Monthly Archives: November 2016

The word “marry (v.)” originated in c.1300 from the Old French word “marier”, meaning to give (offspring) in marriage. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “marry” in fourteen ways, most commonly referring to a join in marriage or a unity of … Continue reading →

Now, in our times, we could use the word Hamlet the way Shakespeare used the character Hamlet. Realistic humanism is something Shakespeare brings forth in his plays, where characters are not portrayed one-dimensionally. Thus, the character Hamlet is dynamic like a real human … Continue reading →

In the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “extravagant” (adjective) has six definitions. According to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary, the current definition of “extravagant,” or what it has come to mean, is “lacking restraint in spending money or using resources” or … Continue reading →

I find myself regularly employing the term happy to describe my state of being. However, the definition is not clear to me still. Some explain it as joyful, others as content. Some even define it as having no cares at … Continue reading →

The word “doubt” originated in Latin and moved through Old French into Middle English. Doubt has grown two branches of meaning: uncertainty or mistrust and fear or suspicion. The latter branch is archaic and mostly obsolete but was common in … Continue reading →

Storytelling Body: The Thousand and One Nights: Using storytelling to delay negative outcomes- both in the main story and in within the stories. Connects to this idea that characters in the story can never give up an opportunity to hear a … Continue reading →

Chosen Prompt: The uses of storytelling. People tell each other stories, over and over, in the poems, plays, and stories we have read. And they seem to do this for various reasons: self-expression and confession (storytelling as a means of … Continue reading →

First Person: The Thousand and One Nights: The I is used mostly for narrative and dialogic purposes: Shahrazad uses I to start her story each night & to present the conversations the characters within her stories have with each other. … Continue reading →

Prompt 6: Justice/Crime and Punishment: In almost all of the texts we have read, some conception of justice—especially when it comes to punishment comes into play. Yet justice is never an easy concept to pin down. For instance, in the … Continue reading →

Women in Literature Both Antigone and One Thousand and One Nights feature women as the protagonist, at times when women were not ordinarily depicted as lead characters in literature. Do the depictions of Antigone and Sharazad honor women or demean them, and in what way(s)? Crime … Continue reading →