Introduction

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I am very pleased to share this post from one of my extraordinary adult students of English Literature. She is just beginning her blog. Please take a moment to welcome her to the world of blogging!

Words and Thoughts

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To Anyone Who Reads This,

I am an adult student of English Literature and Classics.  I have created this blog in the hopes of connecting with the literary and academic worlds and stimulating my own thoughtfulness as well as the thoughtfulness of those whose interest may be piqued.

Sincerely,

Sophie

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Quotations on Education

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“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

                                                                         Mahatma Gandhi

 

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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

                                                                         Nelson Mandela

 

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“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”

                                                                        Walter Cronkite

Language, Literacy, and Storytelling – Part 5 – The Conclusion

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Here is the conclusion of Jennie’s excellent series on “Language, Literacy, and Storytelling.”

A Teacher's Reflections

In Part 4, I shared my storytelling at school.  In the bathroom I use rhyming words and tell make-believe stories.  I incorporate children’s names into the story.  I add complex vocabulary words.  At lunchtime, I tell Jennie Stories, true stories of my childhood.  I shared the incredible fact that the one-and-only common denominator among National Merit Scholars is having dinner with their families at least four times a week.

The power of story and words cannot be overstated.

Part 5 – The Conclusion
Words, stories, language, reading. storytelling… they all work together to give children the best start – cognitively and emotionally.  Both are equally important.  And John Phillips, the founder of Phillips Exeter Academy in 1781, said it best:

“Goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous, and both united form the noblest character and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind.”

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Happy Halloween–Blessed Samhain!

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I want to wish everyone both a Happy Halloween and a Blessed Samhain!

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On the pre-Christian Celtic calendar, October 31 was Samhain, pronounced Soo-when or Sow-when, and it marked the day when the world of the living and dead where at the closest. It is also the end of year, with November 1 as the start of the next year. This day is one of the most important Gaelic/Celtic/Pagan/Wiccan/Druidic holidays of the year!  And please do not worry about the devil–he is not a part of Samhain. There is nothing evil here.

Samhain/Halloween is a day to remember those who have passed and to think of the future.

So, enjoy the day, dress up, have candy, party, and raise a toast and wish all a Happy New Year!

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GallowsHillFinalCoverEbook

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

32570160

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

FOE_Cover_French

 

Available on Amazon

Quotations on Hatred

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“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”

                                                          Maya Angelou

 

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“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

                                                          Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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“Hatred leads to bigotry, violence, and fascism. It is one of the great challenges of our contemporary world.”

                                                             Charles F. French

A Thank You To Writers!

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To all the writers out there who are working hard, who are drafting and revising, submitting and self-publishing, thank you! You are the conscience of society, the teller of tales, and the creators of myth. So, from one writer to other writers: thanks!

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Please continue to write. Do not pay attention to any negative people, any nay-sayers. Be proud of what you are doing, and say to yourself and the world–I am a writer!

E.B. White’s Grandniece – In My Classroom

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Here is another beautiful post from the excellent teacher, Jennie!

A Teacher's Reflections

It happened like this: And as you know, those are the beginning words to a really good story.  So, hold on to your hat.

Last spring I learned that E.B. White’s grandniece was giving a presentation at my local library.  I had no idea there was a family member living nearby.  This was thrilling news, good news.  Unfortunately, I was travelling at the time of her presentation.  That was sad news, bad news.  Talk about highs and lows.

When I visited the library after my travels, the head children’s librarian was beside herself to tell me about the event.  She was even more excited to tell me that E.B. White’s grandniece wanted to meet me.  Me!  In the words of Charlotte, I was HUMBLE.

And so we met.  She (Lindsay) is wonderful.  She showed me memorabilia that took my breath away.  My favorite photos were Andy (E.B…

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I Stand With The Jewish Community

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Today we have seen the commission of a horrible act of terrorism and murder committed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A shooter opened fire inside a synagogue and killed 11 and injured 6 others. I am not sure if those horrific numbers will increase–I hope they do not.

