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Kairos Meaning: Timeliness in Rhetoric

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Do you have a friend or relative who says the right thing at the right time? Or, maybe, you have that one funny person in your life who just drops the right joke when it’s needed? If so, these are all examples of kairos, or timeliness. The meaning of kairos is not overly complex. This post will dissect kairos and show how you can use it in your own writing to stay current.

Kairos Meaning and Definition

As with most of rhetoric, you can define it a variety of ways. For the purposes of this post, we are going to define Kairos as “timeliness.” With that said, kairos is linked to ethos, pathos, and logos, or credibility, emotion, and logic respectively. These three rhetorical strategies act as a sort of extension of argument. Obviously, it goes much deeper than that because there’s a lot to rhetoric. However, a simplified definition is functions in this context. To put it simply, kairos is a matter of appropriateness of speaking or writing.

“Kairos is knowing what is most appropriate in a given situation; for our purposes, let’s think of it as saying (or writing) the right thing at the right time,” states writer Kate Pantelides for Writing Commons. “Appeals to kairos in written form try to make use of the particular moment—attempting to capture in words what will be immediately applicable, appropriate, and engaging for a particular audience.” In other words, there is a time and place for something to happen (a certain message, phrasing, praise, retribution, etc.) and we can define that as kairos.

Examples of Kairos in Rhetoric

The example that is often given is Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” This particular speech draws on the fiery feelings of the time into one dramatic and relevant speech. I also recall reading King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” that equally speaks to kairos. This is the case because it tapped into the political and intellectual zeitgeist of the time.

Here are a few more examples:

  • Comebacks
  • Wit
  • Adaptability
  • Anticipation (rhetorical velocity)

Conclusion

With these considerations to the meaning of kairos, you might think about how you can incorporate kairos into your own writing. For instance, think about the relevancy of your argument. Does it matter to you or your community right now? Also, think about what you are writing about and the world at large. Is it a timely argument or is it going to matter in the context of the timeframe in which you live? Using kairos strategically can help you not only get the attention of readers, but it can also make you persuasive.

Works Cited

Pantelides, Kate. “Kairos.” Writing Commons. Web.

Spacey, John. “8 examples of kairos.” Simplicable.com. Nov. 28, 2018. Web.

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Marked for Doom: The Literary Origins of the Black Spot

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In Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson, a nasty, blind pirate named Pew gives ex-pirate Billy Bones a mark of revenge. This act is precisely what the black spot stands for when given in malice: judgement day. For those who hold it are doomed to die! But what is the literary origins of the black spot? Why did Robert Louis Stevenson choose the black spot as his means of vengeful conveyance? In this post, we will examine the literary origins of the black spot.

Description of the Black Spot

The black spot is a sheet of paper the size of a “crown piece.” One side is blank whereupon a pirate wrote, “Depposed.” On the reverse side, there is a verse from Revelation: “Without are dogs and murderers.” As Stevenson writes, “The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my fingers ….”

In the novel, Billy Bones receives the black spot and soon dies of fright, even though he was en route for escape. Alcohol and stress got the better of him in the end. Later in the novel, another pirate, Long John Silver, receives the black spot as well. However, as a stout, intelligent pirate, reacts quite differently from Billy Bones. With this in mind, the literary origins of the black spot start here in the novel. Yet, there are similar, earlier incarnations across history.

Investigating the Literary Origins of the Black Spot

So, to put it as straightforward as possible, Robert Louis Stevenson invented the black spot as a literary device in the novel Treasure Island. The idea perhaps comes from Caribbean pirates who used the ace of spades to pronounce condemnation on somebody as a traitor or informer.

“The expression on the spot has its origins in this superstition,” writes Brian H. Scott, “which probably derives from the old pirate practice of sending the ace of spaced, which has one printed ‘spot’ in the middle, as a death threat to an informer or coward whom they intended to kill.”

Considering this, the literary origins of the black spot come from a few different origins. One of which is Robert Louis Stevenson himself. The other is from previous authors that inspired his creativity. Honestly, this is a pretty good lesson in that history can inspire creativity and the creative process.

Appearances of The Black Spot in other Literature and film

  • “The Lottery” (1948) by Shirley Jackson: Those ritualistically killed are selected by a black spot.
  • The film Treasure Planet (2002) uses a “black hole” has the depiction of the black spot.
  • The television show Pirate Master (2007) used a black spot to vote off contestants.
  • Bands Murder by Death and Alestorm both have references to the black spot in a song.
  • Other examples

Works Cited

Scott, H. Brian. “To Put on the Spot.” All About Stuff. Web. https://web.archive.org/web/20110530084332/http://www.allaboutstuff.com/All_Kinds_of_Trivia/To_Put_On_The_Spot.asp

Blog, Writing Craft

The Truth About Writing Spaces: Myth vs Reality

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There seems to be a consensus that it is lame to write in a coffeeshop. Obviously, the reason for this is because it appears to be a cry for attention. Yet, day after day, month after month, year after year, the reality of a writer’s den becomes clearer. Namely, it doesn’t matter where you write as long as the writing gets done.

The Myth of the Writer’s Den

To kick things off, films have made writing more difficult, as writing is falls prey to cinema’s irresponsible portrayal of what a job actually looks like. This is especially the case when it comes to romanticizing a writer’s process. Think of movies like Finding Forrester (2000) and Adaptation (2002). If you are familiar with these two movies, you are no doubt thinking about writerly archetypes, and as a result you are thinking of fiction. These things movies show us do not exist, and if they do, it’s probably artifice. Restated, cinema has a way of portraying writing as something that it’s not: a solitary business full of existential crisis and substance abuse. One can treat it that way if they want, but they should not expect to get very much writing done.

That isn’t to say that you should get rid of that wool cardigan you just bought. You also shouldn’t throw out that expensive pipe either. However, you should really reflect on your role as a writer and your writing routine. Think: what you are trying to accomplish in your writing space? What should be in that space to get that goal achieved?

How to Find Your Writer’s Den

Having said that, ask yourself a few questions about your own writing room:

  1. Is it comfortable?
  2. Have you actually completed writing there?
  3. Why do you want that to be your writing room?

If you answered the first two questions with “No” and the third question with, “It makes me feel writerly,” then you might want to think about writing in places more conducive to writing. It is really easy to romanticize the lifestyle of a writer. Yet, if you are not doing your job–writing–then you simply must reevaluate your process until you are at least somewhat productive.

Still, keep in mind that for most of us, we have a few quiet places around the house that we maintain just for writing. Case in point: there might be a comfy chair you write in some days, and then a dark dungeon where you go to get other, more serious, writing done other days. After all, big projects and real work take a lot of focus, but some of the smaller stuff does not need a bevy of leather-bound books and antique globes to convince one to commit to the craft.

Some Ideas to Help You Find the Right Place

This may sound impractical, but in order to find the right place to write, sit around your house in various spots to try out what works best. Try well-lit rooms and dark rooms. Small rooms or big rooms. Space behind your furnace? Try there. A desk by your bed? Why not?

