Monthly Archives: July 2020

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Four Crucial Blogging Tips to Make a Successful Blog

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There is something liberating about frequently publishing posts, as feeling productive and actually being productive work in tandem. Yet, when blogging, it’s difficult to know how to use that productivity. Blogging tips or can help (like understanding the writing process), but a blogging tip should be useful; so, practicality comes into play as well, and practical problem-solving methods are the way to go. Exercises, ideas, and tangible concepts to get everybody moving on the right path. In today’s post, we have assembled some blogging tips and ideas that help you in your blog-writing journey.

Blogging Tips

Tip 1:  Conduct Some Usability Tests

Before you publish your immaculately designed blog, consider performing a few usability tests to improve quality, interface, and user retention. Usability Testing is a fairly simple concept: it asks the designer (or blogger, in your case) to set up a series of one-on-one tests with multiple participants (strangers, preferably) over a small timeframe in order to watch as they interact with your website.  

Authors Don Norman and Steve Krug are big into this UX (user experience) idea. Both of their books on these ideas are excellent as well: The Design of Everyday Things and Rocket Surgery Made Easy. There are two more blogging tips for you, free of charge.

You as the designer decide upon the questions or tasks, but really think about your blog: What is your goal? Where are things located? Is everything easy to find? Can users navigate your blog easily?

Some example questions while conducting a test include:

  • Where would you find the ‘contact’ information?
  • If you wanted to know where the author was, could you find them?
  • Where are the archives and can you tell me where the most recent post is?

You really want the subject to speak aloud while they work through your questions and you should probably record the conversation or take thorough notes so you have “saved data” when it comes time to examine the feedback you collected. The tester typically reinforces the idea that the usability test is not actually a “test” per se, so there isn’t a wrong answer when it comes to any of the questions (this is true and your test subject should be comfortable so they respond in an honest, relaxed way).

Tip 2: Find an Angle

If you are actively trying to gain a following and you are trying to have an extremely original blog—then you may want to try to find an angle. This works on a micro level–each post–or a macro level–your blog in general.

If you’ve spent any time in journalism or wonder why some articles are more engaging than others, then you can probably say with some surety that the writer has a unique angle on the subject material. After all, you have to fight hard to be at the head of the pack when it comes to publishing, and if you aren’t telling an original story, then your prospective audience may gloss over your work.

If you want to write about a famous musician, say, Jimi Hendrix, how are you going to write about him? Are you going to go the usual route and just report his history ? Or will you discuss his guitar technique? Or, are you going to tell his story in a more original way? Like, approaching his life through the stories of others, or writing about the clothes he wore at historic concerts.

In going against this advice, keep in mind that people also like familiar topics, so if you feel compelled to write about Hendrix’s guitar style, then, why not? Aristotle argues that art is cathartic (meant to purify the spirit), so if you are enjoying the material and working on your craft—go for it!

Tip 3: Do Some Research

Blogs thrive on research before one starts to actively write. Doing research takes no time and it actually find it to be pretty fun, because I get to see what other blogs are doing and how they handle mundane and complex information in different ways.

First, you might consider a broad research strategy where you go to the most popular websites right now and check them out. Ideally, you want to examine their page design first: find out where they keep information and find out what each page has in common and what each page has different (and why). Finally, find out how they engage with their customers. Is there a form to fill out? Is there an open dialogue? Do you think the way this company interacts with their customers is effective? Why?

And don’t just focus on those questions! Brainstorm questions you might have for a digital design specialist and see how they apply to the websites you are examining.

Second, bring your research strategy into the realm of the microcosm. In other words, find websites and blogs that inspired you or have similar information and topics. Are you a self-help blog? Find other self-help blogs! Are you a literature blog? Find other literature blogs!

Next, examine the design of each blog. What works well, and what does not work well? How could you improve your site? Again, dream up questions that will give you solid answers, which you can then use to build an effective and successful blog.

Tip 4: Interact and Engage

I will keep this one brief, but I think people forget to deliver on this particular part of blogging, and it’s certainly one that I need to spend more time on:

Interact and engage with other blogs and writers.

Writing is communal and so is blogging. While we may feel as though writing is a solitary function, academic research does not show that the best work comes from individuals sitting alone in dark, smoky rooms. You may feel cool, but your writing and craft will suffer. In fact, research shows that engaging with others and discussing writing improves one’s craft immensely. Even the greatest authors of all time had writing circles, editors, publishers, beta readers, and so on. They wrote, they shared, and they created excellent work.

Conclusion

By engaging with other blogs and writers, you are sharing your work and you are earning something in return. You are putting those blogging tips to use. Additionally, that something includes important feedback from other writers (suffering criticism is a threshold we all have to cross), and confidence in your writing, which will help you write better because you spend less time second-guessing yourself. And, lastly, by interacting and engaging with other writers, you are seeing how other websites function (Blog Tip 1), you are seeing other story angles (Blog Tip 2), you are conducting research through interaction (Blog Tip 3), and you are having meaningful conversations with people who have similar interests (so you are building a writing community).

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“Hap” by Thomas Hardy Analysis

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Thomas Hardy wrote “Hap” in the 1860s and it was one of his earliest poems. It details happenstance, misfortune, and the random nature of the world. Hardy, who was in his 20s, was touching on a theme that would dominate much of his work throughout his life: that there is no Gods’ plan and that chance rules our lives instead.

Background and Analysis

We could look at this poem, ideally, from a previously discussed discipline that appears in the neutral form of “naturalism,” which doesn’t “care about humanity and (is) neither good nor bad” (BA English Notes). This, of course, is a more rational appeal toward nature and our own lives because we aren’t necessarily looking to the mystical for knowledge, but, rather, our own abilities and intuition.

