Tools and Insights – Page 6

The Language of Flowers by Stephanie Whetstone

Stephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:45:05-04:00

The Language of Flowers by Stephanie Whetstone There is a language, little known, Lovers claim it as their own. Its symbols smile upon the land, Wrought by nature’s wondrous hand; And in their silent beauty speak, Of life and joy, to those who seek For Love Divine and sunny hours In the language of the flowers. –The Language of Flowers, London, 1875 As the weather in Princeton finally warms, the campus has come alive with flowers, leafy trees, and lush green plants of many kinds. Some of us have taken to our home gardens, too, hoping for peonies, daylilies, sunflowers, and roses. [...]

The Language of Flowers by Stephanie WhetstoneStephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:45:05-04:00

A Right-Leaning Language by John Weeren

Stephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:31:28-04:00

A Right-Leaning Language By John Weeren Much attention has been paid of late to bias, implicit and otherwise, and how it manifests itself linguistically. The indiscriminate use of gender-specific pronouns, the prevalence of androcentric terms, such as man-made, and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes through injudicious word choices have been widely criticized, but there is one ingrained linguistic prejudice that generally passes without comment. And that is the disparagement of left-handedness. Lefties constitute a small percentage of the world's population – some 10% – and if English and other languages are any guide, this trait has long been viewed unfavorably. For [...]

A Right-Leaning Language by John WeerenStephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:31:28-04:00

A Murder of Crows and Other Terms of Venery by Stephanie Whetstone

Stephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:51:27-04:00

A Murder of Crows and Other Terms of Venery by Stephanie Whetstone Driving to the shore a few weeks ago, my husband and I passed a wide field full of swans. I had never seen such a sight. It seemed magical that there would be so many of them in one spot, as if a wizard had turned a group of farmers into these beautiful birds in some fairytale. I knew there was a special collective noun for such a phenomenon; after all, we use collective nouns every day (a staff of employees, a panel of experts, a team of players). [...]

A Murder of Crows and Other Terms of Venery by Stephanie WhetstoneStephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:51:27-04:00

Writing at Its Best by Anne Merrill

Stephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:34:49-04:00

Writing at Its Best by Anne Merrill This post continues our series of reflections on the nature of “good writing.” For Anne Merrill '18, Princeton Writes' Undergraduate Fellow, writing at its best transforms the way we experience the world and all the creatures in it. It happens all the time — I’ll be walking across a field on a misty morning, for example, carefully placing my feet to avoid stepping on worms, prompted by respect for these “lowly organised creatures.” Darwin’s words guide me, his assertions about earthworms are stored in my memory and spring to the surface on a rainy day. [...]

Writing at Its Best by Anne MerrillStephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T13:34:49-04:00

Pardon My French by John Weeren

Stephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T14:06:12-04:00

Pardon My French by John Weeren The Norman conquest of England in 1066 ensured that French would profoundly influence the evolution of the English language. Nearly 30 percent of our vocabulary has been estimated to derive from French, including a host of true cognates -- words with the same spelling and meaning in both languages -- ranging from "question" and "danger" to "festival" and "date." In their delightful book, Say Chic: A Collection of French Words We Can't Live Without, Françoise Blanchard and Jeremy Leven assemble more than 70 words and phrases that have crossed the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean, [...]

Pardon My French by John WeerenStephanie Whetstone2020-03-19T14:06:12-04:00

Writing Resolutions

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-10T11:37:05-05:00

Writing Resolutions So, the holiday decorations have been put away, diets have been started, and work has regained its rhythm, but what about your resolution to write every day? (And no, email doesn't count.) How’s that going? If it's not going exactly as planned, don’t despair. Keep trying anyway. You stand in a long line of famous writers who have resolved to write more and better in the new year, every year. It’s the resolution that counts, the desire to continue and to improve. The guilt of imperfectly adhering to your plan may bother you, but don’t let it sidetrack you. [...]

Writing ResolutionsStephanie Whetstone2020-01-10T11:37:05-05:00

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

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

Kurt Vonnegut on Creative Writing

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:59:43-05:00

Kurt Vonnegut on Creative Writing Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., one of American literature's foremost satirists, published 14 novels between 1952 and 1997, including his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five. In his introduction to Bagombo Snuff Box, a collection of his early short fiction, he offered aspiring writers what he described as "Creative Writing 101" in the form of eight rules. Here they are: Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. Every character should want something, [...]

Kurt Vonnegut on Creative WritingStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T13:59:43-05:00

Words at Play

Stephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:02:14-05:00

Words at Play Although wordplay has a long and rich history, writing an annual report or senior thesis can form a strong association in our minds between words and toil; we can easily come to think of them as widgets, often produced under pressure, as in, “I need to crank out 500 words by 5:00 p.m.” We lose sight of the fact that juxtaposing 26 letters in infinite combinations to generate meaning is a fundamentally creative process that lends itself as much to play as to work. Devotees of Jane Austen may recall a scene in Emma that revolves around unscrambling letters to [...]

Words at PlayStephanie Whetstone2020-01-14T14:02:14-05:00

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