Also, try different forms of writing in different places. Some of us work best when we journal in longhand before bed. Or, when we sit in our comfy recliners and type on our laptops. Both are places of comfort that help us think about writing and not about how our hands hurt, or how lonely we are, or how cold it is in the basement.

Conclusion

Finding the right writer’s den is important as a writer. Yet, a writing room doesn’t have to be lined with bookshelves and leather furniture. It should be unique to you and it should be comfortable. You could even go to the coffeeshop and try that out. Who knows what works for you until you give it whirl, right? These experiments are cheaper than refurnishing an office you’ll never visit or buying a bigger desk that you won’t want to ever sit down at to write. Remember, our job as writers is to write, so always find the easiest, most comfortable ways to get the writing done.

Blog, Writing Craft

Writing Action Scenes: Techniques to Engage Every Reader

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What is good action in a narrative? How do we write good action scenes? Sometimes it’s the tension in a conversation in a drama, and sometimes it’s the clatter of swords on a pirate ship. In this post, we are going to look at tips on writing action and examine some examples from other texts. By the end, you should have a well-rounded approach to incorporating more heart-pounding moments in your writing.

What is Action in Writing?

In writing action scenes, writers need to remember it is dependent upon the movement of the character, whether that be through thought or action. Thus, we have to deal with verbs in many settings. Verbs, as we know, are action words. Action words thrust the story forward and can show emotions and intent.

Here’s a scene from I am Legend by Richard Matheson, a story about the last man on Earth combatting mutated vampires of the night. His use of verbs and adverbs allow us to see the moment blow by blow.

Fury exploded in him. Enough! His rage palsied hands ripped out the clothes from the bureau drawer until they closed on the loaded pistols. Racing through the dark living room, he knocked up the bar across the door and sent it clattering to the floor. Outside, they howled as they heard him opening the door. I’m coming out, you bastards! his mind screamed out. He jerked open the door and shot the first one in the face. The man went spinning back off the porch and two women came at him in muddy, torn dresses, their white arms spread to enfold him. He watched their bodies jerk as the bullets struck them, then he shoved them both aside and began firing his guns into their midst, a wild yell ripping back his bloodless lips. He kept firing the pistols until they were both empty.

The action is palpable, especially if you have the full context of the protagonist’s torment. While it comes off seamlessly in this excerpt (thanks to Matheson’s adroit narration), writing action can be difficult.

As such, writing effective action scenes in a story is a craft that requires a delicate balance between vivid description, pacing, and emotional engagement. Whether it’s a thrilling sword fight, a high-speed chase, or an intense battle of wits, well-crafted action sequences can elevate a narrative, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.

Setting Up the Action is Just as Important

When action does not seem to play well in writing, you can often pinpoint the setting as the problem. Where are the characters? Why is the scene not ringing true to me at the moment?

In Robert E. Howard’s novella The Phoenix on the Sword, that features his classic character Conan, the author sets the stage for a violent sword fight between the barbarian king and a litany of assassins.

Howard writes: “Alone in the great sleeping-chamber with its high golden dome King Conan slumbered and dreamed … Through the silence which shrouded the corridor of the royal palace stole twenty furtive figures. Their stealthy feet, bare or cased in soft leather, made no sound either on thick carpet or bare marble tile. The torches which stood in niches along the halls gleamed red on dagger, sword and keen-edged ax … They crowded back behind a cluster of carven pillars, and almost immediately ten giants in black armor swung by at a measured pace.”

In this example, Howard has set the stage for violence and action. We know where they are, we have some extra details, and though cliche in it presentation, the colloquial quality draws the reader into the story. We know this place well.

With that said, before diving into the action, it’s crucial to establish a clear and immersive setting. Provide the reader with enough details to visualize the environment when writing action scenes. Include the time of day, weather conditions, and any unique features that might impact the action. A well-described setting not only grounds the reader in the scene but also enhances the overall atmosphere, setting the tone for the impending action.

Engaging Action Writing through Characterization

As with many narrative writing techniques, one can’t expect readers to just gravitate to their writing. Even if the sentences are neat and look nice. There are many examples of bad writing and good storytelling–it happens. But the reason this happens is because some authors have a better command of their characters and their stories. That is to say, if a reader does not buy into your characters, it’s going to be more difficult to sell the action.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the reader cares very much for Bilbo Baggins. The reader cares about him because Bilbo is more like us than we’d like to admit. He appreciates comfort, he does not want to be bothered most of the time, and house guests often overstay their welcome. We can empathize with all of those notions.

As such, when Bilbo is captured by a group of hungry trolls, we worry about him. So, when the dwarves come into the fray to rescue him, the action feels more grounded.

“Thorin came last–and he was not caught unawares. He came expecting mischief, and didn’t need to see his friends’ legs sticking out of sacks to tell him that things were not all well … and he jumped forward to the fire, before they could leap on him. He caught up a big branch all on fire at one end; and Bert got that end in his eye before he could step aside. That put him out of the battle for a bit. Bilbo did his best. He caught hold of Tom’s leg–as well as he could, it was thick as a young tree-trunk–but he was sent spinning up into the top of some bushes, when Tom kicked the sparks up in Thorin’s face.”

Writing action scenes relies heavily on reader investment in the characters involved. Characters should be well-developed, and their motivations and stakes in the action should be clearly conveyed. In other words, readers should care about the outcomes and be emotionally connected to the characters. This connection heightens the impact of the action. It also makes it more than just a series of events, as the scene becomes dynamic.

Pacing the Action in Writing Makes for Epic Endings

Pacing is a crucial component of storytelling, from how the plot plays out to how the action unfolds. If you have an action-packed scene, it needs to have its own flow. It can not be just a series of “and then, and then, and then.” It must have meaning and it must be conveyed with meaning.

Let’s get back to Robert E. Howard’s Conan in The Phoenix on the Sword:

“With a yell that rang to the roof, the killers flooded into the room, Gromel first. He came like a charging bull, head down, sword low for the disembowelling thrust. Conan sprang to meet him, and all his tigerish strength went into the arm that swung the sword. In a whistling arc the great blade flashed through the air and crashed on the Bossonian’s helmet. Blade and casque shivered together and Gromel rolled lifeless on the floor. Conan bounded back, still gripping the broken hilt.”

We understand at this point that assassins have come to claim Conan’s life in his throne room. But, we also know Conan as a character–and we know he will not go down without a fight. The excerpt is the first in an epic scene of bloodshed and feverish action that pits a large group of men against one aging, yet ravenous, barbarian of Cimmeria.

In this next excerpt, Conan has been wounded by a dagger and the leader of the assassins, Ascalante, forces a few of his men to guard a door against Conan’s escape; however, this gives Conan time to grab an axe from the wall. In this part of the action, we have gone from the initial confrontation to a point where Conan is cornered, which ups the ante of the scene, and now he flings himself into combat with a centuries-old axe if only to die fighting.

“As he sprang from the wall his ax dropped an outlaw with a severed shoulder, and the terrible back-hand return crushed the skull of another. Swords whined venomously about him, but death passed him by breathless margins. The Cimmerian moved in, a blur of blinding speed. He was like a tiger among baboons as he leaped, side-stepped and spun, offering an ever-moving target, while his ax wove a shining wheel of death about him.”

