Last week, we talked a little bit about the history of the sonnet form in general, and the Italian sonnet in particular. We've still got one more week to go before we analyze English - read: Shakespearean - sonnet, though. This week, it's all about the Spenserian sonnet. The History of the Spenserian Sonnet The … Continue reading How to Write a Spenserian Sonnet
The sonnet is one of the most famous poetic forms, almost as recognizable as the haiku. It comes in many forms. Over the next few weeks, we'll examine three of the most famous sonnet types. Let's begin with the Italian sonnet. The History of the Italian Sonnet When most people think of sonnets, only one … Continue reading How to Write an Italian Sonnet
Do you remember when you were twelve, and you and your friends really loved that thing, and you had your own code of inside jokes and lingo based on that thing? Reading Daniel M. Lavery's Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters is exactly like that, if books are - … Continue reading Texts from Jane Eyre: A Review
It isn't often that a book I've only just read becomes an instant favorite. I tend to realize just how much I've enjoyed a novel only when I find myself recommending it to friend after friend after friend. It is perhaps because I can't do this with John Darnielle's Wolf in White Van that I … Continue reading Wolf in White Van: A Review
Kate Bolick's Spinster is part memoir, part microhistory. It's an examination of single women's status and reputation throughout history, and the effects of that history on women today, framed with anecdotes from the author's various romances. In Spinster, Bolick studies her - not always conscious - decision to remain unmarried using the lives of other, similar women … Continue reading Spinster: A Review