Thursday, February 28, 2013
The Most Common Types of Resources for Research Papers
http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/the-most-common-types-of-resources-for-research-papers/
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Review of "The Red Badge of Courage"
By Joan Whetzel
I recently began reading the classic novel “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephen Crane. I never read it in school and don't know how I got out of having this on any high school or college reading list, but it never showed up. So I read this classic, for the first time, as a grandmother.
"The Red Badge of Courage" follows the journey of a young man from his decision to leave home to fight for the Northern States in the US Civil War, through training, the war, and his return home. Throughout the book the author shows the main character's thought process and emotions when deciding to leave for war, his boredom during the waiting period for his part in the war to begin, his guilt about trying to run when the war got ugly, his anger about the "incompetent" decisions of the officers, his fateful decision to pick up the company flag when the standard bearer died in battle, and his use of anger to fight the good fight.
During the entire book, the protagonist was referred to as "the youth" even though he had a name. The author never referred to any of his characters by their name in fact. The other characters were the only ones using names at all. It made it difficult to keep track of who was who, at least for me.
I'll have to admit that getting started on this book was really difficult for me. It took a long time for the action to get started and so I found it quite boring. I also found the author's use of dialect for everyone's speaking parts tough to wade through.
This is a character driven book not a plot driven book. This may be part of the problem as I prefer plot driven books. However, from a character driven point of view, Crane’s storytelling technique has it’s place. He uses it to show how “the youth” runs away for most of the story, until he picks up that flag. The flag became his personal turning point, leading him to his red badge of courge – the courage to quit running and stand for what he believes in, the courage to stick around and duke it out even when the going gets tough.
This will probably never be one of my favorite books, but it was worth reading at least once. And for those of you like character driven stories, it’s definitely worth the read.
How to Light a Charcoal Grill
http://joanwz.quazen.com/shopping/home-and-garden/how-to-light-a-charcoal-grill/
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Week of February 10, 2013 - Retreat
By Joan Whetzel
When searching for ideas, I sometimes run across words here or there that stir my imagination or provoke thought. Retreat is one of those words. Retreats as a noun a safe places to hide or withdraw from the routines of life as we know it. They are a hiding place, a sanctum, a private place, a secret place, a safe house, a cloister. As a verb, to retreat means to withdraw from things which may be hazardous, uncomfortable, giving up on a position, or simply taking a period of seclusion and solitude as a means of reassessing what needs to change. There can be a number of reasons for a retreat – a writer’s retreat, an academic research retreat, a spiritual retreat, a retreat from battle. The Thesaurus lists a few synonyms that offer subtle variations on this word: recession, departure, sanctum, decline, hiding place, surrender, seclusion, hideaway, recoil, assylum, sound a retreat, quit, or pull back.
Recession (noun)
A recession is an act of withdrawing. In business, recessions are extended declines in business activities along with an economic downturn or stagnation. In religious ceremonies, a recession or recessional is the part of the ceremony when the clerics or ministers recede down the aisle at the end of the service. Synonyms include, retirement, withdrawing, recessional, retraction, fleetingness.
Departure (npim)
A departure is the act of leaving, of starting out on a trip, or of takint a new course ofaction. It is a divergence from the plan of action or the established rule. Synonyms include: leaving, going, parting, exit, walk out, egress, removal, evacuation, abandonment, desertion, escape, flight, getaway, exodus, mass migration, defection, voting with one’s feet.
Sanctum (noun)
A sanctum is a holy place, a sacred space, a private place that is free from intrusion by others. In Judaism, the Holy of Holies is the innermost shrine of a tabernacle and temple, a sanctum. Synonyms: private chamber, sanctum sanctorum, Holy of Holies, den, closet, cabinet.
Decline (noun)
Decline can be a verb meaning to politely refuse. But It can also be a downward slope, a descent, the act of condesention, the act of gradual deterioration, the sun sinking in the sky, the process of declining or deterioation, a downward movement, the period when somehting appraches an end. Synonyms: subsidence, slump, lapse, drop, collapse, crash, dwindling, waning, downturn, remission, fall, plunge, dive, decline and fall, decrescendo, diminuendo, deceleration, slowdown.