The pacing of this scene is extraordinary and Howard shows his deft ability to control the action, inciting fear and anxiety in the reader, and ultimately relief as Conan slays a roomful of villains.

Conclusion

Action can be difficult to write, but with the right consideration, writers have the ability to show a person struggling against mutant vampires, fantasy characters captured by trolls, or a barbarian fighting for his life against a multitude of assailants. Just remember to be mindful of your setting–where the action takes place, the characters themselves and how they respond to situations, and the pacing of your action scenes. With these few considerations, the action in your stories should come alive.

Works Cited

Howard, Robert E. “The Phoenix on the Sword.” The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, edited by Patrice Louinet, Del Rey, 2003, pp. 3-28.

Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. Tor Books, 1995.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. Houghton Mifflin, 1937.

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Writing Suspense Stories: Techniques to Hook & Hold Readers

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Writing suspense stories is akin to writing music. You want something catchy to pull readers in, but then you want to continue creating new lines of interest to maintain attention. Luckily, books and stories have huge windows to maintain attention. In this way, you still want to move readers through a narrative adroitly. The suspense keeps readers reading, and that’s a really good thing. In this post, we are going to discuss a few ideas about how to build tension and suspense accordingly.

Writing Suspense Stories with Gradual Tension

To achieve suspense, one thing you can do is build tension gradually. This element lies in introducing an crucial detail early on and then steadily escalating the stakes. Think of how the governess in The Turn of Screw hints at a haunting early on in the story. The haunting grows from there. This literally creates a palpable sense of anticipation.

In The Scarlet Pimpernel, what’s in the background of everybody’s mind? The Guillotine. A horrid device for chopping off heads. With that in mind, we now know that the tension is in the device of murder—if they are caught, they are dead. Moreover, we have many character’s lives at stake, from Armand’s to Marguerite, to Sir Percy himself. This tension drives our interest in the next revelation.

Moreover, in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Marguerite has traveled to France knowing her husband, Sir Percy (The Scarlet Pimpernel), is in danger. We don’t know how much danger he is actually in, but we do know the French spy Chauvelin is devious and will do anything to stop Sir Percy. That’s a suspenseful scenario and a suspenseful moment!

Uncertainty is the foundation of suspense, and writers should keep their readers guessing by weaving unpredictable challenges and ambiguous situations.

Using Your Characters Wisely in Suspense

When writing suspense stories, character involvement is important as well. Readers connect with characters facing problems or threats. Therefore, crafting well-rounded, relatable protagonists is essential. That is to say, when characters are in danger, readers share in their anxiety, and this creates a connection. You should then place your characters in peril, and you should threaten the audience with killing somebody they love.

How many books have you read where a character was not in some form of danger? Probably not many. Danger is conflict, and conflict pushes narrative forward. If characters aren’t facing danger, then the story isn’t really going anywhere.

Keeping Information Behind Your Back

Control over the information in a story is another way to build suspense. Joyce Carol Oates once said that she likes to keep the crucial information behind her back while writing. Logically, that means she would dole it out as she sees fit throughout the story. Revealing these details maintains a sense of vagueness, keeping readers hungry for more. Again, consider The Scarlet Pimpernel, Marguerite slowly discovers that her husband is the Scarlet Pimpernel, even though he plays a foolish dandy. That control of information surprises us and keeps us reading the text.

Pacing, too, plays an important role. A twist or turn can heighten suspense in a novel. Continuing with our analysis of Marguerite, we discover that her brother is in trouble the same time Marguerite does, so we feel for her. Additionally, we learn about the cruel Chauvelin only as he reappears in Marguerite’s life. These moments of pacing show revelations when they are necessary. They also come after long moments of doubt in the reader.

Foreshadowing for Suspense

Furthermore, when writing suspense stories, foreshadowing adds depth to the narrative. By laying ideas early in a story, you are setting up a payoff. Readers need that idea! For example, Sir Percy shows hints of himself as a clever and intelligent hero even though he acts like a foppish buffoon. Marguerite can see his skill as a carriage rider and sees glints of dedication and intelligence in his eyes when he speaks to her. She feels it, and this foreshadows the revelation that Sir Percy is actually quite different from who he presents.

Conclusion

There are a variety of ways to ensure that readers are caught in suspense. These tactics include using tension, your characters, and foreshadowing. In this way, closure is crucial, but leaving some questions unanswered maintains a lingering sense of suspense beyond the final page. There are many examples of writers using these strategies successfully.

Committing these elements to a story transforms our narrative into something immersive and explosive. By keeping readers on the edge of their seats, they will certainly crave more. The art of suspense is a writer’s guarantee to the reader that they are going to be devouring an unforgettable story that stays with them for years to come.

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Analysis of “America” by Claude McKay: Strength and Struggle

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In interpreting Americanness through the eyes of poet Claude McKay, we see his experiences manifested in the forms of the Harlem Renaissance and the reality of racism. The latter was/is a pervasive, violent thorn in side of Black Americans. In this post, we will analyze “America” by Claude McKay through a brief analysis. This poem offers insight into the dual lives of people of color in the United States and a hope for a brighter future.

“America” by Claude McKay Analysis

Inspiration

McKay’s poem was published in 1921, and comes from a variety of inspirations. For example, McKay was a Jamaican immigrant who came to the US in 1912. He wrote through heated times in American history, including the Red Summer and the Red Scare. Consequently, seeing this racism first hand influenced McKay political ideology and predilection for racial themes in verse. McKay was also a bisexual leftist, and felt marginalized throughout his life.

Interpretation

The poem “America” comes naturally from a sore spot in McKay’s soul. It discusses oppression and a rebel lifestyle that stands in contrast to the average, white American experience. McKay writes, “Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, / And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, / Stealing my breath of life, I will confess / I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.” McKay tells us that it is bitter to live in a land he loves that challenges him in all aspects of his life.

America, according to McKay, is “vigor” that “flows like tides into” his blood. The country gives him life and “strength erect against her hate.” What kills him inside also feeds him completely. “Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, / I stand within her walls with not a shred / Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. / Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there.”

McKay espouses the hope that hate and violence will end one day because America is capable of that change. He can see it in the darkest spots. One day, it will not reflect the worst outcomes, he believes, but it will shed light upon the greatness that lies in shadow. As McKay writes: “Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.”

Even so, McKay places a empathetic touch on America’s spirit. Donna Denize and Lousia Newlin write in their article “The Sonnet Tradition of Claude McKay” that McKay “feminizes” North America. Through this poem, and others, he perhaps creates a loving, yet tumultuous, relationship between the speaker and the country.

The authors state: “One can’t help but notice how images keep shifting, as by the means of the sonnet form, the speaker negotiates the tension between conflicting emotions—passions invoked by the great promise of equality and innovation, patent traits of the American Dream” (Denize). Moreover, McKay dreams in this poem that America is capable of moving away from its violent past and inclination toward oppression. The goodness is there, yet it needs to show its face.

Read the full poem here.

