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The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
In March 1907 Katherine Mansfield’s mother, Annie Beauchamp, held a garden party at their residence, 75 Tinakori Road. On the same day, a poverty-stricken neighbour was killed in a street accident. Later, KM wrote a story about it.
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The Symbolism Of Altitude: Clifftops, Mountains and Roofs
Hills and valleys, cliffs, mountains — altitude in story is highly symbolic. When creating a story, remember to vary the altitude as much as you’d vary any other setting.
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Kitchens As Metonyms For Familial Happiness In Literature
A warm, safe, lighted place.Hepzobah’s kitchen was always like that, and not only that evening. Coming I to it was like coming home on a bitter cold day to a bright, leaping fire. It was like the smell of bacon when you were hungry, loving arms when you were lonely; safety when you were scared…. […]
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Ponyo by Miyazaki Symbolism and Structure
Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo is a feature-length anime which makes heavy use of myth and symbolism but is aimed squarely at a young child audience.
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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Time travel! Romance! Japan! If you love the films out of Studio Ghibli you’ll love The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, too. ARC PHRASE An arc word/phrase is also known as a ‘leitwort’, which literally means ‘lead word’. In order to be an arc phrase and not just a catch phrase the phrase must help […]
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Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood Analysis
Two Summers by John Heffernan and Freya Blackwood is a sobering Australian picture book about farming during drought. I have a special interest in stories about drought (due to the fact I’ve written one myself). Perhaps because of this, I’ve given thought to ‘subject matter for young readers’ and ‘picturebook endings‘ and ‘juvenile capacity for […]
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Utopian Children’s Literature
The word ‘utopia’ means different things to different people and even comes from two different words. In modern English, we colloquially use ‘utopia’ to mean our own version of a perfect society. Philosophers go deeper. For example, Nassim Nicholas Taleb defines a utopia as a society built according to some blueprint of what “makes sense”. […]