As I've already mentioned, my methodology of teaching writing is by way of Expressionism - literally to express - and synonymous with Expressionism is freedom. That is, by giving as much freedom (without forfeiting some semblance of structure) to students as possible. I have found that students enjoy writing about those things they know. Together with a snug push of inspiration, a teacher can motivate thinking “outside the box”. Sculpted writing assignments that demonstrated my desire to do this in an unproblematic and creative writing atmosphere proved to be quite successful if not outright empowering to those students who would have otherwise shunned away from picking up a pencil. Once more, free writing (with guidance) leads to imagination, which results in powerful words, ideas and realizations. In other words, it rouses students to advanced ways of thinking about language. In a proverbial nutshell, language is thinking and thinking is language.

Until narrative composition assignment in college, I hadn't given much thought as to when I knew I, myself, was a writer. To me, it was what it was, and reflection back into that period of great personal academic turmoil truly brought out to me the sacrifices I have made over the years to develop my writing, my imagination and my words into a voice and style completely and utterly my own. These narratives on Self-definition were not just assignments to me. They were journeys into whom I could become and, more importantly, why I would choose to take the trek in the first place, to inevitably make a positive and constructive difference through my words.

Later, this would become my mantra, and along side imagination, this is one of the threads that will continue to weave its way through my work. For, if not for imagination, the purpose and force behind all great literary works would be nullified and void of any true command. They would be hollow. Hence, literary philosopher Jacques Derrida's theory of Deconstruction would be horribly valid- that words have no significance; words are nothing more than applied meanings to otherwise dead symbols. To me, this is a magnificent untruth and worthy of philosophical rebuttal not valuable enough for further discussion at this moment in time. Perhaps some another day I'll tackle that ugly monster. In the end , words are everything in the macrocosm of Humanity. To youth struggling with the idea of Self, creative, free writing can help them find innumerable answers to who they are, where they fit in and how to build that complex scaffold needed in today's challenging world.

Agents are sometimes referred to as “ten percenters” because that is the most common amount they take from the writer's profits. (Lerner 154) Not all agents take ten percent of the writer's payment; for Stephen King's first novel, Carrie he got only half of the money that the publisher paid for the novel. (King 79) King's case seems to be one of the more extreme cases of agent profits. King didn't look around enough for an agent so he didn't know that the percentage he was giving up was higher and the advances were lower than the average agent would take. (King 75)

Finding an agent can prove to be difficult in dome cases. “Some [Writers] may only decide, for instance, to consider only large, large Ney York based agencies;” A large agency tends to deal with a broad range of topics and may not be as good a choice as a smaller one that will give the author the service that their book may need to get published. (Begley 13) Picking the right agency is harder than one might think, just because a writer has their ideal agent in mind doesn't mean the agent wants to sell their book for them. Most successful agents are swarmed by submissions from beginning writers who are eager to sell their work, so getting their attention is often times difficult.

Many well known agents have new authors referred to them by writers they've published. This is sometimes a deciding factor in whether or not an agent agrees to work with a new writers book. Unfortunately a writer without anyone to recommend their work “will have to choose prospective agents more or less at random.” This may not be a terrible thing, a fellow writer's agent may be less competent than one found through research. One way a writer may find an agent is to go through book covers on novels similar to the work they have written and make a list of agents from that; however, the writer should first read those books and not just assume theirs has a lot in common with it. “Good writing is useless if you don't know which markets will buy your work,” in order to sell ones book a writer needs to look into markets interested in selling their book. (Brewer 8) If an established writer tries to sell their work to a market that typically wouldn't be interested they might publish it anyway.

The query letter is the key to getting published without a recommendation, “In many cases, it determines whether an editor or agent will even read [the writer's] manuscript.”

(Brewer 16) The most common mistake a author makes in a query letter is discussing payment in it, writing about money looks unprofessional and on top of that if the amount the author requests is too high the agent may not even reply. The letter should get the agent to want to read the writer's book. It shouldn't be a summary, although a short summary should be included so they will know what to expect. In the event that the writer feels that their query has been lost they should wait until the response time the agent set has passed and then “send a short and polite e-mail describing the original query sent, the date it was sent, and asking if they received it or made a descision regarding it's fate.” Staying professional is important, if an agent has a bad experience with an author they may tell other people at their agency about it and cause that writer to become black listed at their agency. (Brew 17)

Agents are paid to get an author's book published. In order to do that, they need to first find an editor for the writer's work. The editor's job is to correct the sometimes numerous spelling and grammar mistakes that a writer makes while writing the book. Editors become professionals at detecting mistakes in grammar and also in flaws in diction and syntax; they may suggest that the writer change the point of view in the novel or use a different word in order to make a scene more emotional. Editors also work as a kind of therapist for their writers. Editors often find themselves helping writers to overcome their depression or informing them when their mania has gotten the best of them and fooled them into thinking a lackluster book is their best work. On some occasions the agent becomes an editor on top of being an agent, that way they can take two paychecks. Once the book is finished being edited the agent will find a publisher for the book.

