People probably invented poetry to help them remember things they wanted to remember – what their gods and ancestors did, how to get from one place to another, what plants were good to eat and what plants were poisonous – all sorts of things that rhythmic patterns and regular rhyme schemes made easier to remember. So, for a long time, much poetry was written in regular rhythmic patterns called stanzas,
To Be or Not to Be? If someone asked me to tell the story of my life, I might begin like this: I was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1942. I have been told that my father came home from the hospital saying over and over, “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” There is no record of how my mother felt about this fact. I was soon to be made
In Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare did more than just shape the structure and content of the English language—he created human nature as we understand it today. As James Shapiro explains, “Shakespeare remains so popular and his most memorable characters feel so real because through them Shakespeare invented something that hadn’t existed before. Bloom defines this as ‘personality,’ inwardness, what it means to be human.
Poetry is far from becoming a cultural artifact regardless of the Information Age’s dry mechanical demands. The discipline serves too many vital functions to be avoided or overlooked for any extended period of time. In fact, everyone should write a poem, and soon. Following are ten reasons why. When you write a poem, you participate in the oldest literary tradition. True, writing sprang for commercial needs over 5,000 years ago
“Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!” Mr. Micawber, David Copperfield Charles Dickens often generated 90 pages of quality text a month, and he published novels like Great Expectations chapter by chapter in weekly periodicals. No doubt, Dickens was a rare breed, but he set a standard that every serious writer should consider. There’s no point in being a writer if no one reads your work. Even Dickinson and Kafka
Here’s a video on how to format an MLA paper, to include discussions on font, spacing, header, title, body, page break, and page numbering. We hope you find it helpful!