“Hap” is a blending of Italian and English sonnet forms because “the first eight lines rhyme ababcdcd rather than abbaabba,” and this, “makes the poem a curious hybrid of the English and Italian sonnet forms, lending the poem’s rhyme scheme an air of uncertainty …”  (BA English Notes). So, the structure is definitely an amalgamation of styles, which suits the topic perfectly.

What follows is the poem in its entirety.

“Hap” By Thomas Hardy

If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: “Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love’s loss is my hate’s profiting!” 

Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

But not so.   How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
—Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan. . . .
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.

Conclusion

We often stumble upon all sorts of good poems by happenstance, and “Hap” is one of those. The poem takes a few styles and transcends with an interesting theme and excellent imagery. Using naturalism as a center, it conveys the fight against nature and the dangers of

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An Analysis of “My Voice” by Oscar Wilde

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Oscar Wilde has had many popular pieces of writing shared since he put pen to paper. He also has some great poetry. “My Voice” by Oscar Wilde is one such poem that is singularly sweet and important to identity and understanding.

Analysis of “My Voice” by Oscar Wilde

“My Voice” by Oscar Wilde appeared sometime between 1854-1900. It is written in a ballad or ode form, and it contains three stanzas that have four lines in each paragraph. Additionally, it is written in iambic pentameter with rhyme scheme that follows abab / cdcd / efef.

The poem details the end of a relationship, with the narrator’s ex-lover not reciprocating in the heartache that he feels. Wilde writes in the first stanza that, “Within the restless, hurried, modern world / We took our hearts’ full pleasure–You and I, / And Now the white sails of our ships are furled / And spent the lading of our agony.” Wilde is telling us that the relationship began, but now it is over, and the “agony” has set in. In other ways, Wilde is discussing emotional separation, and the strain that it causes.

Similarly, this individual has had a profound impact on him through voice and evocation of memories. He writes in line 8 of the second stanza, “And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed,” which further builds on the theme of loss and desolation after love has gone. Meanwhile, in stanza three he states that though he feels this intense pain, the subject of his loss does not feel the same way. “Of viols, or the music of the sea,” he writes, “That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.” There are some interpretations that pull optimism from the passage, but “echo, in the shell” seems to indicate his own voice coming back to him no matter how he calls for his love.

It’s an extremely relatable poem, and Wilde handles the theme well with heartbreaking tones.

Conclusion

Wilde’s style and ability to craft an ambitious atmosphere of debate and apprehension enamors, but, by the same token, Wilde has such a strong writing voice that either through prose or verse–there is similarity. This makes all of his writing appealing to me, and this poem is a prime example of telling a story, alluding to love, while also encapsulating a heart-breaking theme of calling for a loved one and immortalizing them in our minds.

“My Voice” by Oscar Wilde

Within the restless, hurried, modern world
   We took our hearts’ full pleasure—You and I,
And now the white sails of our ships are furled,
   And spent the lading of our argosy.

Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan,
   For very weeping is my gladness fled,
Sorrow hath paled my lip’s vermilion
   And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed.

But all this crowded life has been to thee
   No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell
   That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.
Of viols, or the music of the sea

Blog, Literary Bios

Phillis Wheatley Biography: The First African American Poet

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Phillis Wheatley was a dynamic poet and author who lived a tragic life of oppression and slavery in the American colonies. Though shackled in many aspects of her life, Wheatley accomplished a monumental amount of writing. In this post, we examine Phillis Wheatley through a biography of the first Black poet in the United States.

Biography

Capture and slavery

Before being Phillis Wheatley, historians are unsure of what her name was. She was born in West Africa around 1753 in what would eventually become Senegal or Gambia. Due to her missing front teeth, researchers believed slavers her kidnapped at the age of seven. The same men then sent her to America on a 240-day trip aboard the slave ship “Phillis.” Wheatley had a frailty about her, and so found herself under refugee status in the slave trade. The captain of the slave ship sold Wheatley to Susanna Wheatley, wife of Boston tailor John Wheatley.

As reported, the captain “believed the waif was terminally ill, and he wanted to gain at least a small profit before she died.” Afterward, the couple named her “Phillis” after the ship that brought her to port.

Early Education

In their eyes, they raised her “above her station,” and taught her religion. The church baptized her in August of 1771. Phillis gravitated toward her studies and after learning the English language, she studied Greek, Latin, astronomy, and more. Wheatly began studying poetry at the age of 12 and a year later wrote “On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin,” which she published in Dec. of 1767. At 18 years old, Wheatley had 28 poems to her name.

Though an attempt to gain subscribers for her poetry failed due to racist attitudes in the colonies, the Wheatley’s saw to the publication of the 38-poem verse book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in Boston, MA, in 1773. In London, Wheatley’s work was celebrated among the abolitionists. While Thomas Jefferson dismissed her work as “below the dignity of criticism,” others, such as Voltaire and George Washington, lauded her work.

Writing and Freedom

She later returned to Boston and was set free due to the assistance of the abolitionists she befriended in England. However, as in any Phillis Wheatley biography, the taste of freedom washed away with the reality of life in America as a freed slave. She married, lost three children in infancy, and was abandoned by her husband. Afterward, she had to take up work as a maid and servant. She also failed to publish more than five poems in the remainder of her life.

Wheatley died in Boston on Dec. 5, 1784. She was in her early 30s.

Conclusion

In her time, Wheatley published her work as the first Black American. She also helped abolitionists argue against the inferiority of Blacks by citing Wheatley’s poetry. As others have stated, her “canon consists of fifty-five poems, twenty-two letters and a prose prayer …” However, there are “titles for dozens more poems that so far have not come to light.” Wheatley may have led a tragic life in a racially oppressive society, but her legacy lives on as a testament to Black American creativity and endurance.

