Stephanie Whetstone – Page 48

Making a Good Impression

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:30:48-05:00

Making a Good Impression As Professor of Psychology Alexander Todorov has demonstrated in the context of the human face, we are wired to form snap judgments, making durable inferences in a fraction of a second. Although we are cautioned not to judge a book by its cover, we routinely do so, which is why dust jackets are as much a marketing tool as a protective covering. In the words of one Goodreads discussant, "It is the very first thing you notice about a book and in 5 sec you decide whether to pick it up or move on to the next [...]

Making a Good ImpressionStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:30:48-05:00

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel (2009) by Jeannette Walls

Stephanie Whetstone2014-04-01T12:00:18-04:00

Critical Assessment "Like most good New Journalism adherents, Walls offers this account in first person, completely putting her readers in Lily's position and telling the stories of Half Broke Horses in a conversational tone that makes you feel like you're sitting on a porch somewhere with a cool drink and an even cooler companion. The stories during the Depression – when Lily gave birth to her children and times everywhere were beyond tough – make expected and indelible marks on the reader, perhaps creating the most impact in all the book's different eras. "However, the first Christmas lights on the ranch, the one-room [...]

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel (2009) by Jeannette WallsStephanie Whetstone2014-04-01T12:00:18-04:00

Any Color but Purple

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:31:29-05:00

Any Color but Purple Colorless writing may have its place in certain contexts, but when we need to capture the attention of our readers; when we need to create word pictures that will, as William Shakespeare put it, on their "imaginary forces work," a splash of paint is very much in order. We can draw inspiration from Charles Dickens, who was blessed with extraordinary powers of description. Here, from the opening pages of Great Expectations, is his depiction of the escaped convict Abel Magwitch: "A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with [...]

Any Color but PurpleStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:31:29-05:00

The Old Man and the Sea (1952) by Ernest Hemingway

Stephanie Whetstone2014-03-01T12:00:53-05:00

Critical Assessment ". . . one should not forget that his narrative skill often attains its highest point when cast in a smaller mould, in the laconic, drastically pruned short story, which, with a unique combination of simplicity and precision, nails its theme into our consciousness so that every blow tells. Such a masterpiece, more than any other, is The Old Man and the Sea (1952), the unforgettable story of an old Cuban fisherman's duel with a huge swordfish in the Atlantic. Within the frame of a sporting tale, a moving perspective of man's destiny is opened up; the story is a tribute [...]

The Old Man and the Sea (1952) by Ernest HemingwayStephanie Whetstone2014-03-01T12:00:53-05:00

Avoiding Excess

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:32:13-05:00

Avoiding Excess If, as William Zinsser argues in On Writing Well, "Clutter is the disease of American writing," then complex prepositions are among the culprits. These word groups often crowd out simple prepositions, lengthening the time it takes to reach the preposition's object. Why state that the Friend Center is located "in the vicinity of" the Engineering Quadrangle when one can say it is "near" the EQuad? Why is "prior to" superior to "before"? In The King's English: A Guide to Modern Usage, the prolific British writer Kingsley Amis takes aim at a prime offender, namely, "in excess of": "This dreadful [...]

Avoiding ExcessStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:32:13-05:00

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) by Thornton Wilder, Graduate Class of 1926

Stephanie Whetstone2014-02-01T12:00:00-05:00

Critical Assessment "Thornton Wilder's Bridge of San Luis Rey is as close to perfect a moral fable as we are ever likely to get in American literature. Written near the end of the Roaring Twenties by a man barely out of his own twenties, it nonetheless feels, in its exquisite universality and ease of timeless application, ancient, classical, almost biblical. When we read the novel today, seventy-five years after its first publication, we nod in admiration, and we wonder at its uncanny ability to describe ourselves to ourselves in terms that are both essential to our species and particular to our [...]

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) by Thornton Wilder, Graduate Class of 1926Stephanie Whetstone2014-02-01T12:00:00-05:00

What’s in a Name?

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:32:49-05:00

What's in a Name? For better or worse, our names outlive us – in public records and private mementoes; in brick-and-mortar archives and the boundless vaults of cyberspace; and for a time, at least, in human memory. Some names retain a measure of familiarity, affixed to buildings, streets, and even entire communities. Others are invoked by pundits and debated by historians. But, in the fullness of time, most monikers slowly "fade away," as Douglas MacArthur said of old soldiers. Our best shot at immortality lies in the dictionary, where names – now eponyms – transcend the bodies of their owners, defining the epochs in [...]

What’s in a Name?Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:32:49-05:00

The House on Mango Street (1984) by Sandra Cisneros

Stephanie Whetstone2014-01-01T12:00:32-05:00

Critical Assessment "I opened the book and started to read. Suddenly, Cisneros' narrator, Esperanza, jumped out from somewhere between the pages, grabbed me tight, shook me hard, and wouldn't let go. I read the whole book in two hours and had to read it again. And then again. Even when I finally put the book back on my shelf, I just couldn't get that voice out of my head. . . . "Cisneros' writing is poetry, and her characters speak a kind of poetic dialogue that I haven't heard since Shakespeare moved out of the hood. In speaking of poetry, Georgia Heard [...]

The House on Mango Street (1984) by Sandra CisnerosStephanie Whetstone2014-01-01T12:00:32-05:00

James Thurber on Fillers

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:35:51-05:00

James Thurber on Fillers There is nothing more vacuous in the context of spoken English than fillers – sounds and words that take the place of pauses and, if repeated often enough, are tantamount to vocal tics. "Uh" and "um" have as much meaning as the clearing of one's throat and can therefore be ignored with some success, but when otherwise serviceable words such as "like" and "so" are repeatedly employed as fillers, they are downright distracting, while reflecting poorly on the speaker's verbal fluency. On December 31, 1960, the great American humorist, James Thurber, writing in The New Yorker, took aim [...]

James Thurber on FillersStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:35:51-05:00

hirsute (HÛR-sōōt)

Stephanie Whetstone2013-12-09T12:00:00-05:00

Definition (Adjective) Having rough or shaggy hair; hairy, shaggy. In Context “They despised me and my roommates, dismissing us as unkempt, hirsute hippies who had no respect for authority and refused to join fraternities.” Joe Queenan, Closing Time: A Memoir, 2009. This word was suggested by Jeff Bergman in the Office of Human Resources.

hirsute (HÛR-sōōt)Stephanie Whetstone2013-12-09T12:00:00-05:00

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