Happy New Year!
There will be no blog this week. I will be celebrating quietly with my family. See you all again next year with a new set of blogs.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Week of December 23, 2012 - Animal Farm Book Review
By Joan Whetzel
Merry Christmas!
Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a classic 20th century “fairy tale” that, like all fairy tales, uses fictional techniques to retell what’s going on in the political world. It’s a fast-paced little book that packs in a lot tale in just over 100 pages.
Background Story
George Orwell considered himself a socialist, but he hated Stalinism. He wrote Animal Farm as his take on the communist revolution that overtook Russia and the surrounding countries that formed the Soviet Union and his statement against the Stalinist version of Communism. His later book, “1984” continued his theory of communist politics by predicting what would happen if communism, particularly the Stalinist version, were to continue unchecked.
The Story
Animal Farms begins with Mr. Jones and his farm, which he called Manor Farm. Mr. Jones’s life had been going downhill for a while, and the animals were growing restless. One day, the oldest pig tells the story of his dream about a revolution where the animals took over the farm and ran it themselves. In his dream the animals would share in the work and share in the benefits of whatever they reaped. Over the next few days, the animals had a plan in place for how they would govern themselves (the pigs would rule since they were obviously the smartest) once their revolution took place and list of 7 commandments (a constitution of sorts) that made up the basis of their government. The only thing left was to plan the revolution.
The revolution took place much quicker than anticipated. One day, Mr. Jones had drunk to excess and was so wasted he didn’t do anything to make sure the farm was taken care of. Even the farm hands had become so negligent that they had forgotten to feed the animals that day, and the next. The revolt was the culmination of their dissatisfaction with Mr. Jones’s rule. And so all the humans were driven off Manor Farm, and the animals took over, renaming it Animal Farm.
Animal Farm began its socialist existence equitably enough, with everyone doing their share of the work, each according to his abilities and size, and each sharing in the food. They produced They had even planned how they would make it through the winter by saving some food aside.
One of the pigs, Snowball, drew up plans for a windmill which was supposed to produce heat and lighting for the barnyard stalls and painting the 7 commandments on the side of the barn for everyone to see. Of course, not all the animals learned to read. But they trusted that the pigs, in all their wisdom, had their best interests at heart. One day, Mr. Jones and some of his friends from the village and neighboring farms, came to Animal Farm to try and take it back and return Mr. Jones to power. But, remembering how terrible things had become under Mr. Jones’s rule, the animals fought back valiantly and retained possession of the farm in a battle which became known as the Battle
But soon things begin to change, ever so subtly. The 7 commandments are slightly altered, in secret apparently, so that they reflect the changes the pigs are making in their social order. Along with the changes in the commandments and the social order, a series of little lies are told to alter the reality of everyone’s memories and their beliefs. Along with these changes, a growing tension between Snowball and Napoleon, another pig vying for the top power, leads to the ousting Snowball from Animal Farm. From then on, whenever anything goes wrong, the now absent Snowball is blamed. Eventually even the reality of Snowball’s contributions to the revolution and the Battle
At first the animals question some of the new realities because they remember things differently. But they are reassured that the :”new” reality, Napoleon's reality, is the only truth. To question the “truth” is to believe that things were better in the days of Jones. And surely they didn’t want Mr. Jones to return. Then one day, to keep the animals from questioning Napoleon's truth, a mass killing occurs to rid their society of the objectors, the sinners who would cause trouble with their questions. From then on, the changes become less subtle and penalties for asking questions or remembering differently grow stronger.
This story is about communism, more specifically the Stalinist version, on its surface. It’s also about the people we allow to control our lives; the lies we believe from others, the lies we tell ourselves, about sticking up for what we believe, and about committing a revolution to make our lives more in tune with what we truly believe. As one of Sean Connery’s characters (Captain Ramius in “The Hunt for Red October”) once said, “A little revolution, now and then, is a good thing.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
To Bloviate and the Skill of Verbosity for Writers
In fiction, a character who bloviates can be interesting to read about. They usually come across as opinionated blow-hards that make for a great story antagonist. In nonfiction, writers get to use their bloviating skills to change opinion. Bloviating means having the ability to write or speak verbosely or to with a flair for being long-winded. As with any word, bloviate has a number of synonyms that offer ways for writers to use the word bloviate in creative ways.