Blog, Literary Bios

Biography of George Bernard Shaw: Socialist, Critic, Playwright

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George Bernard Shaw’s name looms large amongst the litany of famous authors. Both fascinating and contentious, he has all the makings of a literary icon. Likewise, he has many shared traits with other authors. Moreover, his sheer volume of work along, puts him in the pantheon of influential authors. In this George Bernard Shaw biography, we are going to dig into his life, times, and literary works.

Biography of George Bernard Shaw

Upbringing and early novelist

To start, Shaw was born in Dublin on July 26, 1856. He was the third child in his family, and he hated school. However, he found no interest in the workings of academia. Eventually, Shaw worked in an estate agent’s office before moving to London in 1876. There, he struggled to find work through multiple jobs. Eventually, he settled on pursuing a full-time career as a writer—with mixed results.

As stated by Britannica: “Despite his failure as a novelist in the 1880s, Shaw found himself during this decade. He became a vegetarian, a socialist, a spellbinding orator, a polemicist, and tentatively a playwright.” In these words, Shaw became the character and writer that would leave a mark on the literary world.

(Britannica.com)

The Fabian Society and Critic

In 1884, Shaw joined the Fabian Society. The group spent time advancing the principles of democratic socialism. Furthermore, in this society, he used his writing abilities to craft pamphlets and to debate the application of such beliefs. In addition, somewhere in the midst of novel writing failure, Shaw began critiquing plays. These critiques were published in papers in London and became quite successful.  He worked as a critic for the Pall Mall Gazette, The World, The Star, and The Saturday Review.

As Britannica further states, Shaw knew a great deal about the arts, which gave him critical acumen. The source states, “Shaw had a good understanding of music, particularly opera, and he supplemented his knowledge with a brilliance of digression that gives many of his notices a permanent appeal …”

Bernard Shaw as Playwright and Death

Shaw’s first collections of plays appeared in “Plays Unpleasant” and “Plays Pleasant.” Both collections were replete with “what would become Shaw’s signature wit, accompanied by healthy doses of social criticism.” Both of which “stemmed from his Fabian Society leanings” (biography.com). Shaw produced a great deal of work in a variety of genres, which kept him busy working on his craft.

Finally, with the 19th century coming to a close, Shaw really began churning out his best work. He wrote Man and Superman in 1903 and Major Barbara in 1905, and Pygmalion in 1912. In 1925, Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for Saint Joan. He died in his home in England in 1950 at 94 years old.

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Claude McKay, writer, poet, and political activist

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The Harlem Renaissance writers had skill and audacity, and they were committed to writing transcendent work to show history and community. Similarly, their works were politically-minded and spoke to a generation of marginalized Americans. In this post, we examine Claude McKay, a writer who wrote from his moral center.

Biography

Claude McKay was born Festus Claudius McKay on Sept. 15, 1889, in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. As a youth, McKay was instantly attracted to British poetry even though his parents had utmost pride in their Malagasy and Ashanti Heritage. McKay would blend both cultures together to form a strong writing voice with the help of a few friends:

“Under the tutelage of his brother, schoolteacher Uriah Thephilus McKay, and a neighboring Englishman, Walter Jekyll, McKay studied the British masters, including John Milton, Alexander Pope, and the later Romantics—and European philosophers …” (poetryfoundation.org)

McKay’s Writing Life

With education under his belt, McKay explored other aspects of culture and civilization. He wrote about the life of poorer Jamaicans and explored inequality. In 1912, McKay published Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads under a London publisher. Afterward, he moved to the US to study at the Tuskegee Institute and Kansas State College. He remained at the institute for a few short months.

Two years later, in 1914, he moved to Harlem, New York. In 1917, McKay published more poems in Pearson’s Magazine and Liberator, which featured his poem “If We Must Die.” The poem details the lengths that people should strive in order to see themselves vindicated in the eyes of the establishment.

Here’s the poem in its entirety:

If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die, O let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

“If We Must Die” by Claude McKay

Political Activism

McKay would leave the US for a few years and publish Spring in New Hampshire in 1920 during his European travels. After returning to the US, McKay began his journey into political activism. He involved himself with communists and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. He would leave the US again to travel to Europe and North Africa, where he stayed for over 10 years, publishing a few notable works, including Home to Harlem and Banjo.

While he had dabbled in communism, he later began to dismiss the idea. After he returned to the US once more, he started engaging in more spiritual pursuits with the theologians in Harlem. Eventually, he converted to Catholicism, and toward the end of his life, he worked as an educator for a Catholic organization.

He died of a heart attack in Chicago on May 22, 1948.

Conclusion

Due to his monumental literary and political pursuits in life, he left a lasting impression.

“McKay’s viewpoints and poetic achievements in the earlier part of the twentieth century set the tone for the Harlem Renaissance and gained the deep respect of younger black poets of the time, including Langston Hughes.”

Poets.org

Notable Works

  • Songs of Jamaica
  • Constab Ballads
  • Spring in New Hampshire, and Other Poems
  • Harlem: Negro Metropollis
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Analysis of Tony Hoagland’s Poem ‘Jet’ and Its Themes

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Tony Hoagland wrote a poem titled “Jet,” and it is an important poem. While it speaks to me, it is far more universal and discuss themes regarding aging and reflection. Hoagland’s poem is about being young, under the stars, and imbibing in the spirits of your youth. In this way, art is cathartic—even if it’s just warm nostalgia.

