The English Miscellany

Test your knowledge of a variety of - phobias with the words on this list. In order to reverse the problem (to love or like it), it is usually sufficient to switch the suffix to -philia . Somniphobia - fear of sleeping because you may never wake up Onomatophobia - fear of the sound of words Logophobia - fear of the sound of words Omfalophobia - fear of touching the navel  Consecotaleophobia - the fear of chopsticks Ergophobia - fear of work / workplace Metrophobia - fear of poetry Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - fear of 666.  Wikipedia reports: "A prominent example is Nancy and Ronald Reagan who, in 1979, when moving to their home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles , had its address—666 St. Cloud Road—changed to 668 St. Cloud Road." Ephebiphobia - fear of teenagers / younger generation  Eisoptrophobia - fear of mirrors (seven years of bad luck) Phobophobia - the fear of fear itself. Chromophobia -  fear of colours. Include...

As many students are struggling with their forthcoming Unseen Appreciation (poetry) exams, I've collected from the web a quick guide to some of the key elements of sound appreciation in poetry.  It's very easy for students to learn the key critical terms and it is fun to begin to apply them. I'd also recommend using them! Why not ask your children/students to compose short alliterative poems? Even nonsense poems?  Poetry should be fun, after all, and creativity is the high road to brilliant critical insight... Sibilance is a manner of articulation of fricative and affricate consonants, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the sharp edge of the teeth, which are held close together; a consonant that uses sibilance may be called a sibilant. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English words sip, zip, ship, chip, and Jeep, and the second consonant in vision. In language, alliteration is the repetition of a particu...

Cleopatra: Feminist Icon? Many of my students are interested in gender, women's writing and feminist criticism. I have recently made available a short introduction to this topic. I have also started to assemble a list of some useful and thought-provoking comments together with some historic quotations. Reflect and Enjoy! The last quotation on this page of the blog references Cleopatra... "one is not born, but rather becomes a woman." Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex "Historically social inequality between men and women can be traced to unequal power relations in particular societies [...] But it can also be traced - possibly relatedly - to systems of representation: how women are represented in plays, rituals, photographic images, novels, films, etc." Alan Durant and Nigel Fabb, Literary Studies in Action (1990), p. 43. “When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even ...

  A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687   FROM harmony, from heavenly harmony,               This universal frame began:     When nature underneath a heap       Of jarring atoms lay,        And could not heave her head,          The tuneful voice was heard from high,       'Arise, ye more than dead!'       Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry,   In order to their stations leap,           And Music's power obey.           From harmony, from heavenly harmony,             This universal frame began:         From harmony to harmony        Thr...

Thanks to all the recent contributors on  Facebook and Yahoo Answers. I have now compiled a list of  your favourite children's books: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Anthony Horowitz : Groosham Grange; Return to Groosham Grange Arabian Nights Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret Clive King, Stig of the Dump C. S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia Cressida Cowell, How to train you dragon books. E. B. White, Charlotte 's Web E. L. Konigsburg   From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna Enid Blyton, Famous Five or Secret Seven Books Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden Francesca Simon, Helping Hercules and Horrid Henry Books Series  Hans Christian Anderson, Fairy Tales Harry Potter books Isaac Asimov’s SF Books Jacqueline Wilson Books Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeremy Strong, Books include There's A Viking In My Bed Joan Aiken, The Wolves of Wil...

Light and Shadow: What will happen to books and reading in the Age of Kindle? Encounter   I had the opportunity to make use of a friend’s Kindle a fortnight ago.   Resistance   Dear Reader, you may be shocked at my tardiness in coming to the most fashionable gadget in recent years. Indeed, in 2010, I fought off several offers of Kindle Christmas presents from the many friends and family who know very well my addiction to reading books. Temptation I was aware of the vast library of free books and that was a temptation: having them in my pocket, rather than stuck on the hard drive, or only available with internet access. What struck me was the sleek design of the Kindle, its comfortable lightness and ease of use; but most impressive its screen technology, unglaring and flicker-free. Overcrowding As my large Victorian terrace house will not accommodate more purchases of books it makes sense to switch at least some...

Has the noisy modern world drowned out our ear for poetry? I suspect not. While it may be true that contemporary society both fears and yearns for silence, it is also clear to me that performance poetry, poetry slams, and many other street manifestations such as that of griots and rapping, are alive and well.  While traditional poetry presents a variety of obstacles to the modern reader, we should not forget the appeal of the ear that chimes so well with popular contemporary consciousness, and indeed constitutes a significant public domain for the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and feelings. These sentiments are leading me to reconsider one of our greatest but most neglected poets: Dryden. In the Preface to the 1945 edition of his book J ohn Dryden: A Study of his Poetry , Mark van Doren wrote  "We have cults of sensibility and sincerity; we are marvellously responsive to ambiguities; we know how to plot the oblique course, to surprise words into revealing three sense...

  Sample Revision Plan Template for students taking exams   Days to Exam ACTIVITY 100 Rewire your confidence – you are destined for exam genius by using skills 99 Write down your motivational factors and your reward-for-work system 98 Acquire copies of past exam papers and grade criteria 97 Decide how you will avoid distractions and gain by working in short bursts 96 Custom design a practical and realistic revision timetable 95 Ensure you have knowledge & understanding of the exam board's success criteria 93 Make a list of all key topics and themes 90 Make lists of key words for arguments, concepts & connectives 85 Finish re-reading key texts; finish any secondary/background   reading 80 Copy notes & any highlights from books to one source 70 Re-arran...

Because there are now millions of free blogs we have the opportunity to dip into lots of different kinds of writing and to sample quite different approaches to recurring topics or themes. Doing this kind of reading randomly can have wonderful results. It's called serendipity which involves surprise discoveries and unexpected connections. Serendipity is, of course, an eighteenth century word (1754). While we may consider that the period of the Enlightenment was obsessed with reason, system, order and process, the variety of different kinds of topical, fictional and journalistic writing offered many opportunities for fluid expression by creative people and mercurial personalities. Serendipity is also a useful strategy for broadening your interests and for avoiding the so-called writer's block. I believe that all great writers are also intelligent critical readers. I despair when I hear people saying that they want to write, but then proceed to say that they are not...

Shakespeare in Love with Puns The second part of my exploration of rudeness in Shakespeare couples Sonnet 135 with a discussion of his work written by Dr Samuel Johnson in 1765 In this poem 'Will' is punned in a variety of senses: (1) willpower; (2) Will Shakespeare; (3) a bequest; (4) the penis; (5) future/s. Sense (4) is the one that you are least likely to encounter in discussions that want to shield readers from the reality of the eroticised encounter with the male genitalia.  Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will, And Will to boot, and Will in overplus; More than enough am I, that vex thee still, To thy sweet will making addition thus. Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine? Shall will in others seem right gracious, And in my will no fair acceptance shine? The sea, all water, yet receives rain still, And in abundance addeth to his store; So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will One will of mine, t...