Hiding Place (noun)
Hiding places consist of any place that is apt for hiding things or people, especially if you want to get away from others. Synonyms: secret passage, covert way, back way, back door, escape route, escape hatch, secret staricase, back stairs, underground, underground route, underground railroad.
Surrender (noun)
Surrendering is the acto of relinquishing possession or control of something, the act of letting someone else win or have their way, the acto fo givving up or abandoning a stance, resignation, the act of giving yourself over to an enemy (in war), the delivery of a prisoner or fugitive from justices. Synonyms: capitulation, renuciation, giving over, abandomenment, relinquishment, giving up, giving in, backing off.
Seclusion (noun)
Seclusion is the act of secluding, the state of being secluded or alone, a place or home that is secluded or set in a place apart from others. Synonyms: recluse, loneer, soltiary, shut-in, invalid, cloistered, hermit, closet cynic, stay-at-home, homebody, isolationist.
Hideaway (noun)
A hideaway is an isolated or secluded place, a hideout, or a place of concealment. Synonyms: cell, hidey-hole, lair, sanctum, inner sanctum.
Recoil (noun)
Recoiling is the act of springing back or shrinking back either from shock, fear, or repugnance. Recoil describes the backward action of a firearm when it is fired. Synonyms: fallback, pullout, pullback, contingency plan, backup plan, evasion, avoidance, sidestepping, flinch wince, cringe, dodge, duck.
Assylum (noun)
Assylums offer a place of protection and safety, a shelter for criminals, debtors or people escaping political situations. Assylum is the protection or shelter offered by a sanctuary.It is the immunity from extradition granted by the government of one country to anyone escapint persecution by the government of another country. Synonyms: home, poorhouse, alshouse, hospice, rest home, nursing home, sailor’s snug harbor, foster home, halfway house, retirement village, retirement community.
Sound a Retreat
Historically, armies used to bring along a bugler to blow certain calls during the battle because the the bugle was about the only thing that could be heard above the din of the battlefield. The bugler played several tunes that were code for whatever command the officer in charge wanted to give is troups. The soldiers needed to know what each of the tunes meant. In the case of the “sound a retreat” tune, it meant that the soldiers were giving up the good fight (as gracefully as possible) and allowing the other side to win. Synonyms: regress, go backwards, recede, return, revert, retrograde, pull back, jerk back, reach back, fall behind, fall astern, lose ground, slip back, backslide, lapse, relapse.
Quit (verb)
To quit means to depart from or to leave the company of , to give up or relinquish a job, to abandon, put aside or forsake something, to cease or discontinue some course of action. As an adjective it means to be absolved of a duty or obligation, to be free of future debt on some account. Synonyms: quit, vacate, evacuate, abandon, desert, turn one's back on, walk away from, leave to one's fate, leave high and dry, desert a sinking ship, withdraw, beat a retreat, retire, remove, abscond, disappear, vanish, bow out, make one's exit, jump ship.
Pull Back (verb)
Pulling back means to withdraw or retreat from a place, people, or events. Synonyms: draw back, recoil, fade, fall back, reel back, hang back, shrink back, shrink, flinch, wince, cringe, blink, shy, stay away, turn aside, evade, avoid, sidestep, weasel out, cop out, dodge duck, swerve, sheer off, give a wide berth.
