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Harry The Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham Analysis
Harry The Dirty Dog (1956) is a good example of what Bakhtin termed ‘the material bodily principle‘ — the human body and its concerns with food and drink (commonly in hyperbolic forms of gluttony and deprivation), sexuality (usually displaced into questions of undress) and excretion (usually displaced into opportunities for getting dirty). This book is also […]
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I Am Waiting by Christopher Isherwood Analysis
What might the ‘inverse of a superhero story’ look like? What if superpowers are given to ordinary men who do nothing with them? You may know Christopher Isherwood’s name from the film A Single Man or Christopher and His Kind. I Am Waiting is one of two short stories Isherwood had published in The New […]
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Fun With A Stranger by Richard Yates Analysis
Some short stories exist mainly as character studies. Fun With A Stranger (1962) by American author Richard Yates is one example. The story paints a portrait of a particular kind of old-fashioned school teacher. The reader feels empathy for everyone involved, from the young pupils to the teacher herself.
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Just Me And My Puppy by Mercer Mayer Analysis
Just Me And My Puppy by American author-illustrator Mercer Mayer is worth a close look because, like many others in this long-running series, it is a wonderful example of ‘counterpoint irony’ in picture books. Though the title may annoy purists, the grammar of the title foreshadows a story told from the point of view of […]
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Them Old Cowboy Songs by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Them Old Cowboy Songs” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in Proulx’s 2008 collection Fine Just The Way It Is. Stories in the collection: Family ManI’ve Always Loved This PlaceThem Old Cowboy SongsThe Sagebrush KidThe Great DivideDeep-Blood-Greasy BowlSwamp MischiefTestimony of the DonkeyTits-Up In A Ditch In the short story “Them Old Cowboy Songs” […]
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Bears In The Night by Stan and Jan Berenstain Analysis
Anyone who has helped an emergent reader with assigned readers knows the difference between an interesting early reader and a ‘slog’. Bears In The Night by the Berenstains is an early reader with a focus on positional words. This book is an example of a successful early reader because the story is engaging and children will want to return to its…
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The People Across The Canyon by Margaret Millar Analysis
Hear “The People Across The Canyon” (1964) read by Douglass Greene at Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.
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Shirley Jackson’s Louisa, Please Come Home Analysis
“Louisa, Please Come Home” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in Ladies Home Journal, 1960.
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Apples In Art And Storytelling
In Judeo-Christian tradition, we have the story of the Garden of Eden. Eve tempted Adam with it. Was it an actual apple, like you’d buy at the supermarket today? In this case, ‘apple’ probably stands in for fruit, which metaphorically stands for temptation of any kind.
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A Brief History Of The Adventure Story In English
I’m going on an adventure And who knows, what will be Or, what will become of me But one thing is for sureAn adventure it shall be Athey Thompson Edgar Rice Burroughs is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world. By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs […]