-
Disgust
Why would a storyteller or artist want to elicit disgust in their work? And if they want to do it, how do they typically do it?
-
Evangelical Christianity: Non-mainstream concepts
Aotearoa New Zealand elected an Evangelical Christian Prime Minister. Relying on stats a decade old, in 2013, there were only 15,000 evangelical Christians in a population of 4.4 million (~0.34%).
-
What Is A Chronotope?
According to Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975), a chronotope is a type of image which fuses space in a time in a concrete and meaningful way. He introduced this term in 1937. The word chronotope comes by way of Russian from the Greek words for time and place. Think chronology + topography smooshed together. But when […]
-
Thought-terminating Clichés: Definition and Examples
Thought-terminating clichés, or thought-ending clichés are also known as semantic stop-signs or thought-stoppers. bumper sticker logic. They’re a type of banality, clichéd thinking or truism.
-
Types of Rhetorical Questions
Rhetorical questions: Grammatical questions which are not meant to be answered. Not all rhetorical questions have the same function.
-
Cognitive Bias and Time Perception
We think older things are better than newer things. Old history is more interesting than recent history. If we’re already spent lots of time on it, we should spend more. If something took longer to produce, it’s worth more than something done quickly. If something endures, we should take it more seriously than something fleeting.
-
What is humanism in simple terms?
If you’re wondering about the definition of ‘humanism’, you’re not alone. The word has many meanings.
-
Emotional Incest and Parentification
Sometimes fiction explores a character dynamic which psychologists now have a word for: Covert incest. You sometimes also hear the phrases ’emotional incest’, ’emotional enmeshment’ and ’emotional parentification’. Sometimes you will have to be more mature than your own parent. It will feel odd and unfair, like everything is off its place. It is not […]
-
What is a social construct?
A social construct is an aspect of our reality which is: not determined by nature, created by human societies and context specific.
-
Heat Makes You Mad: Going Troppo & Mango Madness
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and are experiencing extreme heat for the first time, I have some Australian phrases you might find unpleasantly useful.
-
Why is the Australian Women’s Soccer Team Called The Matildas?
Many people are wondering for the first time in 2023, why are The Matildas called The Matildas? Is it sexist or fine, actually?
-
Survival of the Thickest: Favourite One-liners and Words
Survival of the Thickest is a comedy-drama television series co-created by Michelle Buteau and Danielle Sanchez Witzel for Netflix.
-
What is empowerment?
Until we treat all people — regardless of appearance — equally, none of us is truly free, and our “choices” are not true choices.
-
Words from the Hit TV Show Succession
The writers of HBO’s TV series Succession do a great job of depicting a privileged, smart and well-travelled family, each despicable in their own way. Since the Roy family wealth comes from a media empire, main characters all have an excellent command of English (and sometimes other languages). Not only that, but each the dialogue of each character sounds distinctive.
-
What is an aphorism in simple terms?
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a concise form, designed to be memorable. The aphorism is ‘the takeaway point’ of a story, article or speech. Aphorisms should be somewhat surprising: “Oh yeah, that’s true actually. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Ha.”