“Jet” by Tony Hoagland

Stanzas One-Three

In stanza one, Hoagland writes about hanging out on a back porch, consuming “jet fuel” with his friends. His description of alcohol is apt as most people can agree that the first sips of alcohol are bitter. This revelry is “with the boys, getting louder and louder / as the empty cans drop out of our paws / like booster rockets falling back to Earth.” Of course, the parallels between “jet fuel” and “booster rockets,” is clear. One feels as though they are lifting off into space as drunkenness sets into your minds.

In stanzas two and three, Hoagland continues the theme of letting go and festivity. He writes about heading into the “summer stars” under the dark sky. The stars, asteroids, and “space suits with skeletons inside” fly overhead. The people below continue their “hairiness” and through the “effervescence gush” of drinking.

Stanza Four-Five

In stanza four, Hoagland states that the night sets upon the merrymakers while “fireflies flash.” Those imbibing tell grand stories and “untrue tales of sex.” In a group of men drinking, the chest thumping sometimes gets overly loud.

The final stanza is the most profound. In reflecting on those younger days, we can identify perfectly thoughtful moments. These include lying on car hoods or out in dew-covered grass. In this way, we wonder about our place in the universe. As it is important, the final stanza of the poem is here in its entirety:

no one really hears. We gaze into the night
as if remembering the bright unbroken planet
we once came from,
to which we will never
be permitted to return.
We are amazed how hurt we are.
We would give anything for what we have.

While there is chest thumping and untrue tales of sex, there is a great admiration for the universe. The contrast between youthful exuberance, binge drinking, and existential considerations.

Conclusion

In social circles, there is a great admiration for who we are and where we are in galaxy. And now, in looking back, such evenings don’t last forever and thus have an importance. As Hoagland states, there are few who would exchange those early, alcohol-infused nights just before the sun rose and when night, and celebration, is at its fullest.

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Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald: Friends and Frenemies

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I love a good story from literature history. There is nothing better than a few tales about writers being eccentric weirdos while not working on their craft. Today, I have a a story of two literary titans and their friendly, yet combative, relationship. This is a story about a couple of drinking pals and their exploits, and it gets a little weird. After all, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald were both friends and frenemies.

How The Two Literary Giants Met

During the modernist movement, The Lost Generation (a group of well-known artists) would get together with Gertrude Stein (who we discussed in a previous post) in Paris, France to kick around ideas and develop what would eventually become the modernist movement and style. Two of these characters included F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, and they became chums shortly after Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby.

“They first met in Dingo’s Bar in Paris and formed a fast friendship over mutual love of drinking and writing. Fitzgerald was already a successful author while Hemingway was a jobbing journalist.”

culturetrip.com

Their Tumultuous Friendship

Now, as mentioned previously, Fitzgerald and Hemingway got along famously at first. They enjoyed each other’s company and Fitzgerald was a bit enamored by Hemingway. Fitzgerald respected Hemingway for a variety of reasons, including his artistic capabilities, his adventurous spirit, and his reputation as a “man’s man.” Typically, these friendly occasions would result in an inordinate amount of alcohol consumption and general rowdiness.

Both men had opposite personalities. Hemingway was a brash, egocentric man who loved tall tales and adventure. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, was the shadow of an aristocrat, who wined and dined on the finer things in life. Yet, he was more effeminate and introspective. I suppose, in some ways. opposites do attract. However, both men reveled in literature and had highs and lows in their publishing careers. Fitzgerald was already on his way to becoming a famous writer when he met Hemingway, who was still kicking out shorter works and articles.

Zelda Fitzgerald’s Relationship to Both Men

Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, who had an unbalanced personality, loathed Hemingway about as much as Fitzgerald liked him. Zelda believed her husband’s friend was “bogus.” Likewise, Hemingway felt little affection for Zelda because he thought she was keeping Fitzgerald away from doing his best work. According to some sources, this was true. Zelda did not want Fitzgerald to work on novels, and, instead, encouraged “him to stay out all night drinking and partying, leaving him incapable of writing the next day” (Brouwer).

Her reasoning might be due to the writing economy at the turn of the century. Short stories made good money for a writer, and this allowed Fitzgerald and Zelda to keep up with their affluent lifestyle (drinking, partying, hobnobbing, etc.), while novels were a long and arduous process that detracted from the time one could spend on writing shorter works.

She also accused both men of a sexual affair:

“Zelda’s marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald was reportedly a toxic one, complete with alcoholism, mutual infidelity, and jealousy. Zelda accused her husband of having a gay relationship with his friend and fellow writer Ernest Hemingway, and she had nervous breakdowns throughout their marriage.”

Suzanne Raga

The End of Their Camaraderie

Both men were also dealing with their own sorts of problems due to post-war trauma and difficult marital issues, but their friendship and alcohol-fueled lifestyles complimented one another regardless of their differing interests. There’s even an odd story about Hemingway checking Fitzgerald’s … well … “member” in order to disprove Fitzgerald’s inferiority after Zelda criticized him (Delistraty).

After their friendship had spoiled in the late 1920s, Hemingway was unpleasant when it came to discussing Fitzgerald.

“Hemingway was condescending about Fitzgerald’s work and mocked his former friend as a coward, a lap dog to the rich and a henpecked husband in thrall to a manipulative woman. He likened Fitzgerald to a dying butterfly, a glass-jawed boxer and an unguided missile crashing to earth on a ‘very steep trajectory’.”

Michiko Kakutani

Some sources have pointed out that Hemingway was mad about Fitzgerald’s post-resurgence, but he had also spent some years harshly criticizing former friends and acquaintances. These included Gertrude Stein and William Falkner.