Finding a publisher that will pay a good price for a book is hard for someone who does not know his or her way around in the publishing industry. Since literary agents are professionals and get paid based on the author's salary, they are going to find the best possible publisher for the book. The publisher is in charge of advertising and distributing the book. This phase is perhaps the most important part of a literary agent's job because it can determine not only the success or failure of the book, but also of the writer. The literary agent will only submit to appropriate houses and always “Mak[e] sure the project receives due consideration.” (Begley 5)

Another important aspect of a literary agent's job is to sell the movie, audio, and foreign rights to a book. These may, in the end, produce the same, if not more, than what the author got for the initial publishing of the book. These also open the writer to new markets such as writing screenplays and more people get exposed to the author's material thus increasing their book sales even more. Clive Barker in his introduction to The Books of Blood, wrote “I had the great fortune to make a movie, the first Hellraiser, soon after publication, the success of which drew people to my stories in far larger numbers than I otherwise might have enjoyed.” (xii) For Barker the movie deal made his career more so than the initial publication of the book.

The literary agent is perhaps more important to the writer than any other part of the publishing process. Unless the writer happens to be very knowledgeable about the publishing process, an agent is a necessity. Some agents, however, are not as good as others and some even attempt to scam authors. Literary agents that ask for a reading fee for a manuscript are notorious for fraudulent practice. In The Forrest for the Trees Betsy Lerner recalls the dilemma one author faced when their agent held onto their advance monies and royalty payments until they threatened to sue. (151) When finding a literary agent, it is important to first research them so that the writer does not have to worry about being ripped off. An agent who tends to find successful authors tends to be less likely to ignore a writer's calls or charge them a high rate, than an unknown agent.

In order to help protect writers from fraudulent agents a guild should be established. The guild would require that a person would have to meet certain requirements in order to become an agent. For example, if someone wanted to become an agent they would have to get a degree. This is a standard if one is looking for a doctor or lawyer, why shouldn't a degree be required for literary agents as well? These standards would improve the quality of agents and also prevent con men from taking advantage of new authors.

After an agent has scammed an author they may be reluctant to get a new one. Lerner writes, “More than a few writers whom I've met at conferences have complained to me that it's harder to get an agent than it is to interest a publisher, which is surprising, given how many agents there are.” (151) Some agents will only try a few publishing houses before giving up on a book, afterwards they may avoid an authors enquiries about their book. A determined author might continue looking for a new agent for their book, but a less compelled author could just file the book away and never attempt to get it published again. If there were a place for writers to go to find agents on the Internet, a rating system could be added to the website. That way a writer would know that the agent they were working with was bad, or they never would have submitted to them in the first place.

The literary agent is a double-edged sword for the beginning writer. While an agent can get a writer millions they can also take huge portions of the writer's profit, as was the case with King. The agent's ability to obtain movie rights can cause a writer's work to become known to wider audiences and boost sales. To the beginning writer the literary agent is more often than not what decides how successful they become, the agent has the power to both create and destroy a beginning writer.

 English, on its own merit, isn't equipped to deal with human suffering; there isn't enough music to it.  That is when the heart plays a hauntingly familiar melody and suddenly you bleed invisible ink in a language that has no translation.  You'll find what emerges on paper astonishing; this is when the Word Painter gives voice to everything you've wanted to say...but couldn't.  You'll know in an instant when this happens; you'll be so amazed with this new talent that you wish you could show the world, but you won't.  There are regions of human dignity that do not come in common grammar, and some words much too private for literature.

This is a virtual library provided for public use by the New York State Library and is accessable for all residents of New York City. To use the system, you would have to enter a library card number from one of the library systems located in New York City or be a subscriber of institutions or schools that participate in the program. It has a wide collection of library research material and books made available to users virtually.

African American Women Writers of the 19th Century:

This website focuses on African American women who made literary and cultural contribution to the African American society during the 19^th century. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has a collection of about 52 different books or literary works that were published in a period where freed African Americans were being introduced into mainstream American literary world. Works include Phillis Wheatly (1773), Ann Plato (1841), Harriet Wilson (1859) and many others.

Literary Encyclopedia: Literature in English Around the World:

The Literary Encyclopedia is a vast database that is only available to subscribers unless your school or library is already a subscriber, then you need to get a access code. It has global literary reference work from over 2000 universities, countless amounts of authoritative authors and over ridiculous amount of books and resources written in English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek and every other country, genre or time period you can image. So yes, it is a great resource but you will have to pay $19.99 to use for a whole year.

Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism:

The Internet Public Library or IPL contains vast amounts of criticisms about the lives and works of various authors from multiple nationalities, titles and time periods. Now only does it show you western authors and literature, but it also offers criticisms on Eastern Literature such as Indian authors and books, African and Middle Eastern literary works.

Literary History:

Academic, scholarly, and critical articles on British poets, novelists, playwrights, essayists, and biographers of the twentieth century, nineteenth century, and eighteenth century; and on American poets, novelists, playwrights, and essayists of the twentieth century and nineteenth century. All articles are open access and free.

Literary Resources on the Net:

Maintained by a so-called Jack Lynch of Rutgers, this website offers a wide array of articles and journals as well as biblical, theory and British literature. The site is free for all to access and neatly breaks down all of its resources into categories you can easily navigate through.

Celebration of Women Writers:

This website offers only literary works written by women throughout history and includes all races, time periods and nationalities. The site includes books, poems, letters, religious commentaries, economic and scientific works for the only reason of celebrating women's success in the world of literature.

Glossary of Literary Criticism:

The site offers various terms from A-Z and how various authors defined, used or incorporated those terms into their literary work. The site also keeps a good bibliography of various quotes and sources so if you write the author into your research paper, you can cite the source easily.

Christian Classics:

Known as Christian Classics Ethereal Library or CCEL, the site keeps various literary works by Christian authors and or topics dealing with Christianity. The writings include Protestant denominations, Catholic and Orthodox churches and various other faith based community works or theological discourse about Christianity.

Glossary of Poetic Terms:

The site has thousands upon thousands of terminology and terms used in poems and many literary key words. The site is a nice guide on literary vocabulary and offers links to Poets, poems and their criticisms.

The Literature Network: Virginia Woolf:

Virginia Woolf is an English author from 1882 to 1941 and died by drowning herself in a local river. But during her lifetime, she wrote numerous works that still draw countless fans to celebrate her birthdays, life and works. The site offers over 2800 books, articles and journals written by Woolf or her fans.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman:

The site offers numerous works by Perkins before she died and commentary by scholars and students on her works. This is a good resource for anyone writing any articles on the Yellow Wallpaper or other curious works she had written.

Contemporary Literary Criticism/Contemporary Authors:

You can access Gale Databases through this link and it is a powerful resource used by libraries to go through periodicals, reference materials and primary sources. Most libraries, schools, universities and institutions have access to this database and you can get the login information from with no cost or extra fees.

LITFINDER:

Another resource like the gale database, it has vast resources and databases for literary works and their criticisms. The site also includes a citation generator for various formats like MLA. You would need to contact your institution

'Popular Fiction' is a form of fiction that is easy to read and understand and appeals to the average reader. It is usually a story that is plot driven rather than character driven and can usually be placed within a certain genre of fiction such as romance, mystery and crime.

'Literary Fiction' focuses more on style and effect and often appeals to the more academic reader. Where "Popular Fiction" is usually driven by plot, "Literary Fiction" is often character driven and the story may be more experimental and harder to place within a certain genre.

These two forms of fiction can then come under the headings of "Short Fiction" or "Long Fiction". "Short Fiction" is a short piece of up to 8,000 words and can be read ion one sitting. "Long Fiction" is often a novel of more than 40,000 words and often contains a plot that unfolds through characters' speech, thoughts and actions. A piece that falls between 8,000 and 40,000 words is often classed as a novella.

The Writing Process

There are six general steps in the Writing Process. These are "Idea Generation", "Rough First Draft", "Revision", "Setting Aside", "Editing", and "Proofreading".

'Idea Generation' is the first step in the writing process and includes brainstorming, free-writing, clustering, writing down questions and outlining. This is followed by a "Rough First Draft", with the idea being to write quickly and release the creative juices.

After you have completed your "Rough First Draft" you are ready for "Revision". When revising you should try to streamline the story line, add developments and improve structure and style. After this comes "Setting Aside", where you leave the story alone for two weeks so that when you next come to read it you will be doing so with a fresh perspective.

'Editing' means fixing any mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, conventions and typos, and once this is done you are ready for the final step of "Proofreading". "Proofreading is the last thing you do before you are ready to send your story out into the world and is a chance to catch any further typos and to make sure that all your corrections from the "Editing' process have been made.

"Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle" opens with a vivid description of the concert hall at Saint-Chapelle as the "windows [are] flamed with light (Updike 1)." Updike then describes the music which "vaunt[s] Vivaldi's strident strength (Updike 4)" and "suck[s] with [its] passionate sweetness (Updike 5)." As the poem progresses, Updike briefly depicts the effect the music has on the members of the orchestra. Lastly, as the poem closes, Updike gives a final description of the music echoing in the hearts of the member of the orchestra.