Works Cited

Denizé, Donna E. M., and Louisa Newlin. “The Sonnet Tradition and Claude McKay.” The English Journal, vol. 99, no. 1, 2009, pp. 99–105. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40503338. Accessed 1 July 2021.

McKay, Claude. “America by Claude McKay | Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, 1 July 2021, poetryfoundation.org/poems/44691/america-56d223e1ac025.

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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson Analysis: A Normalcy of Violence

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Subtle contrast or irony in fiction is creative writing at its peak. For example, the values of the grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” or the wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Often, these ironic contrasts cause the reader to reflect on the wider world around them. These are the things that make horror in literature palpable. Accordingly, I thought it appropriate to provide an analysis of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. It is a uniquely horrific tale by the author of The Haunting of Hill House.

Overview

Jackson’s “The Lottery” tells the tale of a village that is preparing for its annual lottery. Readers get a close view of the town’s inhabitants, and their rituals. It is a close inspection as they prepare for the important day of selection. A day, remarkably, that seems to be like any other.

“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green,” Jackson writes.

The author describes the happenings of the town and the routine activities that are taking place. The townsfolk have gathered together in the square. And, at one point there s a kerfuffle over losing the black lockbox that is pivotal to the occasion. The men of the village gather and discuss the weather and the crops. Meanwhile, the women join them, and all of them wait for the event to begin.

Here, we learn more about the Lottery and the individual who manages it:

“The lottery was conducted–as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program–by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him. because he had no children and his wife was a scold.”

Soon enough, the prolonged wait is over for the village (the families want to get home before the noon dinner, of course) and the lists for the lottery are drawn. Of course, this was not unusual for those in attendance as the “people had done it so many times that they only half-listened to the directions…”

We soon find out that the unlucky winner is Tessie Hutchinson, after she arrives late to the party, who is married to the (unsavory?) Bill Hutchninson. After calling out the lottery as “unfair,” she is told the arbitrary rules a few more times before the first stones begin to fly—one striking her directly in the head.

“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,’ Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they (the villagers) were upon her.”

An Analysis of “They Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

Often referred to as a shocking story (which it probably was in 1948), “The Lottery” now stands as a totem to the normalcy of violence in communities. Consider the opening line: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny.” It is an important and tactful intro to a story that reveals hard truths about human nature through its exploration of sober malice. For example, the men gather and talk about “planting and rain, tractors and taxes,” and the women “greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands” (Jackson). It is all too normal, and I think that is exactly the point.

For me, Shirley Jackson is remarking on the commonality of brutal, barbaric violence that had found its way into America in 1948. Although, that violence certainly stretches to our time as well. The seemingly random accusations of communism and community ostracism that plagued America arrived shortly in the 50s. With it came the violence of oppression from a random lottery of ignorance and hate.

As Jackson stated in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1948:

“Explaining just what I had hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story’s readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Haven).

Jackson took that pervasive violence and made it tangible for the reader. It is alarming because we sometimes forget that crowds of people throw stones literally and metaphorically. As such, community has the power to come together, and it has the power to kill.

What do you think of this popular short horror story? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!



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Stephen King’s Richard Bachman: Life, Death, and Pseudonym

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Writerly pseudonyms have benefitted the writing community since the inception of publishing. In fact, the colloquial “pen name” comes from using pseudonyms. Consider: J.K. Rowling used the name Robert Galbraith following Harry Potter’s success; Agatha Christie used her own name for her mystery novels, while she used Mary Westmacott for her romance novels. In this post, we are going to talk about horror icon Stephen King’s famous pen name (as there are a spat of upcoming films), Richard Bachman.

Richard Bachman’s Background

At some point in his career, Stephen King became enamored with a possibility: what if I could release similar novels under a different name? The idea was to test the theory of talent vs luck. In King’s eyes, was he really talented as a horror author, or was he in the right place at the right time? Another issue King addressed with Bachman dealt with common publishing practices at the time: authors usually only published one novel per year to avoid saturation. Bachman solved this issue as King now had the opportunity to write and publish more novels each year. And, Bachman did just that.

Initially, King adopted the name Gus Pillsbury, which came from his maternal grandfather. However, that name was figured out fairly quickly, and so he dropped it.

As King put it: “The name Richard Bachman actually came from when they called me and said we’re ready to go to press with this novel, what name shall we put on it? And I hadn’t really thought about that … so they said they needed it right away and there was a novel by Richard Stark on my desk so I used the name Richard … and what was playing on the record player was ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet’ by Bachman Turner Overdrive, so I put the two of them together and came up with Richard Bachman.”

A Richard Bachman (fictional) Biography

Richard Manuel, a friend of Stephen King and “the insurance agent of Kirby McCauley,” who was King’s agent. According to lore, Claudia Inez Bachman took this photo of the fictious author.

Richard Bachman, as King explained, was a farmer-turned-writer who lived in New Hampshire with his wife, Claudia Inez Bachman. Unfortunately, they had a child who died after falling into a well and drowning. In later interviews, King revealed that Bachman’s face had become ravaged by cancer, which prevented him from public appearances and made him “one ugly son of a bitch.” Bachman also survived a brain tumor that had to be removed from the base of his brain, but still eventually succumbed to “cancer of the pseudonym.” Which, as we know, is not a real disease, but rather a play on Bachman’s very existence. As such, Bachman’s death had a lot to do with King being outed as the writer behind the pseudonym.

In his lifetime, Bachman wrote eight books. These included:

  1. Rage (1977)
  2. The Long Walk (1979)
  3. Roadwork (1981)
  4. The Running Man (1982)
  5. Thinner (1984)
  6. The Bachman Books (1985, collection)
  7. The Regulators (1996)
  8. Blaze (2007)

Revealing Bachman

A Washington D.C. bookstore clerk, Steve Brown, stumbled upon the real identity of Richard Bachman after noticing many similarities between Bachman’s books and King’s. Particularly, he was reading an advanced copy of Thinner (1984). His curiosity took him to the Library of Congress, where he checked the copyrights on Bachman’s novels. Kirby McCauley’s name appeared, who was King’s agent, and then King’s name appeared alongside Rage, Bachman’s first book. After sending a “letter detailing what (he) had found,” for the master of horror, Brown was contacted by King himself.

“This is Steve King,” the author stated over the phone while Brown was at work. “Okay, you know I’m Bachman, I know I’m Bachman, what are we going to do about it? Let’s talk.”

According to Brown, they spent multiple nights discussing the situation over the phone. Brown noted that King kept his sense of humor the whole time. With the ruse revealed, King’s Bachman books now feature the dual names, or “King writing as Richard Bachman.”

Blog, Folklore

Folklore: The Paulding Light in Michigan

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Folklore is graced with a fantastical flavor, which makes it so interesting, whether that be Zeus throwing lightning bolts at frightened peasantry, or Johnny Appleseed walking clear across the country to keep fruit alive in the hearts of the American people.

Folklore is often far-fetched—and can strain credulity—but it remains magical and joyous, and revealing, nonetheless. Oftentimes, folklore brings with it the revelation of history, community, and memory. In other words, folklore tells us about the world around us and tries to answer the why question about all the things we don’t understand.