Conclusion

While sad, I love the idea of two literary greats like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald striking up a friendship and spending evenings discussing literature and experiences in low light at some watering hole in France. But, life is more complex than the fairy tales we weave—as are humans—so it should be no surprise that their friendship could not last cordially, especially due to the eccentricities of both men and their differing lifestyles.

Blog, Literary Bios

The Story Behind The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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I remember sitting in grade school and listening to my teacher read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving to the class. It was autumn, and the dark sky, rain, and autumn leaves blowing outside the classroom impressed on my brain forever. It was a chilling ghost story. Sometime toward the end of her reading, I thought to myself: “I am going to teach one day because I want this experience to exist for others.” In this post, we will dig into the life of Washington Irving, his accomplishments, and his impact.

Biography

Irving’s Early Years

Irving was born in New York City in 1783. He was named after General George Washington. He was the 11th child in his family, and some sources described him as having a frailty as a young child. Nevertheless, he spent much of his early days wandering the city and the countryside. He explored, learning from the histories and stories that were pervasive in the Hudson Valley. In this area, folklore and legends were rife in the rural communities.

Irving’s College Years and First Writings

Rather than attend college, Irving studied law in his early days and “wrote a series of whimsically satirical essays.” This satirical style would define his later work. As a lawyer, Irving worked diligently but spent much time devoted to his craft and published a series of letters in 1802 under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. He also collaborated with his brother William and James K. Paulding in 1807 and 1808 to craft a series of essays. These essays, entitled Salmagundi, were centered on trends in society.

England and Fame

Irving moved to England in 1815. After the family “import-export” business failed, he busied himself with writing and produced The Sketch Book under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. This book contained both “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It was also extremely popular with audiences and made Irving a star in the literary world.

To give some context to his style, here is an excerpt from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In this passage, the protagonist Ichabod Crain comes face-to-face with the Headless Horseman:

“He appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame. He made no offer of molestation or sociability, but kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder (Ichabod’s horse), who had now got over his fright and waywardness. Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and bethought himself of the adventure of Brom Bones with the Galloping Hessian, now quickened his steed, in hopes of leaving him behind. The stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind—the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavored to resume his psalm-tune, but his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a stave.”

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving

“Ichabod Crane imagining a phantom at his shoulder. American ghost story and folk tale.” — by Frederick Simpson Coburn

Irving would later return to America in 1832. He ventured out west where he wrote A Tour of Prairies (1835), The Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837), and a few other works. He spent his final days near the Hudson River and died of a heart attack in Tarrytown, New York on Nov. 28, 1859.

Conclusion

In his lifetime, Irving gained international fame as an author, which was uncommon in his age. In this way, American literature, akin to Daniel Dafoe, became as important as European literature and cemented American mythos and folklore as viable tradition. Similarly, his works inspired the short story genre and created a conversational style that was approachable for contemporary readers. With that said, Irving made a lasting impact on the literary world.

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The Life and Poetry of Emily Dickinson

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Emily Dickinson crafted phenomenal poetry and led an interesting life, albeit a quiet one. Her poems, such as “Faith” and “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” give credence to her ability to craft verse, and her body of work is more than exceptional in the face of modern literary studies. Nevertheless, the mark of a good artist is someone whose art is worth talking about and someone whose life is worth discussing (e.g. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein). This is regardless of their interest in abstaining from the broader culture. For today’s post, we will examine Dickinson’s life and a few of her achievements.

Dickinson’s Biography

Early Years

Dickinson was born on Dec. 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was the middle child of three children and grew up in a strongly devout area of New England. She was close with her two siblings and by all accounts experienced a lovely childhood under the roof of her lawyer father and housekeeper mother.

Dickinson went to Amherst Academy and was an excellent student and later attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; however, according to researchers, she may have left school for a variety of reasons.

“… theories offered say that her fragile emotional state may have played a role and/or that her father decided to pull her from the school. Dickenson ultimately never joined a particular church or denomination, steadfastly going against the religious norms of the time.”

(biography.com)

Other research claims that her leaving school was due to Holyoke’s “strict rules and invasive religious practices, along with her own homesickness and growing rebelliousness, help explain why she did not return for a second year” (Britannica.com).

Budding Poet

In her youth, Dickinson was writing and crafting hundreds of poems, which explored ideas of the burlesque (“Valentines”) and viewing the world through a more altruistic lens. She was also a letter writer and had crafted a great deal in her youth, with a few letters from as early as age 11 still in existence. By the age of 35, Dickinson had written more than 1,100 poems about a variety of subjects, from grief to nature. Many of these poems were put down in fascicles, or handmade booklets.

Here is an example of a short poem titled “Faith is a fine invention” that was penned by Dickinson in 1891:

“Faith”is a fine invention

For Gentlemen who see!

But Microscopes are prudent

In an Emergency!


Poetryfoundation.org

And, while Dickinson didn’t share many poems through publication, she certainly sent a great deal to friends and family, sending her mother Susan “more than 250 poems” and to her friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson “about 100 poems”(emilydickinsonmuseum.org).

I don’t even think I’ve sent that many emails in my life.

Later Years and Seclusion

Dickinson’s hermit lifestyle in her late years is almost as famous as her poetry. She lived a quiet life (always had seemingly) with her sister and extended family—her brother even bought the lot next door to the family home to raise his own children. Speculation is somewhat rampant as to why Dickinson decided to dive deeper into isolation in her later years.

“Scholars have thought that she suffered from conditions such as agoraphobia, depression and/or anxiety, or may have been sequestered due to her responsibilities as guardian of her sick mother. Dickinson was also treated for a painful ailment of her eyes.”

(biography.com)

Emily Dickinson died of kidney disease in Amherst on May 15, 1886.