The chief purpose for Updike writing this poem is to emphasize what Updike see's as the captivating nature of music. Updike attempts to do so illustrating the impact the music has on the members of the orchestra. Moreover, the fact that many of the literary devices Updike employs are based on rhythm and meter, demonstrates that he is attempting to associate music with harmony and order. In essence, Updike employs various sound devices to highlight what he sees as the enchanting nature of music.

Updike utilizes many sound devices to emphasize the effect music had on the audience. For instance, Updike's repeatedly use of alliteration creates a beat and rhythm which in turn creates an aesthetic effect on the reader. In particular, the phase "violins vaunting Vivaldi's strident strength (Updike 4)" demonstrates this affect. The alliteration in this line creates a somewhat music quality to the poem which fits perfectly with the theme of the poem - the enchanting effects of music. Another sound device Updike employs is euphony. Words such as "glow (Updike 11)," "whisper (Updike 12)," and "light (Updike1)" all have soft-sounding phonetics which adds to the awe-stricken tone of the poem. This is not only because these soft sounding words create a solemn tone, but "glow" and "light" are often associated with objects that amaze and shine through the darkness. This connotation combined with the euphonic quality of the words creates a powerful, awe-inspiring effect.

As well as sound devices, Updike also utilizes other literacy devises. For example, the allusions to Vivaldi and Brahms serve to demonstrate the power of the music being performed. Vivaldi and Brahms, renowned composers of the eighteenth century, both connotate powerful and energetic music (Wikipedia). By alluding to two well known composers, Updike links the music described in his poem to their music. Another literary device Updike employ's is Synesthesia. Both examples of synesthesia in the poem - "listening eye (Updike 7)" and "whisper to the eye (Updike 12)" - demonstrate that not only was the setting pleasing to the ear, but to all the senses, including sight. Updike depicts how the setting is both literally and figuratively grand ‘sight'. That is, the stained glass, along with the "blazing blue (Updike 7)" light, create a wonder physical spectacle for the eyes, while the enchanting music figuratively glows like a "whisper to the eye (Updike 12)". The synesthesia adds to the theme by claiming the music is so captivating that hearing is not the only sense inspires by it.

Although I do not personally agree with Updike's assertion regarding captivating nature of music, Updike does adeptly express his point of view. I believe the rhythmic effect created by the alliteration is one of the chief reasons this poem creates such a striking impression on me. Furthermore, I believe the synesthesia was a clever method of hinting at how music can affect more than one sense. However, I believe that the allusions to Vivaldi and Brahms take away somewhat from the poem, especially for those who may have to do research to completely understand the allusion. In essence, "Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle" is an interesting poem that makes excellent use of sound devices as well as some other literary devices.

If the agent didn’t love your work, then he or she was not the person to champion your novel. Always remember a bad agent is much worse than no agent. Move forward until you find the right one.

And quit looking for meaning in those form rejections. There is none.

The well-known French author was born Victor-Marie Hugo, on February 26th, 1802, in Besançon, France. He was the third and the youngest son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet and the younger brother of Abel Joseph Hugo and Eugène Hugo. The author's “early childhood was marked by great events.” (Wikipedia) The century prior to his birth caught sight of the overthrow of the Bourbon Dynasty during the French Revolution, the rise and fall of the First Republic, and then the rise of the First French Republic and dictatorship under Napoleon Bonaparte. These events could also be seen in the family. Hugo's father regarded Napoleon as a hero, but his mother, being a Catholic Royalist, is thought to have taken as her lover General Victor Lahorie, who was put to death in 1812 for plotting against Napoleon.

Victor Hugo, like many other young authors of his generation, was extremely affected by François-Réné de Chateaubriand, who was the founder of Romanticism and “France's preeminent literary figure during the early 1800s.” (Wikipedia) From then on, Hugo was determined to be “Chateaubriand or nothing”. (Wikipedia) The mature passion and expressiveness in his early work came hand in hand with success and fame at a young age for Hugo.

However, against his mother's desire, Victor fell in love to his childhood friend Adèle Foucher. Secretly, they became engaged. Because Hugo had a close relationship with his mother, which was unusual for the time, Hugo and Adèle only married after his mother's death in 1821.

Although his works received success, when he was fairly young, Hugo didn't get early triumph with his theatrical work. His first play, Cromwell, which came out in 1827, was never staged. The reason for its success was mainly for the author's preface. Hugo's first play, which was accepted under his own name, was Marion de Lorme, which was published in 1831.

Hugo's first mature piece of fiction came out in 1829. The novel Le Dernier jour d'un condamné, the french version of Last Days of a Condemned Man, had an influence on several writers, including Charles Dickens. His first full-length novel, however, would be the much successful Notre-Dame de Paris, the French title for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This novel, whose main character is the famous Parisian Cathedral, came out the same year as his play Marion de Lorme. The famous novel of the cathedral was rapidly translated into other languages across Europe. As early as the 1830s, Hugo began to organize ideas for what would become his famous novel about social misery and injustice. But it took seventeen years for Hugo to complete it. It finally came out in 1862 and was known as Les Misérables.

