books

May 12, 2015

The Window Washer

Once more, I find myself in the uncomfortable situation of actually enjoying my homework. A lot. I know that many people in my class find this irritating, but I can’t help it; I like to write, so naturally I will like an assignment that requires me to write a short story using the literary elements… Continue reading

Literature

Anne of Green Gables, annotation, AP Literature, authors, beauty, Book, books, bookworm, Bradbury, classic literature, english class, homework, how to read literature, inspiration, library, scribbling, sherlock holmes, short story, writer, writing, writing assignment
January 9, 2015

Poetic Purpose: Why Meter Matters

“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” ~Edgar Allan Poe Aside from signing my friends’ yearbook with personalized limericks, I admit that I have little experience with poetry. However, I adore reading it, as it was meant to be read, aloud. I love the sounds of its rhymes, the flow of the lines,… Continue reading

Musings

AP Literature, books, chopin, dance, edgar allan poe, hamlet, iambic pentameter, jazz, literature, love song, meter, Music, poem, poet, poetry, poets, rhythm, shakespeare, swing dance, waltz, writer
December 13, 2014

The Bookworm’s Guide to the Galaxy: Understanding Readers

Most of my best friends are bookworms. We all have our favorite genres, authors, eras, you name it. We are an eclectic group of athletes, honors students, writers, artists, musicians, and gamers, yet we are united by books and our need for words. However, it has come to my attention that this is not how… Continue reading

Musings

author, Book, books, bookstore, bookworm, character, Fiction, library, literature, non-reader, reader, relationships, story
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 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 30, 2014

The Importance of Being Literate

We live in a world of hashtags and texting abbreviations; gleeful laughter has been replaced by “LOL”, “carpe diem” has been killed by “YOLO”, words are being replaced by numbers 4 heaven’s sake! (That was painful, but consider my point made.) It seems I cannot go through one day without being confronted by enough grammatical atrocities to… Continue reading

Musings

american illiteracy, books, crime, Do Something, frederick douglass, grammar, history, illiteracy, literacy, literacy problem, literature, poverty, Reading, speeches, words, writing
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
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
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
April 22, 2014

A Dash of Color

When we think about books, especially about what type of books we prefer, we tend to categorize them into genres, time periods, literary movements, etc. Today, during a visit to the library, my school librarian commented that The Maze Runner and Divergent are silver. This seemed a completely logical statement to me and I added that I needed… Continue reading

Musings

Art, authors, beauty, books, bookworm, Color, Composition, creativity, Fantasy, Imagery, imagination, librarian, library, literature, Music, Musing, painting, Reading, whimsy, words, writing