Notable Works

  • Success is counted sweetest (1859)
  • Hope is the thing with feathers (1861)
  • I felt a funeral in my brain (1861)
  • Wild Nights! – Wild Nights! (1861)
  • Because I could not stop for death (1863)
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Border Legends of Scotland, Tales of Magic and Monsters

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The Border Legends of Scotland made famous by Sir Walter Scott are deep within Scottish folklore. These stories permeate not just there, however. They also contribute to English folklore, and the stories of “worms” have made their way into the fantasy realm (e.g. as dragons). In addition to this, a Border Legend of Scotland imparts some bit of Scottish Heritage. In this post, we are going to examine some of the Border Legends of Scotland.

The Worme of Linton

The Horrid Beast

The first Border Legend of Scotland details the struggles of a knight overcoming a beast. The story of The Worme of Linton begins thusly: The Worme of Linton was a horribly massive worm-like creature that could breath fire and sprout wings. As the tales went, it could devour men whole and demolish entire villages. For the local populace, this was a terrifying affair.

The worm lived in Linton, Roxburghshire, and was active around the 1100s. Apparently, it would terrorize farmers by eating their sheep and forcing them to rethink their labors.

“Quite naturally, the people of Linton were thrown into a collective state of fear when the slithering thing decided to target their little village,” states Nick Redfurn in an article for Mysterious Universe. “People became petrified to leave their homes, lest they became the victims of the marauding beast.”

The Knight John Sommerville.

John Sommerville, who was looking for fame at this time, was both brave and had honor. So, he headed out to defeat the Worm of Linton for his own namesake.

Upon entering the vicinity of the worm, the noble John Sommerville found a few things to be true: 1) there was a strange aura about the place, and 2) the worm had already impacted the town. If the noble Sommerville had not been nervous, certainly this gave him reason to be.

The town had emptied due to the worm’s presence, and the villagers migrated to nearby towns that were less bedeviled. After getting more stout directions from a lone blacksmith, Sommerville contracted the man to create a lance that could be set aflame. Then, after receiving the lance around sunset, he traveled to the lair of the worm.

Sommerville crept up to the den of the worm and found himself lying it wait for it to attack. He could hear it inside the cave, breathing deeply, and the occasional spout of flame emanated from the dark entrance. There were bones of cattle hither and thither, and Sommerville summoned all of his strength. Alerting the creature with a fearsome holler, the worm rose from the depths of its lair.

Ferociously, it came from the cave and charged Sommerville. However, Sommerville was no naive, and adequately defended himself from the creature’s attacks. They battled for a long time, the worm charging and swinging its tail, and Sommerville moving adeptly in his armor and parrying with his sword. the worm became enraged and fought harder, but Sommerville was a seasoned veteran. He stood his ground. When he knew he had the worm cornered, he set his spear aflame and charged the great swinging beats. He plunged the spear into the creature’s neck and though it fought back by wriggling and writhing, it soon fell to death.

Sommerville had won. Afterward, the people who celebrated his story carved his image into the Linton Church. He was also given a title, and the town was relieved of their worm for good.

The Brownie’s Coat

The second Border Legend of Scotland is about a mysterious household helper. We often don’t think of creatures and ghosts as being particularly helpful, but the Brownie of Scotland happens to be one of those beneficial intruders. Most of the time.

The Brownie of England can be described as an unkempt and short creature that is quick and crafty. Yet, it upsets easy and can be quite shaggy in appearance at times. It does not like to be around humans and often spends its time completing chores for the family they live with. From the shadows, their service is performed.

A popular story regarding the Brownie features an ailing wife, perhaps in the throes of sickness or in labor. In the story, she would not allow her husband to traverse a storm in the middle of the night to fetch the mid-wife. Instead, she sends an errant servant who failed spectacularly in his task by not even attempting the voyage. The Brownie instead took it upon himself to venture to the town to ensure that he would have a well-kept home on his return. While Brownies are selfish creatures, they do look after their own. On the journey, the Brownie took along with him a large coat to keep him warm during his travels.

Indeed, the creature did return with the mid-wife and made sure to punish the errant servant with a flogging. In return, the Brownie simply expected what all Brownies expect–only to be rewarded with food placed by the hearth. The family did just that and the man of the house, having heard of the Brownie’s good deed, gifted him a coat of his own. Then the Brownie left, never to be heard from again.

Conclusion

In both of these Border Legends of Scotland, one cand find Scottish legend and history. The noble knight who trounces a dragon appears in many cultures. The Worme of Linton, as it is, teaches the Scottish people of courage, resourcefulness, and standing one’s ground. Meanwhile, a noble, but annoyed, spirit that helps families in times of strife (e.g. the Brownie) informs Scottish people of humility, gratitude, and the value of unseen labor.

Blog, Literary Bios

Sir Walter Scott: Father of Historical Fiction and Folklore

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There are many legendary authors out there, and then there are authors who create legends. Sir Walter Scott is one of those authors. While he is most notable for the story of Ivanhoe, he spent years writing folklore and traditional mythology in Scotland. In this post, we will examine Sir Walter Scott’s life and writings.

A History of Sir Walter Scott

Walter Scott’s Early Years

Historians can link Sir Walter Scott to Smailholm Tower. There, under its looming shadow his family raised him on adventurous tales of heroes and villains. With this tower over his head, he read literature and poetry. This further pushed him into the world of literary titans. Similarly, on the shores of Sandyknowes, Scott honed his gift for storytelling and verse to contribute to litearry history.

