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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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What is a queer narrative?
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” 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.
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Names Of The Smurfs
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
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
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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The Cafeteria In The Evening And A Pool In The Rain by Yoko Ogawa
Many writers say this: Stories emerge from the imagination when two different ideas come together in a new way. So it is in the title of this story. What do cafeterias and pools have in common? Evenings and rain? Moving into a new house? “The Cafeteria In The Evening And A Pool In The Rain” […]
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The Lagoon and Other Stories by Janet Frame
If you’ve seen Jane Campion’s biopic about New Zealand’s most accomplished author, Janet Frame, you’ll already know that “The Lagoon and Other Stories” saved the author’s life.
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Asexuality Reading List: Non-fiction
You don’t understand sexuality until you understand asexuality. Asexuality is not an absence of sexuality. Rather it is a ‘self-contained sexuality’.
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Transphobic Urban Myths
Do urban legends seem unanimously ridiculous to you? Good. Because there’s a new one doing the rounds.
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Red Card by S.L. Gilbow Short Story Study
“Red Card” is a 2013 short story by American writer S.L. Gilbow. If you enjoy the creepy suburban tales of Shirley Jackson, you’ll like this one.
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Hack Wednesday by Margaret Atwood Short Story Analysis
Margaret Atwood has a knack for writing prescient feminist pieces which remain relatable over decades. I wish she wouldn’t. I wish, for once, that Margaret Atwood were wrong about something (in fiction).