Longwinded
To be longwinded, the writer must use long, drawn out phrases explanations. Long-windedness also implies rambling, or being interminable, lengthy, boring, wordy , wearisomely verbose.
Blarney
Blarney is the ability to flatter or smooth talk others. It includes the art of talking deceptive nonsense and getting away with it.
Opine
To opine is to state or express an opinion. Fictional characters who opine are known to speak out, harangue, preach, orate, give discourses, and lecture.
Ramble
Writers should be careful of rambling, especially in nonfiction. Rambling in writing involves writing at length while digressing, a lot. When writers – or fiction characters – ramble they go on, stray from the main topic, go off on a tangent, wander off topic, or wander off point.
Wordy and Verbose
Wordiness includes being quite verbal and using more words than are necessary to convey the message. It means being talkative, verbose, long-winded, effusive, garrulous, loquacious, talkative, and chatty.
Bloviating can be used to your advantage (as in the case of blarney or opining). On the other hand, it can get you into trouble if you overuse it, such as when the writing is excessively longwinded, wordy, verbose, or in rambling. Use your bloviating wisely and sparingly and it will carry you far.
Resources
American Heritage Dictionary
Roget’s Thesaurus. Fifth Edition. Edited by Robert L. Chapman. New York, New York: Harper’s and Collins Publishers, 1992.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
If Money Were No Object, What Classes Would You Take?
http://joanwz.hubpages.com/hub/IfMoneyWereNoObjectWhatClassesWouldYouTake
Union Pacific Railroad Celebrates 150 Years: A Celebrated Visit to Houston
http://joanwz.hubpages.com/hub/Union-Pacific-Railroad-Celebrates-150-Years-A-Celebrated-Visit-to-Houston
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
How to Repurpose Old Content fo Writers
http://joanwz.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Repurpose-Old-Content-for-Writers
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Taste Words for Writers
By Joan Whetzel
Describing taste in words is challenging to say the least. As writers, we need to elicit the memory of specific flavors and flavor combinations within the reader’s minds so that they can taste what you are writing about. Creating a sort of taste-o-vision for our readers is what we’re after by using these types of taste words.
The Tastes
- Taste
Taste, as a verb, means to distinguish between flavors using the mouth, to perceive with the sense of taste, to have a distinct flavor, or to experience, enjoy, or partake of some food or drink. As an noun, taste includes the sense that distinguishes between salty, sweet, sour, and bitter flavors that are dissolved into foods, drinks, and other substances. The sense of taste works in combination with the senses of smell and touch (texture) to gain the complete experience. Taste also includes the act of tasting, the perception of liking specific flavors or experiences, and the ability to distinguish between different flavors.
Thesaurus Synonyms
· Nouns: flavor, smack, tang, savor, relish, palate, taste in the mouth, sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, aftertaste, savoriness, sip, sup, lick, bite, lick, sample, specimen, taste bud, tongue, lingua, palate, tasting, savoring.
· Verbs: taste, savor, sip, sup, roll on the tongue, lick, smack
· Adjs: flavored, flavor, sapid, soporific, savory, flavorful, sweet, sour, bitter, bittersweet, salt, lingual, tongue-like
- Savoriness
Savory flavors and tastes, or savoriness can be used as an adjective or nouns. As an adjective, savoriness means anything that is appetizing to taste or smell, anything that is piquant, pungent or salty. As a noun, savoriness includes any dish with a pungent flavor (e.g. anchovies, pickled fruits or veggies).
Thesaurus Synonyms
· Nouns: palatibleness, palatability, tastiness, goodness, good taste, deliciousness, scrumptiousness, yumminess, lusciousness, delectability, flavorfulness, savor, relish, zest, gusto, flavoring, flavor, seasoning, condiment, spice
· Verbs: taste good, tickle the palate, tempt the appetite, make one's mouth water, melt in one's mouth, savor, relish, like, love, enjoy, have a soft spot for, smack the lips, taste, taste of, smack of, have the flavor of, season, salt pepper, spice, sauce
· Adjs: tasty, good, fit to eat, finger lickin' good, palatable, toothsome, nice, delicious, exquisite, delicate, dainty, luscious, lush, ambrosial, fit for a king, gourmet, flavorful, full-bodied, rich, appetizing, mouthwatering, tempting.