After attempting three failed times, Hugo was eventually elected to the Académie française, in 1841. This position would solidify Hugo's place in the world of French arts and letters. This position would enable the author to become more politically involved. It was because of his outspokenness and involvement that brought him into exile. When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized total power in 1851 and establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo took this opportunity to speak out and proclaim the new ruler a traitor of France. Worried for his life, the author fled the country. He first went to Brussels, and then went Jersey and finally settling with his family on the channel island of Guernsey at Hauteville House. He would live at this latter house in exile until his return to Paris in 1870. On his return, the nation “hailed him as a national hero.” (Wikipedia)

After a long and troubled life, Hugo died on May 22nd, 1885. He was 85 years old. France mourned the author's death.

It is difficult to discuss a famous literary artist without mentioning his or her literary artists. The first most famous and major novel by Hugo is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. As the title may lead the reader to suppose, the Parisian cathedral is the main setting of the novel. Many believe that Quasimodo is the main character and this is what the adaptations have led the viewers to believe. However, this wasn't the author's intention. Hugo felt that the main character was Notre Dame itself. The original title Notre-Dame de Paris, literally Our Lady of Paris, “shows that the cathedral (and not Quasimodo) is the subject of the story.” (Wikipedia) It may also be described as the story of several characters, who are all related to each other by one thing, the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris.

Another of Hugo's major works is the novel Les Misérables. The story examines several different themes that are as relevant to the time when it was written as it does today. It takes a closer look at “the nature of good, evil, and the law, in a sweeping story that expounds upon the history of France, architecture of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, law, justice, religion, and the types of nature of romantic and familial love.” (Wikipedia) Though it has various other themes, the story creates a discussion and comparison between grace and legalism. These themes may notably be seen in the protagonist, Jean Valjean, and the antagonist, Javert. But it is Valjean, who leads the story. An interesting aspect is that Hugo incorporated the population of Paris into the character of Gavroche, a yound child living in the street.

In today's society, Hugo is still an author that is read worldwide. His novel Les Misérables has been turned into a musical, which “has also made a lasting impact on popular culture because of its immense popularity.” (Wikipedia) Hugo wanted to become François-Réné de Chateaubriand. Many may think that he has become much greater than Chateaubriand.

 

