The Art of the Epigraph

The epigraph is generally a quote from someone else's work that you put before your own to create some kind of thematic effect.

An example from the Great Gatsby - "Then wear the gold hat if that will move her; If you can bounce high bounce for her too..." from Thomas Parke d'Invilliers' "Then Wear the Gold Hat". Ironically, Thomas Parke d'Invilliers was a pen name for F Scott Fitzgerald, the author was thus creating an epigraph from his own work produced under pseudonym.

Political Vocabulary

doctrinaire - seeking to impose a doctrine in all circumstances without regard to practical considerations
elide - omit sound or syllable while speaking
grandstand - seek to attract applause from spectators or media

A Biennial Festival

A biennial festival is a festival that takes place "every other year".  This is of course different from a biannual festival, which refers to a festival that takes place "twice a year".

The Duchess of Malfi

The Duchess of Malfi was written by English dramatist and contemporary of William Shakespeare, John Webster in 1612-13. The Duke of Amalfi, a ruler of the historic Duchy of Amalfi,  is one of the characters in the play. We call this period the Jacobean period of English literature as it coincides with the reign of James I (1603-25). James I coming to the throne, aged 37, marked the end of the Tudor period in England and the beginning of the Stuart period.

The Jackal (Book 2)

"Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard". Dickens refers to these habits as "Bacchanalian propensities". Here we meet Mr Stryver, the lawyer with a "florid countenance" whose face is likened to a flower seeking the sun.

Vocabulary:
carousing - drinking plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way
glib - fluent and voluble but insincere and voluble
repast - meal, banquet, feast e.g. a "compact repast"

Old English and Middle English

Mitchell and Robinson, A Guide to Old English, is an excellent start into Old English studies, and emphasises to the student mastery of the basic structure of Old English and attention to the basic formations of the language.

The study of Old English yields many interesting insights. For example, Northumbrian and Mercian were considered different dialects of English. A great deal of England was under Danelaw.

Who was the real T.S. Eliot?

Who was the real T.S. Eliot, author of the "The Waste Land". 

He was an American who moved to Britain in 1914 at the age of 25 having studied philosophy at Harvard College. He lived in Paris for a bit, studying philosophy at the Sorbonne. In 1948 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The poem that made his name was "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" published in Chicago in 1915: known for its opening verse: "Let us go then you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky, Like a patient etherized upon a table" and "In the room the women come and go | Talking of Michelangelo".

He also wrote seven plays. 

The most popular in his lifetime was one known as The Cocktail Party, first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1949.