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Whistler’s Grandmother by Shirley Jackson Short Story Analysis
“Whistler’s Grandmother” by Shirley Jackson was published in the May 5, 1945 edition of The New Yorker. Find it also in the collection Just An Ordinary Day (1996).
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The White Lotus: Meaning, Themes & Characterisation
The White Lotus (2021-) is an HBO anthology TV series created and directed by Mike White. Seasons one and two are each set in different places (Hawaii and Sicily respectively), but in the same chain of luxury hotels.
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The Summer People by Shirley Jackson Short Story Analysis
“The Summer People” is one of Shirley Jackson’s short stories about marginalised folk. In this instance, the main characters are marginalised because they are summer tourists New York City. They are also getting old and dispensable.
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Songs To Help You Concentrate
Some people need silence to concentrate. Other people need some kind of noise. People know what they need, and brains are very different in this way. Such is neurodiversity.
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The Man In The Woods by Shirley Jackson Short Story Analysis
In the early 1800s, the Grimm Brothers collected a fairy tale called “The Old Woman In The Woods” and included it for publication in Household Tales. Is Shirley Jackson’s “The Man In The Woods” a riff on that, or something different altogether? (Find Jackson’s story collected in Dark Tales.) I’ll be arguing that “The Man…
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How To Write Like Annie Proulx
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 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 (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?
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?
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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The Things They Left Behind by Stephen King Short Story Analysis
“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” 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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Hairball by Margaret Atwood Short Story Study
“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
HISTORY OF TURKEY AS FOOD This week on A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio is feeling festive, talking the history of the turkey with food historian Andrew Smith. Teaching food history at the New School in NYC, he is also the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles on food and history. Speaking…
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Little Red Riding Hood Movies
These Little Red Riding Hood movies all draw inspiration from classic fairytale. Some are for kids; others very dark.