Scott was born in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Aug. 15, 1771 to Anne Rutherford and Walter Scott. Scott’s father was a member of the private Scottish society Writers to the Signet. At a young age, Scott contracted polio and lost the function of his leg for the rest of his life. His family later sent him to live with his grandparents near Roxburgshire, which was some 30 miles from Edinburgh. Scott’s Aunt Janet urged him to pursue his literary interests by reciting poetry to him and teaching him to read.

As it has been stated, his grandmother, Barbara, impacted Scott through storytelling. She told him numerous tales of their ancestors and battles between the Scots and the English. In this way, Scott developed an interest in Scottish heritage, ballad writing, and folklore.

Scott’s Literary Years

As he got older, Scott’s interests in epics, poetry, and books about far away voyages did not wain. He attended the University in Edinburgh to study the classics in 1783. In 1786, Scott began to apprentice with his father to become a Writer to the Signet. Scott became a lawyer in 1792. He also translated books into English for his friend who he would open a publishing house with in 1809.

Scott later published a series of poems for the publishing house, including The Lady of the Lake, and Marmion (1808). Soon after, Scott began publishing his Waverly novels after the success of the first. He would continue writing these novels over the years. His literary career continued from there with Rob Roy (1817) and Ivanhoe (1820).

Walter Scott’s Contributions and Death

Scott is known as the father of historical fiction for his works in legend and lore. In creating Rob Roy, Waverly, and Ivanhoe, Scott transcended basic storytelling tropes and created a genre unto itself. Likewise, he injected life into Scottish folktales and history. Scott suffered a stroke in 1831 and passed away on Sept. 21st, 1832, at Abbotsford. He was buried by his wife in the border town of Melrose.

Other works by Scott

Glenfinlas (1800)

The Lady of the Lake (1810)

Rob Roy (1817)

Ivanhoe (1820)

The Pirate (1822)

Blog, Writing Craft

The Three Basic Functions of Language, Definition and Examples

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How do we use different types of language, and in what context? Today, we are going to look at the three basic functions of language. These different types of language use include informative, expressive (therefore receptive), and directive language.

Defining the three basic functions of language

Informative language

Simply put, informative language is either right or wrong, or true or false. Some have written that informative language is both “believable and valuable” language.

Here’s an example:

“ … language is used to offer opinions, give advice, make announcements, lecture, admonish, report news, solicit input, or ask questions. Everyday conversations center around information sharing.”

theclassroom.com

So, if we are stating something then we are giving some kind of “information” and, as such, it becomes “informative.”

Expressive language

Expressive language helps us communicate a mood or a feeling. Typically, it shows a communicator, reader, or writer if somebody is happy or sad, glad or mad.

“Expressive language may or may not include any real information because the purpose of expressive language is to convey emotion … the expression ‘Yuck’ connotes disgust, but the word itself isn’t necessarily used to inform.”

theclassroom.com

Expressive language is useful because it is often figurative. For instance, as onomatopoeia, it can describe the sounds we hear and the noises of every day life. BOOM! BLAM! KAPOW! Such expression is figurative language.

Conversely, receptive language, is your ability to comprehend these emotions. You are receiving information and therefore receptive to the information given to you.

Directive language

This one gets a little more complex, but it essentially is a way to get a response from somebody that you are communicating with in a typical conversation. Directive language gives a command to somebody.

“Directive language is not normally considered true or false (although various logics of commands have been developed).”

philosophy.lander.edu

Examples of this type of language include “Shut off the light,” or “You are standing where it says ‘No Loitering.’” This last one hints at a command because it is essentially saying, “Get away from there.”

Conclusion

Understanding the three basic functions of language can help us better communicate. Thus, having a grasp of informative, receptive, directive, and expressive language will teach us when it is appropriate to use each and in what context. There are other sources that can further expound on this topic, but the above information should give you a good understanding.

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Impact of the Victorian Era on Modern Literature

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Victorian literature has a romantic appeal to it these days. One can only think of Victorian culture, with the class and aristocracy firmly in place. However, we can’t forget that the Victorian movement separated from the Romantic movement, and the Transcendentalist, which lasted the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. In this post, we will understand what caused this movement and the writers involved.

Factors Generating the Movement

England grew massively during Queen Victoria’s reign (from 14 million to over 30 million people). Rapid population growth changed living conditions and person-to-person interaction. There was also the Industrial Revolution, so technology moved quickly forward. As such, social issues became more noticeable, such as living conditions for the people from low-income households, and the use of debtor’s prisons.

Additionally, when it came to intellectual changes, Darwinism was becoming a factor for the religious and science communities. Therefore, people were thinking about their impact on the world in different ways, just as they had during the Renaissance, the Neoclassical Period, the Romanticist period, etc. The ideas of realistic interpretation fell hand-in-hand with the very real nature of the world.

Outside of social factors, we have an emergence of the novel. Society saw this as the most “fashionable vehicle for the transmission of literature” and society saw “the novel as a genre” rising “to entertain the rising middle class” which depicted “contemporary life in a changing society” (englishpost.org).  Now, we already heard stories about the novel really taking off (The Theatrical Licensing Act), but now technology was really hitting its stride and books were easier for people on the last rung of the social ladder to get their hands on.

Finally, the working class suffered at the hands of all this innovation, as their working conditions were terrible. The artists of the time crafted works criticizing these conditions.

Important Victorian Literature

Considering these conditions and changing attitudes, Charles Dickens emergence makes sense. Dickens wrote many stories and novels that featured aspects of Victorian society. For example, A Christmas Carol tells the tale of a greedy, miserly old man who treats his workers terribly and who ignores the social problems of his day. In return, he his haunted by three ghosts. In fact, one can argue that Dickens’ description of Scrooge perfectly captures the attitudes of the lower class toward the wealthy elite.

“Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.”