The Paulding Light in Michigan is a folkloric tale that is actually rife in all three qualities of history, community, and memory, even though its scientific explanation has more to do with optical illusion than ghosts and spirits. Today, we are going to look into the strange light(s) in Paulding to examine its roots and why it fits within the realm of folklore.

Where is Paulding?

Paulding, MI, is located in the Upper Peninsula of the great mitten state. If you live in Michigan, then you know the U.P. feels like its own little world due to sociological and economical differences between its population and the population of the Lower Peninsula. Rural vs urban and all that.

Pure Michigan writes that Paulding is a “tiny place” that is located in the “Ottawa National Forest” that was once a “busy sawmill town surrounded by logging activity” (Michigan). It is a place where “Power lines and a service road cut straight through the trees as far back as the hills will let you see…” (Mitten). You can certainly get lost there (as you can with most of the U.P.), and the sounds of nature in an untapped world are oftentimes sobering….and a little scary. 

Folklore lives and breathes in these areas, whether it be Bigfoot in Ogemaw County, the Dogman in Wessex County, or the lights in Paulding.

History of the Paulding Light

In this rural location, the ghostly light has appeared time and time again to mystify and enamor the population of the small town. The light appears in a valley near Robbins Pond Road and seemingly weaves and bobs through the air at a power line break in the trees.  

While the initial discovery of the light was in 1966 by a group of students, the foundational stories of the (often nightly) light seem to suggest older roots. As with most folklore, we have multiple stories explaining why something exists or why a particular event happens. The Paulding Light is no different.

In one story, a brakeman dies attempting to stop a train from hitting railway cars along the track, and this story of sadness is one rife in folklore. Lost love, sacrifice, or a miscarriage of justice fills the belly of these tales. According to the Detroit Free Press, this is the “official” legend of the Paulding Light, but the stories explaining what people are actually seeing do not end there:

In another story, a mail carrier’s spirit haunts the valley, while yet another suggests that it’s an Indian spirit dancing on the power lines. More supernatural theories suggest another story of loss.

“Some claim it’s the distraught spirit of a grandparent looking for a lost grandchild with a lantern that needs constant relighting, the reason the light seems to come and go” (Carlisle).

Regardless of what it is, the Paulding Light fits within the realm of maintaining historical and communal value to individuals and citizens in any given area. In other words, no matter what story one believes, whether that be of a brakeman or a grieving grandparent, the Paulding Light fits a historical narrative for a small community. It addresses the town’s history and the reverence that the community pays homage to in the modern era. In other words, oral storytellers can tell passersby about the railway that ran through Paulding, or about how Native Americans once thrived in the area.

Possible explanations

For the skeptical, the Paulding Light is nothing more than an anomaly caused by optical and photonic illusions. PhD students at the Michigan Technological University used a variety of tests to conclude that the lights were reflections from passing cars.  

Students “created the light themselves” by driving a vehicle along US-45, where “Its passage correlated exactly with Paulding Light appearances” (Goodrich).  

Jeremy Bos, one of the researchers at Michigan Tech studying the Paulding Light, said, ““The whole goal wasn’t to rain on anybody’s parade … We have myths and fables and they’re valuable to us as humans and there’s no reason the Paulding light can’t be one of those…”

History is important and so is folklore. No matter if there is a logical or empirical explanation for any phenomenon, there are roots to explanation and justification that tie into cultural understanding. That is, we learn from each other, and about society, through the stories we tell. 

Conclusion

Bos’s attempts to answer questions about the Paulding Light were met with both positive and negative statements from the population—but there is a reason for both attitudes. Folklore is a powerful tool of explanation and when it has entered our brains to provide some “truth” whether factual or not, we gravitate to this understanding as a means of liberation from ignorance.

Stories of a brakeman dying to save a train cart explain not only the Paulding Light, itself, but also how death extends into life—no sacrifice is left unseen. In the case of Paulding, folklore keeps the history of the community alive (logging and lumber) and provides the population with a meaningful mystery that explains their identity and themselves to the world.

Works Cited

Carlisle, John. “Mysterious light draws thrill seekers up to a U.P. Forest.” Detroit Free Press. Sept. 4, 2016. Web: https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/john-carlisle/2016/09/04/mysterious-paulding-light-upper-peninsula-michigan/89275134/

Goodrich, Marcia. “Just in time for Halloween: Michigan Tech Students Solve the Mystery of the Paulding Light.” Michigan Tech. Michigan Technological Institute. Oct. 28, 2010. Web: https://www.mtu.edu/news/2010/10/just-time-for-halloween-michigan-tech-students-solve-mystery-paulding-light.html

Mitten, Awesome. “Michigan Urban Legends to Tell Around the Campfire.” Pure Michigan | Official Travel & Tourism Website for Michigan, 26 July 2022, michigan.org/article/trip-idea/michigan-urban-legends-tell-around-campfire.

“Paulding.” Pure Michigan. Michigan.org. Web: https://www.michigan.org/city/paulding

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What a Mark Twain Quote Teaches Us About Putting Facts First

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How do we get it right the first time? Is that even possible? As Mark Twain–author of many important works–once stated, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” In this post we are going to examine this quote. It has something to do with you as a writer and us as people. In the very least, the quote is about bending the rules after you’ve learned the rules. This is important to the writing process, regardless if you are a writer OR a Yankee from Connecticut.

Getting Your Facts Straight, According to Twain

As it relates to the Mark Twain quote in this post, the author embellished facts in his writing, especially when it came to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Historically, the novel is a little untrue, and historical critics railed against it for being anti-historical. That is to say, it did not play by the rules of reality, favoring satire and whimsical narrative over fact.

Yet, Twain’s quote makes a valid point when it comes to writing. We do have to get it right and then we can build from there. Getting the known truths out there is essential, as then you have the ability to embellish that truth. I think if the groundwork is laid, then writers have carte blanche to interpret as they see fit. As such, the genre of the writing does change–maybe from historical to historical fiction.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night experiences this interesting transformation. The book deals with the propagandistic efforts of the Nazi party, which truly happened. Then, the reader is given a fictitious trial and imprisonment of the lead character that seems straight from Hollywood.

“Get your facts first” means writers should have a framework for writing first. Wrapped up in a bundle, this means an understanding of grammar or structure, or both. Likewise, writers should hold those things dear and engage in the writing discipline in a practical way. It is at this point that they can “distort” the facts as they please.

A Mark Twain Quote: Bending the Truth and Form

Many famous authors have distinctive writing voices, so we have to take this Mark Twain quote lightly. These authors include James Joyce, Harper Lee, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Joyce Carol Oates, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, and Banana Yoshimoto. Are they on point when it comes to grammar and conventions all the time? No. But that’s precisely the point. You have to learn the rules to break them. With this in mind, I think that Twain speaks to that exact point in the aforementioned quote.

You have to practice and learn the discipline before you can try to break away to create something new. Unfortunately (or fortunately) writers are bound by structure whether we acknowledge it our not. We learn it young and we see it perfected in text by those who have come before us. No matter, we can take what they have done and turn it into something new. That’s as long as we learn the basic structure first.

Getting to the point where we can break the rules in our art takes time. But, with enough practice and understanding of the fundamentals…we’ll get there.