1. When poetry tells a story, it's a novel. Homer's Odyssey is a novel.
2. When a novel is preeminently about language, it's a poem. Virginia Woolf's The Waves is a poem. When a poem creates internecine characters, it's a play. Frost's Home Burial is a play. When a play only has only one character, it's a short story. Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape is a story.
3. Books are about killing yourself: Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Hardy, Hamsun, Faulkner. Films are about being saved from suicide: Chaplin, von Sternberg, Renoir, Capra, Scorsese. King Lear is more film than book.
4. Riddles are fundamental to great works of art - Oedipus Rex, Mona Lisa, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, The Brothers Karamazov, Great Expectations, Citizen Kane.
5. Time makes mysteries out of clarities. The transparent becomes indecipherable: the jokes in Shakespeare, Jonson, Pope.
6. All human codes get broken. The indecipherable becomes transparent: the works of Faulkner, Eliot, Joyce.
7. The Shawshank Redemption is a transfigured version of The Count of Monte Cristo with vengeance transmuted to the redemption of the title. Tim Robbins as Edmond Dantes. Morgan Freeman as the Abbe Faria.
8. As Good As It Gets: a version of Of Human Bondage with the clubfoot emotional instead of physical.
9. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle reimagines Othello. Brazil transmutes 1984. A remake is a failure of the imagination.
10. Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop is a version of Shakespeare's King Lear with the grandfather as Lear, Nell as Cordelia, Kit Nubbles as Kent, Chuckster as Oswald, Miss Monflathers as Regan, echoes of Edmund in Fred Trent and Quilp, and the Fool reincarnated in Dick Swiveller.
11. The Catcher in the Rye rewrites Hamlet, not The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Hamlet “know[s] not seems.” Holden hates “phonies.” Etc.
12. Haven Kimmel's version of The Confessions of St. Augustine is titled A Girl Named Zippy. See the vision of Jesus in the tree.
13. The Flintstones rewrites The Honeymooners. Fred Flintstone = Ralph Cramden. Barney Rubble = Ed Norton. Wilma Flintstone = Alice Cramden. Betty Rubble = Tracy Norton.
14. The artistic dilemma in any work about genius is what to do with the genius. Any being with abnormal powers, abnormal sensitivity or abnormal intelligence, were he or she to stay in the world, would, of necessity, transform it. That transformation belongs to the world of science fiction. In a work of realism, genius must either be vague as in The Aspern Papers, Mann's Dr. Faustus, or The Ghost Writer or must die as in Charly, The Man Who Fell to Earth, E.T., Powder, or Phenonemon-reversion and return being the more obliging forms of dying.
15. We do the things we want to do and don't do the things we don't want to do. Hamlet doesn't avenge his father's death because he doesn't want to. If he really wanted to, he would. When he kills Claudius, he's not avenging his father's death; he's avenging Gertrude's.
16. Most poets writing about their desire for God's presence in their hearts would use the imagery of invitation. John Donne's "Batter my heart three-person'd God" uses the imagery of invasion: battering ram, invasion force, usurped city, closed entry, captured protector, wrong marriage, imprisonment, attack. In Donne's poem, God the invader storms the gates of the soul, breaks down the door of the fortified castle of the heart, steals away the former bride of sin, and, claiming her for his own, locks her in the prison of his infinite love and rapes her until she is chaste. Donne's sonnet is less holy than barbarian.
17. The problem with The Merchant of Venice is not Shylock but Gratiano. The problem with Our Mutual Friend is Fledgeby.
18. Until the entry of Sam Weller, Pickwick Papers is an explicit parody of the Life of Johnson.
19. The first authentic anguished “I” in literature appears in the last stanza of William Cowper's “The Castaway.”
20. The eighteenth century's dark heart is not de Sade, which is just posturing, but the prayers of Johnson and the late journals of Boswell.
21. Romantic poetry is exclamatory poetry. Romanticism is the literature of the exclamation mark. "I feel! I feel it all!"
22. Romantic poetry begins with Sampson Agonistes. John Milton was the first Romantic poet.
23. Of all the important critics, Coleridge was, by far, the stupidest.
24. Thoreau is Hamlet washed in Wordsworth.
25. A pun is a thought short circuited by wit. There are no puns in Oscar Wilde.
26. Katherine Mansfield's stories: Chekhov on Quaaludes.
27. The Awakening begins with birds and ends with bees.
28. Proust is a perfumed sewer.
29. The failure of Hart Crane wasn't a failure of imagination, inventiveness, or verve, but a failure of ear.
30. Stevens was the last credible rhetorical poet.
31. Joyce constructed his characters. Shakespeare inhabited his.
32. John Ashberry is a descendant of Edward Lear by way of Quintilian.
33. Surrealism: an irrational precision. In Surrealism, the egg of the unconscious was laid intact. In Dadaism, it dropped from the height of ludicrousness and went Splat. Modernism is its omelet, postmodernism its shell.
34. The hardness in James M. Cain is made of softness.
35. Seymour Krim: Father of Gonzo Journalism.
36. Robbe-Grillet used the cinema to write his books, but he did not think to use books to help make his movies.
37. No one saw as deeply into ink as Saul Steinberg did.
38. Ted Hughes' The Birthday Letters: not poetry, exhumation.
39. What eternally recurs is our evolving attempts to make sense of what keeps recurring. This is the meaning of Kundera.
40. How much easier it is to teach Jane Austen's Emma than George Eliot's Middlemarch, Emily or Charlotte Bronte than William Makepeace Thackeray, Hard Times rather than Bleak House, to teach A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man rather than Ulysses, Billy Budd rather than Moby Dick, Death in Venice rather than Doctor Faustus or The Magic Mountain, The Metamorphosis rather than The Castle, Notes From Underground rather than The Brothers Karamazov, Chronicle of a Death Foretold rather than A Hundred Years of Solitude. some great works are of an eminently teachable length-Heart of Darkness, The Awakening, The Great Gatsby, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, Nausea, Miss Lonelyhearts, The Catcher in the Rye, Flaubert's Parrot. Others are just too massive to consider-A Remembrance of Things Past, War and Peace, Don Quixote, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Thoreau's Journals, The Brothers Ashkenasi, The Tin Drum, The Rosy Crucifixion, Journey to the End of Night, the Life of Johnson. The sole, fundamental, and foolish criterion for the canon of teachability today is length.
41. Lear's Fool speaks wisely - that doesn't turn him into the King.
42. If it bothers you that life is meaningless, read something Oulipo.
43. There is no way to tell the figurative from the literal except by reference to corroborative visible activity. The sentence "the man was cleaning his plate" is indecipherable without reference to physical reality. If the man was at the kitchen sink with a dishrag and a dirty plate, the sentence would be understood to be literally true. If the man was eating, the sentence would be understood to be figurative. Even worse would be if "cleaning his plate" meant "storing things in memory" for then there would be no available visible sign. That's why William Byrd's "I danced my dance" is not universally understood. Some see it literally as dance or exercise. Some see it as code or figuration for moving his bowels. Without having watched Byrd do his "dance," there is no way from reading the phrase itself to know for certain what it means. Figurative language perceived as literal can only be understood as madness. "Take you me for a sponge, my lord?"
44. Nabokov went after cheap effects like alliteration, and he put no strength into his verbs. All the sentences are adjective and adverb heavy. He pursued neither assonance nor consonance. His prey was linguistic tricks and structural riddles. That's why nothing Vladimir Nabokov wrote is memorable.
45. A hack writes for money. A hack is not necessarily a bad writer, nor is a hack necessarily an untalented writer. But anyone who writes to make money is a hack. Norman Mailer is a hack. Joyce Carol Oates is a hack. John Updike is a hack.
46. How seriously can one take writers who won't stop writing?
47. I don't know which is worse-someone destroying a writer's work after his demise or a writer's urge to self destruction on his own deathbed: Thomas Moore's destruction of Byron's Memoirs or Samuel Johnson in old age setting a match to the manuscript story of his life.
48. Can anything be learned from reading the biography of pictorial, theatrical or literary artists? Yes, the artist and the bastard are one.
49. What trait do the insane share with the sane? Imagination.

