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Book of the Month: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993)

admin2021-01-28T19:21:18-05:00

Book of the Month: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993) Critical Evaluation "By writing black female protagonists into science fiction, and bringing her acute appraisal of real-world power structures to bear on the imaginary worlds she created, Butler became an early pillar of the subgenre and aesthetic known as Afrofuturism. (Kara Walker cites her as an inspiration; and, as Hilton Als has pointed out, Butler is the 'dominant artistic force' in Beyoncé’s visual album 'Lemonade.') In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Kellyanne Conway made a strong case for George Orwell’s 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' [...]

Book of the Month: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993)admin2021-01-28T19:21:18-05:00

Word of the Week: otiose (Ō-shē-ōs)

admin2020-12-14T13:37:08-05:00

otiose (Ō-shē-ōs) Definition (Adjective) Having no practical function; redundant; superfluous. In Context "Given that trial, conviction, and execution were practically foregone conclusions, it may seem otiose to try to establish the grounds on which Darcy and the others were convicted." R. W. Hoyle, The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s, 2001.

Word of the Week: otiose (Ō-shē-ōs)admin2020-12-14T13:37:08-05:00

Community of Writers: Marianna Bogucki

Elizabeth Durham2021-01-27T15:09:23-05:00

Community of Writers: Marianna Bogucki Marianna Bogucki works in Conference and Event Services at Princeton University. She is a prolific writer and traveler whose essay "November Light" (https://pwrites.princeton.edu/prize/november-light/) previously won the Princeton Writes Prize. Here, she speaks with Princeton Writes about her writing process and creative trajectory, including her experiences blogging at http://travelswithauggie.blogspot.com and at http://mariannasadventures.blogspot.com. What draws you to writing? I think writing’s just always been a way for me to express myself clearly. I feel like a lot of times in conversation, I’m a very gregarious person and a lot of times, I speak before thinking. Writing’s always been a way I [...]

Community of Writers: Marianna BoguckiElizabeth Durham2021-01-27T15:09:23-05:00

Word of the Week: farrago (fə-RÄ-gō)

admin2020-12-14T13:34:45-05:00

farrago (fə-RÄ-gō) Definition (Noun) A confused group; a medley, mixture, hotchpotch. In Context "Between these two dates an obscure man of letters, Edouard Drumont, had published La France Juive (1886), a farrago of nonsense that purported to demonstrate the Jewish hold on France and its destructive effects." Eugen Weber, France: Fin de Siècle, 1986.

Word of the Week: farrago (fə-RÄ-gō)admin2020-12-14T13:34:45-05:00

Tell Your Story

admin2021-01-29T08:07:23-05:00

My mother used to marvel at the twists and turns her life had taken. “If I could write a book, nobody would believe it,” she’d say. What about your life? Would we believe your story? How will you know until you write it? Are you ready to write your memoir or the “Great American Novel”? Let 2021 be the year you finally commit to getting your stories or poems or essays on the page. No matter what your writing goals are, it’s great to have support. The blank page can be intimidating. Princeton Writes invites you to join Writing Space, a [...]

Tell Your Storyadmin2021-01-29T08:07:23-05:00

Word of the Week: balalaika (băl-ə-LĪ-kə)

admin2020-12-14T13:50:37-05:00

balalaika (băl-ə-LĪ-kə) Definition (Noun) A musical instrument of the guitar kind, with a triangular body, popular in Russia and other Slav countries. In Context "Every new scene was accompanied by the ghastly twanging of a balalaika, a sound that gave the action a touch of the Devil." Anatoly Smeliansky, The Russian Theatre After Stalin, 1999.

Word of the Week: balalaika (băl-ə-LĪ-kə)admin2020-12-14T13:50:37-05:00

A Poem for You: To the New Year

admin2020-12-14T12:50:21-05:00

To the New Year BY W. S. MERWIN With what stillness at last you appear in the valley your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips of a few high leaves that do not stir as though they had not noticed and did not know you at all then the voice of a dove calls from far away in itself to the hush of the morning so this is the sound of you here and now whether or not anyone hears it this is where we have come with our age our knowledge such as it is and our hopes such [...]

A Poem for You: To the New Yearadmin2020-12-14T12:50:21-05:00

Book of the Month: The Library Book by Susan Orlean(2018)

admin2020-09-21T12:32:31-04:00

Book of the Month: The Library Book by Susan Orlean (2018) Critical Evaluation "The most cinematic thing that’s ever occurred inside the Los Angeles Central Library appears to be this one fire, and even the fire wasn’t all that cinematic, as fires go. Afterward, the most compelling related dramas were the various efforts to dry the books. Really, no one should search this material for a movie. But — and here’s both the mystery and the charm of Susan Orlean — it has made for a lovely book. Or rather, two books. The first is about the fire itself — which [...]

Book of the Month: The Library Book by Susan Orlean(2018)admin2020-09-21T12:32:31-04:00

Talking Over Turkey

admin2020-12-02T13:10:34-05:00

Talking Over Turkey Are you worried about Thanksgiving? I’m not talking about the mask and hand sanitizer part. You’ve planned for that. The limited guest list, you have arranged. The menu? That’s the easiest thing. But the conversation with relatives who disagree with your political views—what do you do about that? It is understandable that Americans have trouble debating with the “other side” without hurting familial relationships. Our Aristotelian style of argument—think of the five-paragraph essay format you relied on in high school—seeks to win. We make a claim, provide evidence to back up that claim, and draw a conclusion, which [...]

Talking Over Turkeyadmin2020-12-02T13:10:34-05:00

Prompt for the Week: 10/19/20

admin2020-10-19T16:30:35-04:00

Prompt for the Week In Ten Meter Tower, a short film by Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson featured in the New York Times, participants climb a ladder to a ten-meter-high diving board at a public pool, calculating their risks and fears before they decide to jump into the water or head back down to safety. The tight shot of the diving board, the self-motivating monologues, and the slow-motion recordings of the jumps are captivating. “Our objective in making this film was something of a psychology experiment: We sought to capture people facing a difficult situation, to make a portrait of humans in doubt,” [...]

Prompt for the Week: 10/19/20admin2020-10-19T16:30:35-04:00

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