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No Country for Old Men Analysis: The Decline of Bygone Morality

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Many readers became aware of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men through the 2007 Coen Brothers film. It is a challenging movie in many regards. It has an unconventional ending, strange characters, and an odd plot. Yet, it successfully utilizes conventions of the western genre and creates endlessly analytical moments. The book does this in the exact same way. But, perhaps the most important part of the novel is its meaning, which is difficult to parse. In this post, I am going to offer an analysis of No Country for Old Men and try to explain its significance. In this way, you may be able to view the film with fresh eyes.

Outdated Characters in the Modern World

A Thematic View

I suppose a good starting point is the book thematically as a whole. The book reveals that the city of life informs its residents that death comes swiftly and abruptly. In many respects, so does the slow deterioration of one’s moral self. While I think nailing down a theme for No Country for Old Men can be difficult, there are some clues.

Reviewer Walter Kern writes that the novel relies on sparse elements that create a cohesive whole. This new whole has too much “temptation,” and a lack of “wisdom.” It has, “weak, bad men,” and a lack of, “strong, good ones.”

Yet, it’s conveying something else. Kern writes that it’s freedom and space to make poor choices to temporarily flee. The reader sees this with Moss running for his life with the drug money—the blood money.

“He sat there looking at it and then he closed the flap and sat with his head down,” McCarthy writes of Moss’s fateful decision. “His whole life was sitting there in front of him. Day after day from dawn till dark until he was dead.”

Fate and Chance

Thus, for me, the theme is tied to fate and chance. One’s actions will see literal outcomes. However, I also think an important theme to consider plays into the title. Time moves on whether one wants it to or not. Thus, people become outdated in their morality, philosophy, and ethics as the years pass. In other words, relevancy is not permanent. It can be inferred that one’s age dictates the currency of one’s life. With that being said, the looming irrelevancy of all of our lives encourages the meaning we derive from ourselves and our history.

Let’s analyze a few of the characters.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell

Responsibility in an Irresponsible World

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell believes people should be responsible for their actions and for their justifications. Yet, this concept evolves throughout the novel as it attaches to each character in similar ways. For the sheriff, the endless procession of horrors jostles him to the point that he retires. At this point, he is disenfranchised due to his inability to exact any kind of justice in a bygone world.

“A few years ago and it wasn’t that many neither I was goin out one of these little two lane blacktop roads of a night and I come up on a pickup truck … so I hit the lights and whenever I done that I seen the slider window in the back of the cab open and here come somebody passin a shotgun out the window.”

During this scene, drug runners attack Bell. They shoot at him from their truck, and he crashes his car and realizes that times have changed. No longer is the world full of innocent barfights that lead to a few minor scrapes. Now it has morphed into a landscape rife with murderous rampages, violence, and killing. While he reminisces about future events, the real change isn’t apparent until the reader is let into two different scenes. One in which he visits Moss’s dad and one in which he discusses his dreams with his wife.

Modern Morality

In meeting with his Uncle Ellis, Bell learns a few things. One is about modern morality and ethics, as “better times” might have never existed. According to Uncle Ellis, men have always killed each other for the same reasons—or lack thereof. As Uncle Ellis states of Uncle Mac’s death, the violent times have never left the area.

“They was seven or eight of them come to the house,” Uncle Ellis tells Sheriff Bell. “Wantin this and wantin that. He (Uncle Mac) went back in the house and come out with a shotgun but they was way ahead of him and they shot him down in his doorway. She (his wife) run out and tried to stop the bleedin. Tried to get him back in the house. Said he kept tryin to get hold of the shotgun again. They just set there on their horses. Finally left.”

Bell is an honest, stalwart sheriff who oversees his county as best he can. Nevertheless, he can’t simply do enough anymore because the world has moved on. At the end of the book, he sees seeking justice as a trivial matter. Evil has forced its hand, the villain got away, and good people died. This is an interesting character progression. Bell reminisces about “better times” where kids used to play different games. Now, it’s too much violence. We see the theme of an evolving world taking place within the story of the book.

Llewelyn Moss

Values Gone Dry

The outdated sense of character and values can be seen in Llewelyn Moss. While hunting on the flats of New Mexico, he stumbles upon drug money, which he then decides to take in order to better his own life and those around him (maybe). This action dooms him, as he is then pursued from the start of the novel and to the finish by ruthless criminals, and he is finally left dead in the doorway of a motel after a shootout with cartel members.

“He (Bell) pulled back the sheet. Bell walked around the end of the table. There was no chock under Moss’s neck and his head was turned to the side. One eye partly opened. He looked like a badman on a slab. They’d sponged the blood off of him but there were holes in his face and his teeth were shot out.”

Morals Aren’t Permanent

In this, we can see Kern’s point—Moss had the freedom of choice and the freedom to flee, but we must also analyze the “outdated values” argument. Moss is impulsive and is willing follow his morality and ethics to the end to justify his theft. Moreover, he is willing to throw his life away, and he believes that, through simple ingenuity, he could survive and defeat the odds. But, as we see, this is not the case. Moss is killed, the money is gone, and his wife, Carla Jean, is murdered likewise.

Llewelyn’s outdated morals—honed in Vietnam—ultimately cause his death. He is too reliant on the skills he hopes to use to defeat the cartel and Chigurh. As such, his morals are outdated and thus lack rational logic (logic that fits into a modern world), which in McCarthy’s world, means you will leave either defeated or you will die. There is no winning.

Anton Chigurh

A Life By Chance

Anton Chigurh is vastly different from both Llewelyn and Bell in his moral code. He doesn’t believe that life has inherent meaning, and instead favors fate as the guiding principal. One follows a path that leads them to where they are going and they do not choose this path either.

“He’s a strict, conscientious, self-taught psychopath who vigilantly maintains his mental ill-health,” Kern writes. “He’s purged himself of all qualms and second thoughts so as to function smoothly in the world that Bell has grown unfit for.”

The march of time and “outdated morals” do not apply to Chigurh because his morality and ethical purity are made for a violent world. In other words, he lives strictly by his convictions, and he will not be deterred unless he is in an absolute dire strait, which isn’t often.

The Differences Show

As such, he is completely different from Bell in that way.

“… what makes Chigurh such a chilling antagonist is that by McCarthy’s reckoning, he seems like the right man for the times—an uncaring beast with no concern for anyone else,” Keith Phipps from the A.V. Club writes.

Llewelyn Moss is flawed, impulsive, and impractical, while Sheriff Bell is in over his head as times have moved on without him, but the world seems to reward people like Chigurh due to his convictions. Somebody who has no want of sensibility, community, and capital—those things that tie Bell and Moss together—will benefit them in the end…or, at least, that seems to be McCarthy’s suggestion.

Conclusion

Living with Outdated Morals

One of the final scenes in No Country for Old Men makes me think that the point of the novel is to touch on the theme of outdated morality. Anton Chigurh is driving his truck down the road after killing Carla Jean and is t-boned by another car that runs a stop sign. He is left in bad shape but is able to pay a bystander for their shirt and silence. Then he takes off into the backroads and byways of America, as though he is some mysterious, unkillable phantom of vengeance and retribution.

