July 2013 – Princeton Writes

Public Speaking Group Established

Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-29T11:39:15-04:00

Princeton Writes is pleased to announce the formation of the Princeton Employee Public Speaking Group – an informal, nonjudgmental, and mutually supportive forum in which participants can develop the skills and confidence they need to make effective oral presentations. “Public speaking engenders a deep-seated fear in many of us,” notes Princeton Writes’ director John S. Weeren, “so a central goal of this group is to demonstrate that addressing an audience can be a positive – even an exhilarating – experience, once some basic principles and techniques are mastered. Together, we will explore these principles and techniques and put them into practice [...]

Public Speaking Group EstablishedStephanie Whetstone2013-07-29T11:39:15-04:00

sesquipedalian (sĕs-kwĭ-pĭ-DĀL-yǝn)

Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-22T12:00:58-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Given to using long words. In Context “Poor Miss Matty got sadly puzzled with this, for the words gathered size like snowballs, and towards the end of her letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian.” Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, 1851.

sesquipedalian (sĕs-kwĭ-pĭ-DĀL-yǝn)Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-22T12:00:58-04:00

viscous (VĬS-kǝs)

Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-15T12:00:39-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Of substances: Having a glutinous or gluey character. In Context “Fresh slicks of black, viscous oil continued to wash up on to the beaches of north-west Spain yesterday as the fuel left behind by the sunken tanker Prestige began to spread south down the coast.” Giles Tremlett, “Wildlife Suffers As Oil Spreads Along Spanish Coast,” The Guardian, November 21, 2002.

viscous (VĬS-kǝs)Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-15T12:00:39-04:00

“Affect” Versus “Effect”

Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-02T12:00:05-04:00

Few words separated by a single letter cause as much confusion as “affect” and “effect.” Beyond their superficial similarity, the water is further muddied by the fact that each functions as a verb and noun. None of these forms is interchangeable, so keeping them straight is important. Let’s begin with some broad definitions: Affect (ǝ-FĚKT), as a verb, has two discrete meanings: to influence or to simulate, as in “The storm affected turnout at Richardson Auditorium” or “Professor James affected the dress and manners of an Ewardian don, much to the amusement of his students.” Affect (ĂF-ĕkt), as a noun, is a psychological [...]

“Affect” Versus “Effect”Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-02T12:00:05-04:00

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) by Mohsin Hamid, Class of 1993

Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-01T12:00:59-04:00

Critical Assessment “Hamid is unobtrusively, but constantly, addressing the reader, hinting at how to read his novel; how not to be manipulated and led . . . but to become attuned to its hidden, recurrent inversions. There’s an almost delightful allegorical symmetry to the flow of events, as well as a sensuousness and finish that might belong to some other form of art: music, perhaps. “Despite its minute probing into the narrator’s thoughts, this is not a conventional psychological novel; much of its magic – the enchantment and innocence of the relationship, the absolute familiarity and foreigness of America, the fragrant boisterousness [...]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) by Mohsin Hamid, Class of 1993Stephanie Whetstone2013-07-01T12:00:59-04:00