoggle

    October 20, 2022

    Boondoggle is a mimetic word which sounds funny to English speakers along with nonsense words such as thingamebob, thingamejig, shenanigans, dongle, lollapalooza, bamboozle… All of these words are inherently funny. Even without considering any meaning, they just sound funny. Linguists have studied what makes some words phonologically funnier than others. According to a 2015 study,…

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  • Words that end in gry

    Words that end in gry

    October 19, 2022

    If you’re reading this page you’ve probably been asked an old trick word puzzle. It started in New York in the mid 1970s. Trick Question: There are three common words in English that end in “gree”. The first two are “angry” and “hungry”. If you’ve listened closely, you’ll agree that I’ve already told you the…

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