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The Haunted Boy Short Story by Carson McCullers Analysis
“The Haunted Boy” is a 1955 short story by American writer Carson McCullers, who writes of adolescent boys as adroitly as Alice Munro writes of adolescent boys, focusing on their softness, and the conflict that derives from needing to look manly while not feeling at all strong in the face of adversity. “The Haunted Boy” […]
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A Cup of Tea by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“A Cup of Tea” is a Modernist short story by Katherine Mansfield, first published in May 1922. I’m reading it 100 years later.
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What Is Autofictionalisation?
Autofiction is a little similar to free indirect discourse but is suited to stories which deal with themes around truth.
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Melancholia Storytelling Techniques
Melancholia is a 2011 film by Lars Von Triers. It’s one of those stories which has variable metaphorical resonance depending on who watches it. The Wizard of Oz and The Little Prince are also like this.
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Hairy Maclary’s Bone by Lynley Dodd
I look at the structure of Hairy Maclary’s Bone by Lynley Dodd (1984), which reminds me a little of Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins (1967).
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The Canary by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Canary” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, and the last she ever finished. It was published in April 1923, after she had already died. “The Canary” was then collected in A Dove’s Nest.
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Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd Analysis
Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy is a cumulative rhyming picture book written and illustrated by New Zealand storyteller Lynley Dodd.
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Crowd Scenes In Art And Illustration
How long does it take to illustrate a picture book? Well, that depends on many things, including the illustrator’s style. Another important factor: The nature and number of any crowd scenes. An illustration of a crowd scene, with individuated characters, can take as long as the rest of the entire book.
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Eloise by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
Eloise is a classic 1955 picture book written by Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight. Writer Kay Thompson (1909–1998) was also a composer, musician, actress and singer. Illustrator Hilary Knight was born in Hempstead, Long Island, New York, in 1926.
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The Psychology Of Writing Critique Groups
I’ve been participating in various online writing critique groups for about fifteen years. These days, some highly algorithmic critique groups work to encourage participation, gamify frequent participation and reward peer-to-peer encouragement.
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Rip Van Winkle Can Get In The Sea
I finally read the short story “Rip Van Winkle” (1819), by America’s first well-recognised author, Washington Irving. Some say that Irving invented the American short story. (Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe turned it into literary art.)
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Eric Carle-esque Collage In Children’s Illustration
Some children’s illustrators use paper collage to illustrate their books by painting and and decorating their own assortment of cut paper. Think The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle’s artwork is often shown in classrooms as a model for children creating paper collages. Today I’d like to introduce you to a few artists who create similar artwork.…
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Invisible Bird by Claire-Louise Bennett Short Story Analysis
Claire-Louise Bennett’s story is a great mentor text if you’re writing (perhaps autobiographically) about a period in someone’s life, looking back after much has been forgotten, when memories come episodically. The difficulty with these stories is: How to end them?
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Aliens and UFOs in Storytelling
A brief history of aliens, UFOs and otherworldly creatures in art, literature and storytelling more generally.
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Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack by Lynley Dodd Analysis
Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (1999) is a picture book written and illustrated by New Zealand storyteller Lynley Dodd. A duckling saves Hairy’s life. Although many of the Hairy Maclary stories are written with the carnivalesque picture book structure, this one is not. Hairy is not on a fun adventure this time; it is summer, and he wants to sleep. He almost loses his life! Plots like this require the classic Odyssean mythical structure.