Taking a step back, one can see how Chigurh simply leaves the scene of the accident. In this way, he gets away, which literally means that there really is No Country for Old Men because the villain escapes without comeuppance. However, in applying the “outdated morals” concept, we must reflect on Chigurh’s confrontation with hitman Carson Wells. In this, we see his unwillingness to take money in exchange for Wells’ life. In fact, he kills Wells instead of taking his money. However, this should be odd to the reader because we then see Chigurh bribe two small children in order to ensure his own escape. Could it be that he is just a pragmatist who is cleaning up loose ends? I think not.

A Passing of Morality

As the two boys ride their bikes to Chigurh, he asks them for their help and gives them money.

“Chigurh thumbed a bill out of the clip and put the clip back in his pocket and took the bill from between his teeth and got to his feet and held it out…Take it. Take it and you don’t know what I looked like. You hear?”

But, why? If he is so sure of fate, wouldn’t it work itself out? In the novel, Wells asks Chigurh if he would take money in exchange for sparing his life, and Chigurh says it’s a good payday, but “It’s just in the wrong currency.” Nonetheless, according to Jack’s Movie Reviews about Chigurh’s own appreciation of bribery: “As he passes the one-hundred-dollar bill to them (the kids), it is a passing of generations. It is him being weak. It’s him becoming an old man. And, as we know, this is no country for old men.”

The Message Overall

In conducting this analysis of No Country for Old Men, there is no right or wrong. There are just those who have outdated morals or ethical impurity and suffer from their own actions and those who adhere strictly to a moral compass that ensures ethical behavior. Bell realizes he is outdated and is no longer fit for the modern world. Once, he used to break up barfights. Now, drug dealers shoot at him, and he follows a destructive swath cut by Anton Chigurh. The world has shifted to something violently unrecognizable.

Overall, I think I would propose that this book is about changing times and how that has a lessening effect on one’s own immediate surroundings. Toward the end of the novel, Bell states that by trying to live by his own morals he would be living life correctly.

“I thought if I lived my life in the strictest way I knew how then I would not ever again have a thing that would eat on me thataway.”

We of course find out that this mental outlook can’t be true and that Bell is wasting away in a sense–literally and morally.

Perhaps it is a little about mental change as one gets older, too, and the realization that these moments you once lived are now just shaky memories. I believe McCarthy wants us to believe that regardless of one’s morals—or their ability to survive, or their patience, or their violence toward others—everyone becomes outdated one day. Yet, by understanding and accepting this notion, one can adjust their life so that the reliance on the past has less of an impact on the future. At least this rationale could let us rest easy with our own irrelevancy as we get older—perhaps a little easier than Sheriff Bell at least.

Works Cited

Cheuse, Alan. “McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men.” NPR. July 28, 2005. Web.

Kern, Walter. “‘No Country for Old Men’: Texas Noir.” The New York Times. July 24, 2005. Web.

Phipps, Keith. “Cormac McCarthy: No Country for Old Men.” A.V. Club. Aug. 16, 2005. Web.

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Analyzing “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W. B. Yeats

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W.B. Yeats was an immensely popular poet in his time, and for good reason. His poems resonate with readers for their beauty and themes. In fact, his poem, “When You Are Old,” very simply identifies aging in a creative way. These themes include universal ideas of nature, solitude, and peace. In this post, we examine his poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” which discusses these ideas. While one of his most popular, the poem is eternal in its meaning.

Format Structure of Innisfree

The poem has three quatrains, and it is written in iambic tetrameter. It also has an ABAB rhyme scheme. There is simplicity to its form, but this is intentional. Additionally, it uses repetition to repeat the important ideas of determination to escape from the confines of their life. There is peace in this simple verse.

Themes of Innisfree

The themes in the poem include those of solitude, nature’s healing, and imagination. To begin, the solitude of this poem is found in the speaker’s disdain for “pavements gray,” and his want of a “small cabin” that consists “of clay and wattles.”

Likewise, there is an emphasis on the healing power of nature. Yeats writes, “Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, / An live alone in the bee-loud glade.” Yeats’s yearning for such agrarian existence shows his interest in the natural world. In addition, the themes of imagination come through in Yeats’s want of this faraway, natural world. Imagination, in this way, takes Yeats to a land of carefree calm.

Conclusion

Yeats’s poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” speaks to the authors need to escape the world as we know it. In pining for nature, he imagines himself in a land of peace. The structure of this poem speaks to this simplicity. As in one’s desires and love of imagined worlds, Yeats simplistic poem gives way to complex understandings. Leaving the concrete jungle of urban life for rural serenity is a dream of many.

Blog, Folklore

Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination, A Formative Read

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I have a lot of books that played a role in my literacy voyage. These include Roald Dahl’s Young Adult/Adult novels to R.L. Stine’s Goosebump series and others. But there are a few that really got me rolling on loving horror and the occult. One of which was Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Alex Hamer.

This was a book that I read many, many times. I can remember reading this book as a kid at my parents’ house. In fact, one of my middle school teachers let me read a few chapters from this book to the class one afternoon. What a memory!

We are going to talk about this book today because it is an excellent collection of folklore and mythology. It also spans the gamut of gruesome to horrific. Hopefully this inspires you to pick up a copy wherever you can find one. While formative for me, it can be inspiring for you!

Synopsis of Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Ghosts and Madness

Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a clever book. It comes from the author’s ability to play with myth and folklore. There are truly horrific tales that come from the annals of world history. Yet, it is clever in construction. Each chapter begins with a short history lesson or synopsis that pulls the reader into the story. It’s also clever in scope, spanning the world through stories most of us have heard and new ones that we won’t soon forget.

To get a good example of how this book operates, we need to look no further than the first chapter, which is titled “The Bleeding House Mystery.”

It begins:

“The strange disappearance of Buford and Ellen Penrose was a haunting, unsolved mystery for eight years…until the awful night when blood began dripping from the ceiling of their home, sending the gathering of fashionable dinner guests fleeing in horror.”

Now, if that doesn’t intrigue you in the least then I am not sure how else to pique your interest. The author packed this book with memorable haunts. And they page after page is laden with exciting narratives.

Buried Alive

The stories in Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination continue in grisly entertainment in the proceeding chapters. “Ghostly Escorts” tells the tale of lost ships at sea. Ships that are filled with phantoms. Meanwhile, “The Pleading Ghost” presents perhaps the scariest way to expire—premature burial. It spares nothing in its revelation of a poor young woman suffering her last moments on Earth. She is confined in a coffin six-feet under. Though her struggle is never revealed–she fought until her last breath.

It reads:

“The hair that remained on the skull was disheveled and the knees were bent as if in an effort to force open the coffin lid. Worse, much worse, there were bloody, parallel scratches on the wood of the inside coffin lid, and a single fingernail was still imbedded in the soft pine.”

Additionally, there are stories of the occult in Egypt and psychics predicting their own deaths. There is also one of my favorites: the story of the bloodthirsty Sawney Beane family. They were a family so grim that they terrorized and cannibalized the Irish hills of Galloway for years. Eventually, King James’ army came to the hills and arrested the family.