Some of these forms of retreat are voluntary while others are involuntary. Most are performed for personal reasons. In fiction, characters can make use of any one of these forms of retreat. In non-fiction, retreats can describe what’s going on in the place or person you are writing about or to describe events and places. For the writer (nonfiction or fiction), a retreat can become the necessary reading, writing media break that renews the writer's spirit. On the other hand, it can become a group writer's retreat in which the writers give each other feedback and help each other generate ideas. Either way, a retreat can be a magnificent thing.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
The Week of February 10, 2013 - Walls
By Joan Whetzel
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian’s Wall was built by the Roman Empire do protect the English part of its Empire from invaders from the North – which the Roman’s had not yet conquered. It was built as a means of keeping people out and helped the Romans keep the English populace from migrating out of their control. It also helped prevent smuggling across that borderland, which in turn led to greater control over customs and taxes for goods traded with those living north of the wall. To the Romans, walls were a symbol of power or strength. The stronger the wall, the more powerful the empire.
Walls mark the boundaries between areas (between the borders of 2 countries or 2 pieces of property) or act as protection against outside forces (the walls of a home, a church, or any other building). Walls defines the spaces within a building, separating the public living spaces from the private living spaces; separating church offices from the sanctuary; separating company offices by employee's rank On the other hand, walls also represent obstacles to be overcome, progress that is being held back, or a barrier that prevents or forbids one’s entry. Sometimes, walls are used as, or viewed as, a means of separating people. Take, for instance “Mending Wall” by poet Robert Frost. The wall delineating the property line is clearly meant to separate the two properties, but what else does it signify? That depends on which side of the wall you are standing on.
Mending Wall by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."
The neighbors repairing a stone wall bordering their property discuss the meaning of the wall’s existence. One is of the philosophy that “good fences make good neighbors.” He needs to be separated from others. It makes him feel more comfortable having a physical space to feel safer. It also prevents unwanted intrusions from others. For the other, the wall represents a barrier to getting to know others and almost like he’s being kept out or barred from entering for ambiguous reasons, or for no reason.
Barrier Walls
Walls used as boundary markers are often used to protect one’s personal privacy. In this case the walls are used like fences and are generally not built too tall. While most fences are built out of thin materials like chain link or with wood slats, walls are made from thicker, heavier materials like stones or brick and mortar. There are barrier walls that have been constructed to physically separate or divide entire populations from each other – Hadrian’s Wall , the Great Wall of China , and the Berlin Wall. For writers, walls such as these, or the wall discussed in Robert Frost’s poem above, make for wonderful symbolism in fiction and nonfiction alike. The become a metaphor for barriers, separation, division, keeping things in or out, prison or protection, lack of freedom or safety. It all depends on which side of the wall your are standing.
The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China was built as a means of protection for the people living in the northern provinces China northern provinces
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was constructed following WWII to divide up the country as a means of preventing the deplorable atrocities that occurred there during the war from ever occurring again. One group of countries – representing democratic governments – controlled the populace and international exchanges on one side of the Wall, while the population on the other side was controlled by countries representing communist governments. The Wall held for about 50 years, until it was eventually torn down by the people who were hungry to be reunited. What was originally meant to be a punishment, as well as a means of protection for the rest of Europe, and even for the rest of the World. To the people of Germany, it represented a barrier that ripped families apart, a prison, a deterrent to freedom – a punishment with no end in sight.
But even the strongest walls don’t protect – or separate – people forever. And even the smallest walls bordering properties cannot prevent neighbors from talking to each other. We can still smell the steaks sizzling away on our neighbor’s grill, still hear the children laughing and playing in the schoolyard nearby, still import and export goods with neighboring countries, still exchange ideas across the internet. No matter how strong the walls erected between us, people will always find ways around them, or over them, or under them, or through them. It seems desire to have contact with others is stronger than any wall that can be erected.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Review of “Idea Generating for Writers”
From time to time most every writer runs into a dry spell where they have trouble coming up with ideas to write about. Even nonfiction writers face this challenge. “Idea Generating for Writers” provides a number of ways to generate ideas for future projects.
“Idea Generating for Writers” suggests such ideas as recirding the events of your day, and looking into other peoples’ topic lists as well as ways to generate your own lists of ideas, carrying around a pen and paper to jjot down those ideas as they come occur at the oddes times, reading, and travelling to name a few. Each chapter offers several suggestions for using the method to generate ideas. It’s not a book that needs to be read cover-to-cover. The readers are encouraged to pick and choose whichever methods may work best or which challenges them most.