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

George Eliot, whose real name was actually Mary Ann Evans, wrote important literature during this time. She wrote under a male pen-name similar to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte in order to see her work published. Her novels Adam Bede (1859) and Middlemarch (1871)–which was an eight-book pastoral novel–have left a lasting impression.

Victorian Poetry

The poetry of the time differed slightly in tone from the prose writers. The major players, such as Lord Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, supported the ideas of Darwinism and were skeptical of religion. But, they understood that history was important, so connecting with olden times held maximum value to their ethos. Here, we have a small piece of a famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from Idylls of the King: The Last Tournament

“Then Arthur rose and Lancelot follow’d him,

And while they stood without the doors, the King

Turn’d to him saying, ‘Is it then so well?

Or mine the blame that oft I seem as he

Of whom was written, ‘A sound is in his ears’?

The foot that loiters, bidden go,–the glance

That only seems half-loyal to command,–

A manner somewhat fall’n from reverence—

Or have I dream’d the bearing of our knights

Tells of a manhood ever less and lower?

Or whence the fear lest this my realm, uprear’d,

By noble deeds at one with noble vows,

From flat confusion and brute violences,

Reel back into the beast, and be no more?”

Conclusion

The Victorian era was a marvelous time for literature. There were great strides in social criticism and a focus on the rationale moving forward. This era would inspire future generations as well and be a touchstone for literature and censure, including the trial of Oscar Wilde.

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The Legacy of Transcendentalism in Modern Literature and Thought

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When considering the profound impact of the Romanticism movement on literature history, one can see that it allowed humanity to think about its place in society. Yet, all movements evolve toward some end, as did the Romantics, and artists veered toward the Transcendentalist movement. In this post, we will look at the qualities and writers of this new movement within a movement to get a sense of what’s going on.

Background of the Transcendentalist Movement

Old and New Light

To begin, there was conflict. There was a great debate occurring in the 1800s between “New Light” theologians (who valued emotional experiences) and the “Old Light” opponent (who focused on reason). The New Light practitioners felt the lack of intuitive thought within religion should steer individuals forward on their own moral compass. The split from the “Old Light” thinkers created a more spiritual answer to the question of everything.

With this as a bedrock, Transcendentalism began to take shape.

The coming movement included multiple threads of foundation. First, individualism and self-reliance were key. Nature acting as a spiritual guide was important. The innate goodness of humans would prosper. Civil disobedience yielded good outcomes. And, lastly, materialism and industrialization were burdens.

New Ideas and a Club

As such, these new ideas embraced the thoughts of the Romantics, German Romanticism, and Eastern philosophy. Therein, the Transcendentalist movement explored the ideas of Immanuel Kant and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They espoused the ideas of an individual spiritual experience one could attain in their journey to understand God. These writers wanted a more progressive kind of meaning in their religion, which pushed them to write differently, just like other movements before them, including the Neoclassical writers and the Romantics.

Later, ministers from the Unitarian Church, including Emerson, would meet to discuss matters of the evolution into Transcendentalism. This group would form the “The Transcendental Club.” Margaret Fuller, who was the editor of the Transcendentalist journal The Dial, was one of the first members of this club. Ralph Waldo Emerson also wrote in this club. He was writing in Massachusetts in the early 1800s about topics centered on Self-Reliance. Henry David Thoreau, budding author, eventually went off to write Walden: or, Life in the Woods.

Brook Farm and the end of Transcendentalism

Nathaniel Hawthorne would test his mettle, and beliefs, at Brook Farm in Massachusetts, where some of the club took up quarters to start a commune.

“Hawthorne had left his position at the Boston Custom House on January 1, 1841, after a Whig, not a Democrat, was elected president. Although Hawthorne was in search of gainful employment, it seems hard to understand why Hawthorn, a man who was never much of a joiner, never was a member of any church, who cherished his solitude, and who was skeptical of movements to reform society, would have been enticed to join Brook Farm” (hawthorneinsalem.org).

While Hawthorne was eager to head to Brook Farm, Thoreau never became enticed and Emerson refused to live there—but he did visit on occasion. Hawthorne thought it was the perfect place to practice Transcendentalist beliefs to see if they would hold true in application.

Eventually, issues of longevity arose due to conflicts of ideals and intellect, and Brooke farm fell apart. Hawthorne “misjudged both himself and the situation” as “he couldn’t write there. Nor could he tolerate the idea of a cold winter far from (his wife).” Yet, it was an interesting experiment of labor and spirituality, of man and earth, and one’s ability to coexist with intuitive beliefs.

Around 1850, the Transcendentalist movement waned after the death of Margaret fuller, who was one of the progenitors of the movement. The failure of Brook Farm also lent itself to the movements closure. These two blows illustrated the problems of combining idealism, application, and hubris.

Example of Transcendentalism

For context, here is the first stanza of Emerson’s “Ode to Beauty.” This should give you an idea of how Transcendentalism functions:

“Who gave thee, O Beauty,
The keys of this breast,–
Too credulous lover
Of blest and unblest?
Say, when in lapsed ages
Thee knew I of old;
Or what was the service
For which I was sold?
When first my eyes saw thee,
I found me thy thrall,
By magical drawings,
Sweet tyrant of all!
I drank at thy fountain
False waters of thirst;
Though intimate stranger,
Though latest and first!
Thy dangerous glances
Make women of men;
New-born, we are melting
Into nature again.”

Ode to Beauty

Conclusion

The Transcendentalist movement would encourage other movements to take hold in the future. These movements included abolitionism, feminism, environmentalism, and civil disobedience during the Civil Rights movement. Similarly, the movement impacted future writers, like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, and gave way to the Realism movement.