All consciousness is consciousness of something - awareness must be conscious of something in order to exist. It can bring about awareness of self and of the possibilities of the world. Consciousness doesn't create objects, but it discloses or displays them. The more Husserl tried to develop a method, the more it seemed to him that the human experience is limited to phenomena, or objects and experiences as they appear to consciousness (hence the name phenomenology).

Husserl developed a technique for phenomenological criticism, reducing judgments in order to purify a phenomenon of all factual ingredients and interpretations. With this reduction, phenomenology tries to achieve complete objectivity and explore the essential character of awareness. It is not concerned with passing value judgments but rather demonstrating experiences and consciousness. Phenomenology is an attempt to go back to basics by describing things without trying to explain or analyze them and from this notion of thinking to move forward to a new more intuitive grasp of our sense of being.

Phenomenological criticism looks for an instinctual reading of a text, unaffected by historical context, the conditions of production and readership, and the author. The text is reduced to a pure examination of consciousness and awareness. Phenomenology is concerned with the deep structures of the mind, which can be seen in recurrent themes and imagery. This form of criticism focuses on how one experiences time and space, as well as the relation to material objects. In applying phenomenology to Flatland by Edwin Abbot it can be seen that once consciousness is reached an individual becomes aware of themselves and of larger possibilities.

This story is about A. Square, a mathematician and resident of two dimensional Flatland, where men are shapes having three or more sides depending on their status, and women are straight lines. In a dream Square discovers Lineland (a land of one dimension) where he tries to explain his world of two dimensions to the king of the realm. The king is not very receptive and attempts to kill Square, who wakes up just in time. Later a sphere from Spaceland (a three dimensional world) comes to him and tries to explain a world of three dimensions. In this explanation the sphere lifts the square out of his two dimensional world into Spaceland where he can look down on his own Flatland to see and understand the reality of his own dimension.

When Square gets all this new knowledge and understanding he takes what he has learned one step further and asks the sphere if there is a four dimensional world, or maybe and infinite number of worlds of increased dimensions. The sphere dismisses that idea that there might be a form higher than himself just as the square and line had earlier. When Square insists that his idea could be valid the sphere drops him back into Flatland. Then in a dream the sphere returns and he is introduced to Pointland, a single point that believes that he is the universe because he can not perceive anything but himself. Even when Square speaks to the point, the point believes that the voice is really a part of his own consciousness. When he wakes up the Square tries to get others to believe in the third dimension and higher. He was promptly captured and put in jail where he is to spend the rest of his life.

This story lends itself to phenomenology because it is all about the consciousness and perception of the characters. The story is the tale of the changing consciousness of Square, as he becomes aware of the realities and the possibilities of dimensions, and the changing awareness of those he meets on his journey. He is aware of only his own world, and never thought beyond his own personal experiences, then he is awakened to the possibility of lower dimensions through in his dream of Lineland where the line he meets refuses to be conscious of the existence of a second dimension. Square, in his attempt to make the line understand, states the perception that he has of his own existence and that of the line by saying "You are a line, but I am a line of lines, called in my country a Square" (p 51).

This quote demonstrates the square's awareness as to his own condition and that of the one-dimensional world. He is conscious of his own state and of the thought process he must go through in attempting to explain that state to the line who is not aware of any dimensions other than his own. However, at this point he has not yet become aware of the idea that there might be something of a higher dimension than that of his own land.

In that episode we can also see an insight into the consciousness of the line. He is the king of his land and refuses to believe that there is anything greater than he is, he can not or will not believe that he is not the highest form of being. At this point in the story Square is almost at the same level. The Square also believes that his plane is the best or only level of dimension. However, Square is one step ahead of the line because he is aware of the possibilities of levels below him, although this is not a big step it is a step towards being conscious of the further possibilities that he will later become aware of.

