Right at the outset I want to make clear that my object of commentary is Truman Capote's novelette Breakfast at Tiffany's, and not the movie by the same name. From the novelistic point of view, a few of Capote's writing techniques drew my attention during this rereading. Throughout the book ... Read more (560 words)

Here's an excerpt from young writing phenomenon and bestseller Stephenie Meyer's Twilight: Jess drove faster than the chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. It had been a while since I've had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. We listened to whiny songs ... Read more (611 words)

While Nick Carraway is the only narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker -a secondary character- is an ocular witness and agent in the turbulent history of the Buchanan's. Jordan is not only Nick's main source of what happened back in Louisville, but also an agent provocateur ... Read more (577 words)

Although more than fifty years have gone by, the magic moment when Mary Patricia came into my life is as fresh as the morning dew, as clear as spring water, and yet just as warm as a mild fever. In my first semester at Columbia College in New York City, ... Read more (1629 words)

This is an appreciation of the angelic Mr. Dick. In Charles Dickens' David Copperfield we meet angelic innocence personified in Mr. Dick. What to Miss Betsey Trotwood seemed to be deep human problems that need to be solved, to Mr. Dick they are but simple events which need simple answers. ... Read more (510 words)

Every time I read Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath," (prologue and tale), I come with a different conclusion as to what the good wife did actually want or aspire to in life. I won't comment on what the author meant to convey; I will leave this to the end. In ... Read more (817 words)

Discussing with my wife the quality education that women get in women's colleges, Mary Patricia pointed out to Wellesley producing Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Smith College Sylvia Plath. Of Mrs. Clinton we know a lot, but of Sylvia Plath we know less. Sylvia Plath attended Smith from 1950-1955, and graduated ... Read more (515 words)

Last Saturday night a friend of ours had some visitors from out of town, and asked us to meet with them at The Rum Bar for a 'fun night." And a fun night it was! The Rum Bar is located in the lobby of the Edison Hotel, right off Broadway, ... Read more (709 words)

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb: She promised. [This is an independent clause.] Although she promised [This is a subordinate clause introduced by the signal word 'Although.'] Independent clauses contain a subject and a verb and they can stand on their own ... Read more (943 words)

A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a conjugated verb; some phrases may have a subject or a conjugated verb, but not both. Each phrase contains a "central" or predominant word or words which are often called the 'head of the phrase.' Noun phrases function as ... Read more (785 words)