- Unsavoriness
Unsavoriness is, obviously, the opposite of savoriness. Unsavoriness, used as an adjective, means anything distasteful or disagreeable.
Thesaurus Synonyms
· Nouns: unpalatibleness, distastefulness, bad taste, acridness, acridity, tartness, sharpness, astringence, sourness, bitterness, bitter taste, nastiness, foulness, vileness, loathsomeness, repulsiveness, obnoxiousness, rankness, rancidity, repugnance
· Verbs: disgust, repel, nauseate, turn' one's stomach, gross one out
· Adjs: unpalatable, unappetizing, distasteful, uninviting, bitter, acrid, nasty, offensive, noxious, gross, icky, yucky, sickening, nauseating, nauseous, poisonous, rank, rancid, maggoty, weevil, spoiled, overripe, rotten, stinking, putrid, malodorous, fetid, inedible, uneatable, not fit to eat or drink, impotable, unfit for human consumption.
- Insipidness
Insipidness, used as an adjective, means lacking in flavor, having no zest, and not tasty..
Thesaurus
· Nouns: tastelessness, flavorlessness, weakness, thinness, whish-washiness, flatness, staleness,
· adjs: tasteless, flavorless, bland, spiceless, savorless, unflavored, gruelly, weak, thin, mild, wishy-washy, milk toast, watery, watered down, diluted, flat, stale
- Sweetness
Sweetness, as an adjective, includes anything that tastes of sugar, honey, or sugar substitutes (anything resembling sugar), containing or derived from sugar. The noun, sweetness, means a sweet taste, a sweet quality, or something that tastes sweet (e.g. candy, deserts, jellies and jams).
Thesaurus
· Nouns: sweet, sweetishness, saccharinity, sugariness, syrupiness, over-sweetness, cloyingness, sickly sweetness, sweetening, sweetener, sugar, sweetening agent, sugar-substitute saccharin, aspartame, Nutra Sweet, cyclamates, blackstrap, syrup, maple syrup, cane syrup, molasses, treacle, honey, nectar, ambrosia
· Verbs: sweeten, sugar, honey, sugarcoated, glaze, candy, mull
· Adjs: sweet, sweetish, sugary, candied, honeyed, syrupy, ambrosial, sugar sweet, honeysweet, sweet as sugar or honey, oversweet, saccharine, cloyingly, sickly sweet
- Sourness
Sourness, as an adjective can be defined as having the taste produced by acids, sharp, tart, or tangy tastes; anything made acid or rancid through the fermentation process; and tasting or smelling of decay. As a noun, sourness is the sensation of a sour taste.
Thesaurus Synonyms
· Nouns: sourness, tartness, hyperacidity, vinegariness, dryness pungency, vinegar, pickle, sour pickle, dill pickle, lemon, lime, crab apple, green apple, acid, souring , acidification,
· Verbs: sour, acidify, ferment, set one's teeth on edge
· Adjs: sour, tart, crab, crabbed, vinegarish, pungent, dry, green, unripe, acid,
- Pungency
Pungency affects the taste and smell with a sharp, acrid sensation. Pungency is penetrating, biting, sharp, or caustic.
Thesaurus
· Nouns: piquancy, sharpness, edge causticity, astringency, acridity, bitterness, sourness, zest, briskness, nippiness, tanginess, spiciness, tang, spice, nip, bite, punch, snap, zip, ginger, kick, strength, high flavor, gaminess, saltiness, salinity, slat, brine
· Verbs: bite, nip, cut, penetrate, bite the tongue, sting, make the eyes water, go up the nose
· Adjs. piquant, sharp, biting, acrid, sour, bitter, caustic, zestful, brisk, nippy, tangy, spicy, peppery, strong, rank gamy, saline, briny, brackish, pickled
Resources
Roget’s Thesaurus. Fifth Edition. Edited by Robert L. Chapman. New York, New York: Harper’s and Collins Publishers, 1992.
American Heritage Dictionary
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
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