“Idea Generating for Writers” is available from Amazon in print format only.
Review of “The Public Library: A Public and Private Resource”
The public library is a valuable resource. It offers so much more than just books, thought these are of great value in themselves. The book “The Public Library: A Public and Private Resource” discusses all of the resources that the library offers.
“The Public Library” covers what it takes to obtain a library card and how that library card can be used to make use of the library’s services. The card catalog section discuses how to use the card catalog and its transition from a physical collection of cards to a computer database which can be accessed on line, allowing books and other resources to be checked out online with the patron’s library card.
Other chapters dicuss the Dewey Decimal System, placing book holds, the Library’s reference section , E-Books, the Library’s Vertical Files, and the classes offered by the Library. This book can be read cover-to-cover or by picking and choosing the chapters that have the needed information. There is no wrong way to use this book.
“The Public Library: A Public and Private Resource” is available from Amazon in print and Kindle formats.
A Review of “Press This Button to Control the Univese”
Nonfiction books are great because they can be used as referrence books. Some – biographies and histories - even make for good reading. But when it comes to stirring the imagination, and transporting us to other worlds and times, nothing works better than fiction. But we don’t always have time to read novels. That is where shorter works like “Press This Button to Control the Universe” come in.
“Press This Button to Control the Universe” tells the story of 2 boys on a school field trip who can’t resist the temptation to wander into areas they shouldn’t. Along the way they press a few buttons that could end up changing the world. This little piece of fiction is told in two forms, first as a short story and then as a movie script.
“Press This Button to Control the Univers” is a short book that is available in Kindle Format at Amazon.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Week of February 3, 2012 - Bete Noir
By Joan Whetzel
When idea hunting, I ran across this funky little French term, bete noir. Literally,it translates to cower or to black beast, though it usually defined as something or someone that is dreaded or hated, something frightening, a bugbear, or a bane.
Frightened or Frightening
These are adjectives meaning having been thrown into a fright, being afraid, scared, fearful, or terrified. The bete noir synonyms for this are firghtener,scarer, hair-raiser, bogey, bogeyman, bugaboo, hobgoblin, scarecrow, horror, holy terror, orgre, monster, vampire, werewolf, ghoul, ucubus, sccubus, nightmare, witch, goblin, ghost, specter, phantom, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolf-man.
Enemy
Enemy, as a noun, is a person who feels hatred towards an opponent, or who intends to injure that opponent, or who opposes another person’s interests. It also describes hostile powers or forces (e.g. nations), or a group of foes or hostile forces. As and adjective, the word enemy means “of, relating to, or being a hostile power or force.” Bete noir synonyms include, enmity, unfriendliness, uncordiality, incompatibility, personal conflict, strain, tension, coldness, chill, frost, iciness, the freeze, inhospitality, and usociability.
Bugbear
Bugbearm a noun, beans a bugaboo or a fearsome imaginary creature (i.e. ghost or goblin) that is frequently incited to frighten children. It could also be an object or soruce of dread, or a continuing source of irritation. Synonyms for bete noir include: bugaoo, bogey, boggart, booger, booger-man, bogeyman, and boogeyman,
Bane
Bane is a noun meaning a fatal injury or ruin; a cause of harm, ruin or death; a source of persistent annoyance or exaperation; or a deadly poison. Bete noir synonyms include: curse, affliction, plague, pestilence, calamity, scourge, torment grievance, woe, burden, crushing burden, disease, death, evil, harm, destruction, vexation, thorn in the flesh, thorn in the side, nemesis, and arch-nemesis.
These are all great words and concepts for horror stories and movies, as well as film noir stories – those movies that have dark themes. They are all suggestive of dark places, of fightening scenes, of war and bad relations between people. The dark side of life is a great place for using the bete noir concept in story telling and movies.
Friday, February 1, 2013
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