It must be said without any doubt that this was an anti-Semitic, racist, bigoted, and fascist act, that also is chillingly reminiscent of acts in Germany during the 1930s. In our current political climate, in which hatred is growing, and in which guns are easily available to anyone, including some people who have no business having them, such horrors occur far too frequently. This was an act of hatred by a racist, an extreme right winger.

People of all political views, at least those who are sane, must oppose these increases in hate. There are no excuses, no justifications, and no political spins that can reduce the culpability of a political culture that has lead to the massive increase of both shootings and attacks on places of worship, especially of people in the minority in the United States. These actions indicate a growing and disturbing trend towards fascism, and it must be opposed. My parents were of the generation that fought against totalitarianism by Japan and Germany and Italy. They did not sacrifice so much so that our country can slide into fascist attitudes. We must never forget the lessons of the horrors of the 20th Century, especially the Holocaust and World War Two.

Freedom and democracy demand that reasonable people, who can certainly disagree with how to fix problems in the United States of America, unite to oppose this disturbing trend.

Again, I am horrified by this shooting, and I feel great sadness for the Jewish people who suffered from this attack–the dead, the wounded, and their families and friends.

It is not enough to offer thoughts and prayers.

This must never happen again.

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Favorite Horror Films: The Curse Of The Werewolf: revisited

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The decade of the 1960s saw the production of many horror films, some fairly standard offerings and some innovative. In 1961, Hammer Studios continued the re-imagining of classic horror characters, which they had begun with The Curse of Frankenstein and The Horror of Dracula, in the release of The Curse of the Werewolf. 

Movie audiences in 1961 were still very aware of the image of Universal Studios’ The Wolfman and its assorted sequels with Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, the unfortunate and reluctant lycanthrope. Talbot, a good man, was cursed to become a killing monster after having been bitten by a werewolf while attempting, unsuccessfully, to save a girl from its attack. This cinematic image was one that would be very difficult to alter for the horror viewing audience.

While not making viewers forget Lon Chaney Jr. and Larry Talbot, The Curse of the Werewolf, directed by Terence Fisher, did establish new cinematic territory in this often overlooked, but important, film. This film, unlike its Universal predecessors, which were made primarily in black and white and influenced heavily by German Expressionism, is shot in color and features an almost blond werewolf in an extremely effective makeup and, for the time, a great deal of blood.

The star of this film, in his first movie, is Oliver Reed, who would go on to have a long and productive career as a film actor. Set in 18th Century Spain, the film bases its lycanthropy  on the juxtaposition of two events: Leon is the result of a peasant girl being raped, and he is born on Christmas Day, which was considered a very unlucky event. Leon is raised by a kindly man, but when puberty hits, besides the normal changes in his body, he becomes literally a monster.  What would Freud have to say about that?

Just as religion plays a part in his curse, so does it in his death. His step-father, a kindly man becomes the agent of his release. His step-father has a silver bullet made from a cross.  He shoots Leon with it, while his step-son is in the form of the monster; thus, he  destroys the werewolf and release’s Leon’s soul, but it also fills his step-father with deep grief.

Like the previous Hammer productions, this film continues with its exploration of sex and violence, going further than that which had been seen in the Universal films. While tame in sexual depictions by our contemporary standards, it was shocking to many audiences of the time.

From a critical perspective, this film also introduces an element of class critique. The young woman who is raped at the beginning of the film comes from abject poverty at the lowest level of the class structure, and the man who puts her in the cell, setting up the circumstances for the attack, is a Marques, a Spanish nobleman. Clearly, the film indicts the abuse of power and the class inequity of that time. If this were an academic paper, I would focus heavily on the class critique, but I simply wanted to draw attention to it briefly in this post.

The Curse of the Werewolf was another successful entry in Hammer Studios’ new cycle of horror films, although unlike the Dracula and Frankenstein movies, it would not generate a run of sequels. On its own, however, it rates as a film of importance in the horror genre.

Overall, if you have not seen this film, I give it a very strong recommendation.

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GallowsHillFinalCoverEbook

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

32570160

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

FOE_Cover_French

 

Available on Amazon