Shortly after this dream Square is teaching his grandson some basic math in lessons that are a regular occurrence in the household. The young boy asks raises the possibilities of cubes. He understands the methods involved with squaring a number, and ponders aloud the idea of cubing a number. Square is immediately outraged, but in the back of his consciousness is his visit to Lineland therefore he does think over the idea. He sends his grandson to bed and mutters to his wife about the impertinence of the boy. He is thus first introduced to the idea of a higher dimension, but like the line is not yet willing to admit that he is not of the highest possible dimension.

Later the sphere forces the square to hear about and see the third dimension, making the square aware of his own existence as a two- dimensional object and the possibilities of a three dimensional world. The line "I looked, and, behold, a new world! There stood before me, visibly incorporate, all that I had before inferred, conjectured, dreamed, of perfect Circular beauty" (p. 64). Here the square is aware of his assent into a higher plane, and what he has never known before. He is conscious of his own inferiority to the higher dimension. He is conscious of his own vision and the apparent beauty of what he is seeing in relation to his dreams and what he has know in his past.

Square then is conscious of his thought as he ponders further possibilities. The square is looking to further his knowledge, he states "I thirsted for yet deeper and fuller draughts than what he was offering me" (p 70). Here the square is aware of his new found knowledge and awareness and is in search for more. He is conscious of the fact that there must be more to learn, more to see. He is conscious of his thoughts and this search for more knowledge.

Although the main focus of this story is the changing consciousness of Square, there is also the changing awareness of the sphere that brings Square the knowledge of the third dimension. Even though the sphere initially is angry at Square for suggesting the possibility that there might be higher dimensions than his own; it is evident that his consciousness of further dimensions has also changed. In the dream where the sphere leads Square to Pointland the sphere acknowledges his error in denying the idea of higher dimensions, he even goes so far as to compare himself with the point because of his earlier belief that he was the highest and best form. He has become aware of the truth and further possibilities that he was not comfortable with.

When Square tries to live happily in his home after gaining a new awareness of the universe he can not. His perceptions of his home, his wife, and his family have all changed because of what he has learned. When he looks at his home all he is aware of is the memory of seeing his home from a third dimensional world, where he could see the inside his home from above. He is conscious of the weaknesses and inferiority of his own dimension and existence. This is why he attempts to make others to see the truth, but similar to his own battle against enlightenment, no one will listen to him. The authorities of his land become aware of his raving about higher dimensions and perceive him as a danger to society and imprison him.

Square is also conscious that his world, his reality is not the only one. There are higher levels of understanding than the one he has reached. In the last sentence of the story Square is aware that "all the substantial realities of Flatland itself, appear no better than the offspring of a diseased imagination, or the baseless fabric of a dream" (82).

Square knows that his world, his dimension, is not the only one and he is aware of the fact that someone that reads the story of his journeys might not believe in his dimension. Through out the story Square comments on writing this story for the people of Spaceland, in hope of expanding their consciousness just as his awareness has grown. He is aware that his world might be someone else's imagination, just as the society in his world tried to convince him that other worlds were in his imagination.

A common thread through this work that strengthens the knowledge that Square's consciousness has grown is the number of comment within the text regarding the story being told to those of use in Spaceland. Square is aware that many inhabitants of Spaceland might not be aware of the lower dimensions or the possibilities of higher ones. Square mentions that the story is being written to bring the truth to those of us in Spaceland that have not become aware of what he has learned.

The story of Square and his travels is really the story of his developing consciousness. Through witnessing the thoughts and awareness of other beings Square becomes more conscious of his own self and thought process and attempts to expand the awareness of others. His development is mirrored in the development of the other characters. He grows in understanding and knowledge as he is introduced to new ideas and is aware of his place among these ideas. He struggles to move beyond his original ideas about himself and the universe and attempts to show others the truth as well. He is conscious of this journey and his changing awareness.

On another level the story of Square and his growing consciousness could be a statement by the author about the importance of coming to consciousness. The author seems to have come to consciousness before the story was written, and is using the story as a means to help bring others to consciousness.

Similar to the square in his story Edwin Abbott risks the judgment of people around him in hope of making other people aware of themselves and the possibilities of the world around them. The author might also be seen as speaking through the sphere of his story, trying to bring awareness while stile developing his own consciousness.

In conclusion, the theory of phenomenology in relation to this text strengthens the importance of awareness. This includes consciousness of oneself and of the surrounding world. Once a person can realize their own consciousness they can see the greater possibilities within their own self and of the environment in which they live. Whether this awareness is of a higher dimension or the thought process within oneself is not important, it is the coming of consciousness that is the important aspect of life.