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September 2010
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Myth and Hubris in Katherine Anne Porter’s “Noon Wine”

In this paper, I will examine some of the mythic elements of “Noon Wine.” Specifically, I will look at how Porter uses psychic distance to illustrate Mr. Thompson as a flawed hero, undone by his own hubris.
In an interview with Barbara Thompson, Katherine Anne Porter stated that “any true work of art has got to [...]

The Voice of Otherness in Robert Olen Butler’s “Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot”

In his book on animal intelligence, If a Lion Could Talk, Stephen Budiansky addresses the animal perspective by stating: “if a lion could talk we probably could understand him. He just would not be a lion anymore” (Budiansky).  During my brainstorming process of this piece, I researched the animal POV many times on the internet. [...]

Humor and Pathos in Adam Haslett’s “Notes to My Biographer”

In Adam Haslett’s story, Notes to My Biographer, the narrator tells us abouy “two things to get straight from the beginning: [he] hates doctors and [he has] never joined a support group in [his] life” (1).  As I read this story, there were two things that became clear: Notes to My Biographer is both funny [...]

Stuart Dybek’s “We Didn’t” – A Dramatic Monologue

The dramatic monologue is a term best known by poets and playwrights.  It refers to a moment in a poem or a play where a character speaks directly to another character, uninterrupted.  In some cases, an entire poem (or play) can employ this device: i.e. Robert Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess as an example.  This [...]

Dialogue

Scanned from Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, by David Gerrold.  Pretty good stuff for a genre how-to book.