Tim O’Brien gives writers a lesson in dialogue during the last quarter of Going After Cacciato, when he writes: “It is humorous?” asked the captain. “You find desertion humorous?” “No,” Oscar said, “but I find it kind of funny.” (223) This brief exchange is excellent because of its realistic use of repetition. The variations make … [Read more…]
Shakespeareophiles have no doubt noticed couplets not rhyming in an occasional sonnet or soliloquy in a way that the context suggests they should. I know reading John Donne and Shakespeare myself I have encountered more than a fair share of lines that simply don’t rhyme — and it ruins an otherwise impressive structure — so … [Read more…]
Many remember Martin Luther King Jr. as a social activist, a man who led demonstrations, and a powerful speaker; but I have always most admired King for a skill sometimes overlooked. Though his proclamation of “I have a dream” still reverberates through our nation’s social fabric, it was not his voice that made that speech so potent, … [Read more…]
Or, “Not Knowing” Why I Am Writing in Tampa “…before every great thought of Creation, there wakens in the soul that which is creative power in her, too. Her stammering overflows in poetry, she daubs on paper her adoration of the creator.” — Goethe After a twenty-year career in Baltimore’s literary community, and almost twenty … [Read more…]
It’s amazing to see how France looked through the eyes of the Stein family in Gertrude’s time. And while I find it fascinating to see her on film, I especially like watching the Steins repeatedly walk down a flight of stairs, and then stroll by the camera in formation, at the 2:48 mark. Why, you ask? … [Read more…]