Poe invented or re-envisioned several genres including horror, detective, and science fiction (Poe possibly supplied Jules Verne the idea for all those hot air balloon fictions!). While not discussed as much, he was also a purveyor of the hoax. Our story for this assignment, “The Facts In the Case of M. Valdemar,” is one of … Continue reading Poe’s Hoaxes: “The Facts In the Case of M. Valdemar” Assignment
In a reading group I’m in, which may have two or four members, we are beginning Hemingway’s novels. His first, Torrents of Spring, is a parody of Sherwood Anderson’s Dark Laughter and, what I would call, High Modernists like James Joyce. Not having read Anderson’s novel, I’m not qualified to comment on the parody itself. Parodies … Continue reading France was a long way off.
Along with Poe’s “Black Cat,” I hope you are reading the How to Read Literature book. Foster does a great job breaking down a lot of the basics of the type of reading that will be expected in the class. The more you understand how to read literature in this way, the better you’ll do … Continue reading Symbolism Is Simple…Sort of: “The Black Cat” Assignment
This post is part of a summer reading assignment for my AP Literature and Composition classes. In this assignment, we will focus on antithesis, a rhetorical device Poe uses in “Berenice.” By now, you should have read “Berenice” and any number of other Poe tales. Feel free to work ahead of the assignments and to … Continue reading Edgar was an odd little boy–“Berenice” Assignment
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” (Introduction to Mother Night) “All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental.” (Timequake) For years, I’ve taken to reading an author’s works in chronological order. The better I get as a reader, the more this practice provides … Continue reading Kilgore Was Here
In the midst of new baby, new house, new life, and new writing projects, I decided to enter a haiku contest for the Centennial National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. Some people may smirk at haiku, but I’ve been seriously reading and writing in the form for a while. The more I learn about … Continue reading A Haiku and an Interview
Last night was good for chance cooking. My wife bought tilapia fillets that she then had no appetite for and left them to me. My first thought was to sear each side and make a garlic, butter, and white wine sauce. Serve with a side of some veggies and homemade garlic bread. Simple, but good. … Continue reading aleatory cooking and Beethoven à la mode
Around Birmingham I’ve noticed more street art than I’ve ever seen. I’m not referring to the hard-to-read “tags” or graffiti that have been common in most cities since at least the ‘80s. Tags are basically someone’s name or nickname reproduced, sometimes as incomprehensible as some metal band logos. (Having some HTML issues: You can click … Continue reading McClurg goes all-city, for a few blocks anyway
I love the extra cooking time I get in the summer. I’ve made broths, sauces, breads, and sawmill gravy (The only dish besides jambalaya and gumbo that I learned like oral history—these recipes feel different when I make them. Maybe I should explore that in another post…). This week’s output will also include some rolls, … Continue reading not “sea legs,” but maybe “baker’s wrists” or “dough mitts”
Stephen McClurg 