Literature

March 28, 2015

Perplexingly Postmodern

Sometimes reading postmodern literature is like reading those texts where people just type the first words their iPhone suggests… For instance, compare the authorship of: 1) My iPhone and that of a friend: 2) A revered postmodern author: Oddly similar…yet only one is deemed worthy of annotations! Disclaimer: I honestly do have appreciation Continue reading

Literature, Musings

annotations, AP Literature, beloved, iphone humor, literature, postmodern
December 11, 2014

The Necessity of the Reader: A Literary Criticism of Heart of Darkness

Modernist author Joseph Conrad once said that “of all men’s creations, books are the nearest to us for they contain our thoughts… they resemble us in their precious hold on life.” According to Conrad, books not only act as the vessels that preserve the themes of human life, but as mirrors that reflect the variations Continue reading

Literature

AP Literature, author, book review, books, classic literature, frame story, heart of darkness, imperialism, lit crit, literary criticism, literary gap, modernist, novella, reader, reader’s response, writing
November 3, 2014

Whipped Cream, Etymology, and Passion

With college application essays and people constantly asking me what I plan to do with my life once I graduate, I have found myself using the word “passion” more and more frequently. I have a passion for music, literature is my passion, I want to get my degree in something I am passionate about. Heavens, just last Continue reading

Literature

AP Literature, author, books, bookworm, choir, christ, christian, english, etymology, literature, martyr, Music, passion, proper english, writing
October 24, 2014

Misquote

” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it averaged out to be the most mediocre of times.” Wait… that’s not what Charles Dickens wrote? Oops. AP Statistics is not helping my literary skills. Continue reading

Literature

book humor, charles dickens, literature, literature humor
October 16, 2014

Romeo is not Romance

I was perusing Pinterest this afternoon and came across this nifty picture. Seeing that it included classic books, I stopped my mindless scrolling, looked through it, and nearly shouted aloud. No. No. No!!! No. No. NO. N.O. No. What was so frustrating about this pin? Well, first of all is the fact that it lists Continue reading

Literature

Anna Karenina, AP Literature, authors, books, bookworm, classic lit, classic literature, gone with the wind, great gatsby, love, love story, nicholas sparks, pinterest, rant, reader, Reading, romance, romeo and juliet, shakespeare, tragedy, twilight
September 5, 2014

Grave con Brio: On Pianos in Literature

I feel a bit guilty admitting this, but I love writing essays. Really. My classmates- if any of them actually are reading this- are probably rolling their eyes and groaning, but call me a nerd, I don’t care and I’ll say it again: I love writing essays. I especially love writing them when they are Continue reading

Literature, Musings

analyzing, AP Lit, AP Literature, author, beethoven, books, booworm, chopin, composer, essay, fitzgerald, Jane Austen, lit, literature, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, motif, Music, musical passion, musician, nerd, performer, phantom of the opera, pianist, pianisti, piano, sense and sensibility, the great gatsby, writer
August 12, 2014

Return to the Garden

What qualifies a book as a classic? This is the question my classmates and I were faced with in English today and I am probably way more emotionally invested in this subject than I should be, but my answer to this question has taken years to discover! And, after all, isn’t most literature Continue reading

A Bit of Light Reading, Literature, Musings

AP Literature, books, C.S. Lewis, Children’s Books, classic, classic literature, fairy tales, literature, Narnia, Secret Garden
August 3, 2014

Literary Madness: A Dangerous Disease Affecting Readers Everywhere

It’s over. It is finished. No, wait… one more annotation. Now. Now it is finished. But it isn’t! Arghhh!!! I know it is considered bad writing to use numerous exclamation marks, but I suffer from a fever that only excessive use of them can cure! (See, that sentence did not even need one, but my Continue reading

Literature, Musings

AP Literature, Book, book hangover, bookworm, exclamation points, fangirl, frankenstein, intellectual, literary, literary greatness, literature, madness, questions
July 31, 2014

Book Cravings

Have you ever just needed to reread a book? I mean, have you ever just felt so overwhelmed with the real world that you long to escape once more into “fairylands forlorn” with Lucy Pevensie or Bilbo Baggins? Or maybe you prefer dances and romance with Scarlett O’Hara or Elizabeth Bennett? Or perhaps even chilling Continue reading

Literature, Musings

adventure books, AP Literature, Book, books, classic books, classic literature, comfort books, favorite books, frankenstein, literature, love books, rereading, the mysterious benedict society
June 9, 2014

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Call to Serve a Different Master

“Tom read,—”Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”“Them’s good words, enough,” said the woman; “who says ’em?”“The Lord,” said Tom.“I jest wish I know’d whar to find Him,” said the woman.” ― Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin The woman in this excerpt from one of the Continue reading

Literature

abolition, America, American literature, Book, faith, freedom, Harriet Beecher Stowe, history, Jesus Christ, liberty, literature, Master, novel, salvation, Savior, slavery, Uncle Tom, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
May 30, 2014

A Dream Deferred: A Reflection and a Resolution

“A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over– like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Until yesterday afternoon, Continue reading

Literature

a dream deferred, blessed, broken arm, choice, depths of despair, determination, disappointment, dream deferred, faith, hans brofeldt, hope, inspiration, interrupted, langston hughes, left-handed piano, piano, plans, poem, trust in the Lord, valley of the shadow of death
May 19, 2014

Writer’s Despair, the discouraging cousin of Writer’s Block

Have you ever been filled with despair because a book is too amazing to be true? Because the author’s wit flows effortlessly? Because the imagery bubbles from the pen as naturally as water from a spring? Because you just know that no matter how hard you try, nothing as profoundly simple, as beautifully tragic, or Continue reading

Literature, Musings

Alcott, author, books, Jo, literature, little men, Little Women, write, writer’s block