Stephanie Whetstone – Page 36

A Walk in the Woods (1998) by Bill Bryson

Stephanie Whetstone2016-06-01T12:00:22-04:00

Critical Assessment “There's an awkward and telling moment, early in Bill Bryson's new book about hiking the Appalachian Trail, in which he casts about for the exact reasons he's subjecting himself to a five-month slog through the underbrush. There's the fitness rationale: Bryson is a mildly overweight, middle-aged writer who's tired of looking, as he puts it, like 'a cupcake.' There's the he-man rationale: when faced with impending danger, Bryson would like to feel more like a flinty Cormac McCarthy protagonist than someone who is 'jumpier than Don Knotts with pistol drawn.'' Finally, there's the ecological rationale: the Appalachian wilderness is [...]

A Walk in the Woods (1998) by Bill BrysonStephanie Whetstone2016-06-01T12:00:22-04:00

2016 Princeton Writes Prize and Honorable Mentions Awarded

Stephanie Whetstone2016-06-01T09:00:18-04:00

Staff members at Princeton University can compose more than just well-crafted emails and reports as proven by their participation in the second annual Princeton Writes essay contest, an initiative designed to inspire and recognize outstanding writing on their part. This year’s submission prompt invited employees to share their thoughts on diversity in our community. Out of 20 submissions across 18 academic and administrative units, an essay by Bryant Blount took the top prize. April Armstrong, Violette Chamoun, and Brian Mondschein received honorable mentions. From left, Princeton Writes Staff Essay Contest honorees Brian Mondschein, Bryant Blount, Violette Chamoun, and April Armstrong. [...]

2016 Princeton Writes Prize and Honorable Mentions AwardedStephanie Whetstone2016-06-01T09:00:18-04:00

Am I Lying or Laying?

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:08:15-05:00

Am I Lying or Laying? As summer begins to reveal itself and temperatures climb, you may want to lay down your paperwork and lie out in the sun—wait! Is it lie or lay? When should you use which verb? Lie versus lay is one of those grammar issues many of us struggle with. The present and past tenses of each seem to overlap, so when in doubt, most people go with lay. That's not always the best choice. Growing up before anyone considered the daily use of sunscreen, my sisters and I spent our summers “laying out” in the sun. I [...]

Am I Lying or Laying?Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:08:15-05:00

Ordinary Light: A Memoir (2015) by Tracy K. Smith

Stephanie Whetstone2016-05-01T10:00:41-04:00

Critical Assessment "In 'Ordinary Light,' Smith writes as a daughter who has lost her mother and is thinking of her own daughter as she submits to the 'powerful nostalgia for the very years I was in the process of living, when the world of my family was the only heaven I needed to believe in.' Every line of her prose is well behaved. But ambition had been there all along: 'I wanted to write the kind of poetry that people read and remembered, that they lived by — the kinds of lines that I carried with me from moment to moment [...]

Ordinary Light: A Memoir (2015) by Tracy K. SmithStephanie Whetstone2016-05-01T10:00:41-04:00

On Writing Badly

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:09:09-05:00

On Writing Badly There is a horrible myth, one that has long persisted, that writing is a mystical occurrence, that the writer is visited by the beautiful muse and merely takes a sort of spiritual dictation. The implication is that if you are not putting forth best sellers in a meditative state, if you are actually struggling to get the right words on the page, you are not a “real” writer. Or maybe you’re a real writer, but you’re not a good one. This idea causes a lot of unnecessary grief and consternation. At keyboards from coast to coast, writers hover [...]

On Writing BadlyStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:09:09-05:00

A Special Evening

Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-18T00:30:26-04:00

On April 11, Princeton Writes hosted its first Celebration of Student Writing, featuring the best work of eight undergraduate organizations dedicated to the written and spoken word, including Ellipses Slam Team, The Nassau Literary Review, Nassau Weekly, Innovation, Princeton Traveler, Figments, The Stripes, and All-Nighter. Pieces read or performed ranged from long-form journalism to poetry; from short fiction to late-night comedy. Held in conjunction with Princeton Preview, the Celebration drew well over 100 prospective students and current members of our University community to the Hamilton Murray Theater. Below are a few mementoes of this festive occasion, courtesy of Thomas Garcia '16. [...]

A Special EveningStephanie Whetstone2016-04-18T00:30:26-04:00

palanquin (PĂL-ən-kwĭn)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-11T12:00:20-04:00

Definition (Noun) A covered conveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a large box carried on two horizontal poles by four or six (rarely two) bearers, used especially in South, South-East, and East Asia. In Context "At this time of year the British preferred to travel even the shortest distance by palanquin, hoisted on the shoulders of four Indian bearers." Kate Teltscher, The High Road to China: George Bogle, the Panchen Lama and the First British Expedition to Tibet, 2006.

palanquin (PĂL-ən-kwĭn)Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-11T12:00:20-04:00

redolent (RĔD-l-ənt)

Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-04T12:00:34-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Permeated or imbued with a smell or aroma; having a particular smell. Also: having a smell suggestive or reminiscent of some quality, feeling, etc. In Context "It is earthy and redolent of dark licorice, and has a pleasant oakiness." Howard G. Goldberg, "Goes with Turkey (or Duck)," The New York Times, November 18, 2012.

redolent (RĔD-l-ənt)Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-04T12:00:34-04:00

New Collected Poems (2012) by Wendell Berry

Stephanie Whetstone2016-04-01T11:30:44-04:00

Critical Assessment "'New Collected Poems' reprints nearly 200 pieces from Berry’s long career, including the poems from his most recent collections: 'Entries,' 'Given,' and 'Leavings.' Although his voice proves more musical in these poems than in his prose works, his theme is essentially the same: a reverence for nature, a respect for the near and tangible as opposed to the distant and hypothetical, and a distrust of economies of scale. . . . "Like another poet-farmer, Robert Frost, Berry views nature not as a postcard image, but as a window into what endures – and what does not. In 'Planting Crocuses,' [...]

New Collected Poems (2012) by Wendell BerryStephanie Whetstone2016-04-01T11:30:44-04:00

Dinner Discussion with Amy Waldman on April 4

Stephanie Whetstone2016-03-31T17:51:02-04:00

Journalist and novelist Amy Waldman will discuss her twofold calling over dinner in Mathey College's private dining room on Monday, April 4, from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Co-hosted by Princeton Writes, the Walter Lord Society, and the Writers Studio and geared to undergraduates, "The Whole Truth: Telling Stories Through Journalism and Fiction" will explore how writers can develop their voices in both genres, probing the possibilities of each. How, for example, can fiction transcend the limitations of journalism to tell a fuller story? When can journalism provide greater clarity than fiction? Waldman is a visiting lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and [...]

Dinner Discussion with Amy Waldman on April 4Stephanie Whetstone2016-03-31T17:51:02-04:00

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