Stephanie Whetstone – Page 32

glean (glēn)

Stephanie Whetstone2017-01-16T12:00:09-05:00

Definition (Verb) To gather or pick up in small quantities; to scrape together. Now chiefly with immaterial object, especially to glean information, to glean experience, etc. In Context "Whatever insights or glimpses of the truth I glean when sitting quietly in my wing chair – thinking, reading, or simply gazing out the window at a neighbor walking her dog – is what I write down." Phyllis Theroux, The Journal Keeper, 2010. This word was suggested by Tori Sikkema in the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

glean (glēn)Stephanie Whetstone2017-01-16T12:00:09-05:00

Upstream (2016) by Mary Oliver

Stephanie Whetstone2017-01-01T19:21:27-05:00

Critical Assessment "Now 81, Oliver has published Upstream, a book of essays that provides deep insights and delightful anecdotes as she examines her role as a writer, reader and a spiritual seeker who constantly practices what she describes as the redemptive art of true effort. "The book opens with 'Upstream,' a lyrical piece where Oliver recalls wading upstream in rippling water as a child while her parents remained downstream. As she moved further and further away, some steps easy, others requiring great effort, she realized that she enjoyed being lost because she could feel her heart opening and opening again. That [...]

Upstream (2016) by Mary OliverStephanie Whetstone2017-01-01T19:21:27-05:00

Clarifying Articles

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:55:37-05:00

Clarifying Articles For non-native (and some native) speakers of English, mastering the use of articles -- "the" and "a/an" -- can be a difficult task, so here is a short primer. Articles Defined Articles are adjectives inasmuch as they modify nouns, but their role is less descriptive than determinative, which is why they are also called determiners. And what they determine is whether the noun that follows them is specific or non-specific; definite or indefinite. A definite article, which invariably takes the form of "the," precedes a noun that the writer or speaker wishes to distinguish from its class, as in, [...]

Clarifying ArticlesStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:55:37-05:00

Valentine’s Story Slam, February 15, 2017

Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-12T22:59:37-05:00

Please join Princeton Writes in bringing our University community together for a night of true love stories! On February 15, 2017, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., in the Mathey College common room, we will host a story slam, featuring volunteer storytellers from all corners of the campus. Undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and staff are warmly invited to leave their inhibitions at the door and share a heartwarming story with their classmates and colleagues. Professor of English William Gleason will serve as our emcee. In the spirit of The Moth and its motto, "true stories told live," we will ask each participant to tell [...]

Valentine’s Story Slam, February 15, 2017Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-12T22:59:37-05:00

intaglio (ĭn-TĂL-yō)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-12T12:00:40-05:00

Definition (Noun) A figure or design incised or engraved; a cutting or engraving in stone or other hard material. In Context "No memory of them both is more vivid than this mind's eye picture of them at their evening meal in old age, engraved like an intaglio on a wall along one of the corridors of memory, two old people seen always in the roseate glow of sundown, caught forever by memory's brush on a canvas only death can fade." August Derleth, Walden West, 1961.

intaglio (ĭn-TĂL-yō)Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-12T12:00:40-05:00

nosegay (NŌZ-gā)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-05T12:00:53-05:00

Definition (Noun) A bunch of flowers or herbs, especially ones having a sweet smell; a small bouquet, a posy. Also: an imitation or representation of this. In Context "An arrangement should be appropriate to the occasion – a plump nosegay of roses to say 'thank you,' an exuberant garland of evergreens to decorate a holiday mantel." Carol Endler Sterbenz, Homemade: The Heart and Science of Handcrafts, 2011.

nosegay (NŌZ-gā)Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-05T12:00:53-05:00

The History of Love (2005) by Nicole Krauss

Stephanie Whetstone2016-12-01T09:00:40-05:00

Critical Assessment "Krauss' novel abounds with myriad literary documents -- journal entries, letters, lists, translations, excerpts from an autobiography -- penned by her characters, and done so in cleverly distinctive styles that spark each personality to life. Their role in Krauss' tricky, intriguing plot suggests that all writing, no matter how private or obscure, is potentially filled with transformative power and sometimes in ways neither author nor reader could hope to imagine. . . . "Krauss keeps the reader guessing -- not about whether the two alternating stories are linked, but how. We are in Borges country here, sometimes literally: The [...]

The History of Love (2005) by Nicole KraussStephanie Whetstone2016-12-01T09:00:40-05:00

Writing at Its Best

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:58:33-05:00

Writing at Its Best by Laura Valenza This post continues our series of reflections on the nature of “good writing.” For Laura Valenza, Campus Collections Assistant at the Princeton University Art Museum, writing at its best requires the engagement of all the senses and a willingness to embrace the unexpected. A writer must also be an observer. Writing at its best expresses something universal and complex by showing a scene or just a moment that might otherwise have gone unobserved. Every tourist has certain obligatory photographs that must be taken of classic destinations such as the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel [...]

Writing at Its BestStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:58:33-05:00

scullery (SKŬL-ə-rē)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-11-28T12:00:40-05:00

Definition (Noun) In modern usage: A small room attached to a kitchen, in which the washing of dishes and other dirty work is done; a back kitchen. In Context "She had some cardboard, she thought, some old dress-boxes, in the scullery, where most of the litter of the house accumulated." Elizabeth Ferrars, Alive and Dead, 1974.

scullery (SKŬL-ə-rē)Stephanie Whetstone2016-11-28T12:00:40-05:00

pleonasm (PLĒ-ə-năz-əm)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-11-21T12:00:33-05:00

Definition (Noun) The use of more words in a sentence or clause than are necessary to express the meaning; redundancy of expression either as a fault of style, or as a rhetorical figure used for emphasis or clarity. Also: an instance of this; a superfluously worded expression or phrase. In Context "The term 'digital computer' is not a pleonasm: There are, in fact, analogue computers which, by their design, are not restricted to the digital representation of information." Thomas Riechmann, Learning in Economics: Analysis and Application of Genetic Algorithms, 2001.

pleonasm (PLĒ-ə-năz-əm)Stephanie Whetstone2016-11-21T12:00:33-05:00

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