-
Powers by Alice Munro Short Story Analysis
“Powers” is the final story in the Runaway collection by Alice Munro, published 2004. I find this story the most challenging of the lot — as in, what in holy heck was that all about? I’m going to have to write about “Powers” in order to understand it. Here goes my best shot. What can…
-
A Continuum of Imaginative Powers
I enjoy stories about characters with wild imaginations, and that may partly explain why I love children’s books. From Where The Wild Things Are to highly symbolic fairytales to post-modern off-kilter realities, children’s literature is full of dreamscapes and fantastic journeys. But stories of imaginative power don’t end with childhood — there are many examples…
-
Werewolves In Storytelling
I’ve previously taken a close look at wolves in literature, specifically in children’s stories. Werewolves are a separate archetype from wolves and play a different storytelling role. In folklore and fairytale, werewolves are lunar figures which stand in for cyclic time, alongside. dragons, serpents and related creatures. oh no you’re suddenly a werewolf! Except you’re…
-
How To Write Like Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings mastered the tall tale hi-lo children’s story in the 1980s. 30 years on, writers can still learn from his techniques. Other Paul Jennings tropes need to go the way of the dodo.
-
Uncanny by Paul Jennings Hi-Lo Short Stories
Uncanny is a hi-lo short story collection by Australian author Paul Jennings, first published 1988. The original ‘uncanny’ stories were by British writer May Sinclair (1863 – 1946). I read a collection of Sinclair’s uncanny short stories (1923) a few years ago and wasn’t really moved by them. This is because so many writers have…
-
Unmentionable by Paul Jennings
Unmentionable (1991) is a collection of 9 hi-lo short stories by iconic Australian author Paul Jennings. STORY STRUCTURE OF “ICE MAIDEN” In “Ice Maiden”, a boy falls in love with an ice statue, but he gets over his love for the ice once he meets a real girl. I have some sympathy for the phenomenon…
-
Writing Detective Stories
A detective story is a type of mystery told through the eyes of law enforcers. Crime stories, in contrast, are often told through the eyes of the criminal. An example of a crime story is The Sopranos. Detective stories relate the solving of a crime, usually one or more murders, by a main character who…
-
Paul’s Case by Willa Cather Analysis
“Paul’s Case” is a short story by Willa Cather, first published in McClure’s Magazine in 1905 under the title “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament”. As a New Zealander, I have a longterm interest in Katherine Mansfield. I’m coming late to American Willa Cather, but the first thing I notice is that she was writing short…
-
How To Write Like Katherine Mansfield
Mansfield borrowed from those who came before her and we may do the same. In fact, it’s inevitable. It pays to know our own influences… if only so we don’t mimic them too closely. Overall, Mansfield was a modernist writer. And of the modernist writers, she was at the highly aesthetic and visual end of…
-
Prelude by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Prelude” is the first in a trilogy of interlinked short stories. The other stories starring the Burnell family are “At the Bay” and “The Doll’s House”. Although Mansfield also populates “The Doll’s House” with the same characters.
-
A Dictionary of Witch Words
The definition of witch changes over time. The word witch dates from around 800 AD. It originally referred to men who practise witchcraft but 200 years later referred to female magicians and sorceresses. Later it meant women who were meant to cooperate with the devil or other evil spirits.
-
Dumplin Film Storytelling Techniques
Dumplin is a 2018 young adult film based on the 2015 novel by Julie Murphy. PARATEXT Willowdean (‘Dumplin’), the plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen, signs up for her mom’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.…
-
Bliss by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Bliss” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield and one of Mansfield’s last. “Bliss” is offered as an example of a ‘lyrical’ short story. From a writing point of view, “Bliss” is interesting for its struggle scene, in which the main character experiences purely positive emotions rather than the negative charge which normally goes hand-in-hand…
-
Somersault Film Storytelling Techniques
Last month I wrote about the film American Honey, set in America but written and directed by Andrea Arnold, who is English. If there’s an Australian equivalent of American Honey, Somersault is it. Somersault is a 2004 film written and directed by another (all-too-rare) female filmmaker, Cate Shortland. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN AMERICAN HONEY AND SOMERSAULT Both…
-
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier Novel Study
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier was not written with a young adult audience in mind, but class sets of the book found their way into English departments all over the world. Though this is not my favourite Cormier novel, it remains his best known. Heavy in symbolism and discussable themes, The Chocolate War also makes for…