Final Thoughts on These Strange Tales

I love hearing stories about ghosts and monsters because there is a rawness and realness to what humans believe they have experienced. Oral storytelling is excellent as well. That realness extends itself to Strange Tales of Mystery and Imagination, because there is something conversational that likens each story to homespun horror, as if the author is in the same room next to a roaring fire regaling an audience with the macabre.

While it may sound dark–and it is dark–it’s actually a really fun book that filled many of my days with delightful fright. Regardless, if you can imagine a young Michigander weened on Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King, then you might understand why this book is important to me and my reading journey. Even these days, I will absent-mindedly pluck it off the bookshelf and flip through the pages. The stories are just that intriguing.

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Turn of the Screw: Chapters 6-10 Summary

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Turn of the Screw: Chapters 1-5 Summary

In this post, we are examining Henry James‘s The Turn of the Screw chapters 6-10. At the midway point now, everything begins to ramp up, from hauntings to unforeseen truths.

The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 6-7 Summary

In these chapters, we find that the governess is investigating a mystery. The mystery involves one Peter Quint. This Quint character happens to be looking for Miles, but the children have been strangely silent on the subject. The governess’s relationship with the children becomes more peremptory as she seeks to uncover the reason behind the ghostly visitations. One day, while watching Flora, she takes note of a female visitor nearby who shares ghostly qualities.

Later, the governess confronts Mrs. Grose about the happenings. She accuses the children of knowing more than they let on. She also tells Mrs. Grose about the female ghost and also admits that she believes the ghost to be the previous (now deceased) governess. After some chatter about the subject, Mrs. Grose reveals that both Quint and Miss Jessel (the ghost) had a relationship outside of what is deemed right and proper.

The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 8-9 Summary

The governess is eventually able to convince Mrs. Grose about the ghostly visitations, however many issues arise from her prying. It is reveled that both Quint and Miss Jessel had an affair, and that Quint was a bad influence on Miles; likewise, Miss Jessel’s relationship with Flora could also be questioned. Such accusations are also levied at the children, as, according to the governess, they could be under the spell of ghosts. Regardless, their youthful naivete may also have covered up crimes of a sexual nature.

Bly continues on unabated, and the governess is ever vigilant about keeping the children safe, and without ghostly molestation. The governess finds herself and the children growing closer to each other. However, due to the nature of the spiritual accusations, she is unsure of veracity of this relationship. One night, while reading, the governess hears something odd, and she leaves the room to investigate. She finds the ghost of Quint who eventually disappears.

The Turn of the Screw: Chapter 10 Summary

It is soon discovered that Flora is no longer in her bed but is behind her window blinds. Flora comes out and is seemingly terrified due to the governess’s absence. Both characters are irate about the other’s actions. Later, the governess finds the ghost of Miss Jessel who promptly disappears. Keeping tabs on Flora, the governess attempts to see what the child sees at night and finds a window with a similar view, only to find Miles out on the lawn.

Conclusion

In The Turn of the Screw Chapters 6-10, the tension amps up with a ghostly visitation. The governess also becomes more adept at gathering information. Though, from her own admission, she seems to be self-involved in the case, going off of ghostly apparitions as her main body of evidence. Her love for the children ostensibly keeps her from prying too deep. Seeing each of the children in precarious spots is heartbreaking and confusing for her, but she strives to understand the truth.

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Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-15 Summary

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Turn of the Screw: Chapters 1-5 Summary
Turn of the Screw: Chapters 6-10 Summary

In this post, we continue with The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-15 summary. The novel is by psychological-horror author Henry James. As we are nearing the end of the book, we should be taking note of the building tension in the manor. The governess has now seen ghosts on two occasions. Meanwhile, the children are acting in strange ways. In the following chapters, more eeriness assails the governess as she comes closer to unraveling the mystery.

Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-13 Summary

After standing on the lawn at night and frightening the governess, she leads Miles back inside. After questioning him, Miles insists it is because he wants to be “bad” and to prove it to her.

He tells her: “‘Think me—for a change—bad!’ I shall never forget the sweetness and gaiety with which he brought out the word, nor how, on top of it, he bent forward and kissed me.”

While the governess doesn’t entirely understand Miles’s motivations, she forgives the child.

Though Mrs. Grose doesn’t believe the governess, the governess goes into detail about the children’s relationship with Quint and Miss Jessel. She explains that they are either tied to them or are in fact that spiritual slaves. In her opinion, she aims to destroy the children. Mrs. Grose attempts to convince the governess to contact the master of the house in order to spirit the children away. However, the governess denounces any and all plans for various reasons. Mostly, she doesn’t want to seem like she is going insane.

In the text, the governess explains that she could already see the master of the house’s reactions. She saw his, “derision, his amusement, his contempt for the breakdown of her resignation.”

As the season turns to autumn, the governess finds the children still a delight but has her suspicions. Mostly, her suspicions are about how they communicate with the ghosts. Yet, the governess is unable to confront the children about these sightings. As such, she leaves it be for the time. After the children ask to see their uncle, the governess insists that they write letters–letters that she in fact keeps and does not send to the master of the house.

Turn of the Screw: Chapters 14-15 Summary

One day, when walking to church with the household, Miles asks about returning to school. He admits that he has been very good with only one exception. The governess tries to parse Miles’ reasons for being sent out of school. But, she is unable to discover his motives. Miles then insists that he wants to go back to school, and though he is rebuked, he insists. He comes to the conclusion that he will convince his uncle to visit and allow him to return.

In the novel, both the governess and Miles have a brief exchange outside of the church before the child enters:

Miles, on this, stood looking at me. “Then don’t you think he can be made to?”

“In what way?”

“Why, by his coming down.”

“But who’ll get him to come down?”

“I will!” the boy said with extraordinary brightness and emphasis. He gave me another look charged with that expression and then marched off alone into church.

At this point, the governess intends to leave Bly as she feels the events at the manor have been untenable. Entering the house, she sits on the stares but remembers seeing the ghost of Miss Jessel. So, she decides to head to the schoolroom. Regardless, she sees the ghost of the woman once more and has a violent reaction. No doubt this is a consequence of the trauma and anxiety caused by the apparition.

She states of the occurrence: “It was as a wild protest against it that, actually addressing her—’You terrible, miserable woman!’—I heard myself break into a sound that, by the open door, rang through the long passage and the empty house. She looked at me as if she heard me, but I had recovered myself and cleared the air. There was nothing in the room the next minute but the sunshine and a sense that I must stay.”

Conclusion

In The Turn of the Screw: Chapters 11-15, we have more character building and a continued rising of suspense. We discover that Miles is quite precocious and is a conniving child. He makes plans to manipulate people into getting what he wants, such as convincing the governess that he is capable of being “bad.”

In addition, we also learn that the governess has multiple motives for staying on at Bly Manor and not alerting the master of the house. For one, her duty to the children is supreme, and her motherly protection seems to be paramount to her leaving; moreover, she understands that what she has seen at Bly is a little strange and that alerting anybody other than Mrs. Grose may make her seem insane.