Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the category “Books”

29 Nov 2012
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TaDah and NaNa!


International edition

International edition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bette Midler had a great hit with her rendition of “Friends.”  Friends are right up with there with dark chocolate, a good book (okay, a couple of those), and a sky of blue to make it through tough times.

It’s friends like you that saw me through NaNoWriMo this year.  Yup, I just printed out my certificate. Tonight I punched in 50, 316 words and received my prize.  I think I used up all our color ink cartridge printing it out.  It’s a real pretty one this year.

Since my house is small, the hour late, and I’m all out of ginger ale, I will toss out a virtual “Happy NaNo Over Party.” You supply the hats and confetti on your end and I will supply the thank yous on this end.

If there were a NaNo Happy It’s Over and I Finished Party, and we all had the opportunity to step right up to the microphone, here’s what I would say:

“First of all, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to like my posts.  That helped encourage me to keep going and it definitely brightened my day. Secondly, I enjoyed getting to know new bloggers and visiting new sites. Thirdly, what?  My time’s up already? Phooey.  Okay, really fast.  I don’t know what I’ll do with my NaNo novel, but seeing how you hung with it, you’ll be the first to know if anything does happen with it i.e. published, sold the movie rights, t-shirts, bumper sticker quotes–the usual fame route.”

The last post Vera made was about the value of friends, and so here is a tribute about that very subject.  Bettte surely knew what she was singing about: you got to have friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Awards, celebrations, creativity, Writing and tagged , ,
27 Nov 2012
6 Comments

Words APtly Spoken (and Written, too)


As Vera winds up her month long adventure with writing about writing a NaNoWriMo novel, I also am winding up my adventure of doing the same.  One thing I really like about Vera is how much she likes words.  Hmm, maybe a little bit of me slipped into my protag.  I’ve never had a French foreign exchange student as a BFF nor a crush on anyone named Eddie though.

Like Vera, I have collected a few words along the way as a writer, reader, and teacher.  I love to store them up, and find they pop out unexpectedly. My freshmen tend to give their, “What did she just say?” look when this happens.

Over the last week I’ve been preparing a list of words which will be handy for AP students looking and learning to broaden their working literature vocabulary.  Currently I have close to 160 terms that we will cover.  Most will be known; however, some might be new. I know there are a few I’ve just made acquaintance:

1. aphorism: a terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth
2.caesura: a pause within the line of verse.
3.Deus ex machina:a phrase from Greek plays where an actor was lowered onto the stage to solve the plot; an artificial contrivance that forces the solving or terminating of a plot.
4. doggerel: crude verse that contains clichés, predictable rhyme, and inept meter and rhythm.
5.enjambment: when one verse runs into another verse
6. hamartia: the central flaw of a character, usually in a tragic hero
7. litotes: a form of understatement whcih makes an affirmative point by denying the negative, as in “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” (Catcher in the Rye)
8. metonymy: from the Greek meaning “changed label”; it’s basically a substitution, as in “the White House sent out this new announcement” instead of saying “the President issued an announcement.”
9.portmanteau word: an artificial word combining parts of other words; e.g. brunch
10. semiotics: semantics the study meanings of which they signify; semiotics studies the signs themselves

The whole “words aptly spoken” proverb takes on a new meaning and direction as I apply these to our Advanced Placement Literature lessons.

They say the best way to get an education is to become a teacher.  I couldn’t agree more. I’m always open to new terms.  Know some?  Send them my way!

English: So many words to keep track of!.

English: So many words to keep track of!. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Posted in education, Literature, Reading, Teachers, Writing and tagged
25 Nov 2012
4 Comments

Fan (of) Fiction


Caterpillar using a hookah. An illustration fr...

Caterpillar using a hookah. An illustration from Alice in Wonderland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With six days left Vera has finally started her NaNo novel.  Her inspiration is a hybrid of Hamlet and Alice in Wonderland with a bit of Lost in Austen thrown in. It’s fan fiction at it’s *finest*.  Okay, cut the kid a break–she’s only fifteen and has never written anything of length beyond the required English essay.

Actually, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to fan fiction, even though I’ve come across some which is entertaining and well-written, I can’t help but think, “Couldn’t you come up with something original?”  Then again there is something to be said for being inspired by good writing.

For example, Wide Sargasso Sea is on the AP suggested reading list and can be considered the prequel to Jane Eyre.  What?  Fan Fiction considered classic literature?  Told you I was a literary snob.

An ardent admirer of Ophelia of Hamlet and Alice of Wonderland fame, and totally grooving on the Lost in Austen premise of switching places with Elizabeth Bennett, I couldn’t help but have Vera weave all of them together.

 

NaNo–the most grueling, yet satisfying form of writing under pressure.  Sissies need not apply.

 

 

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Posted in creativity, Literature, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
22 Nov 2012
2 Comments

(Guinea) Pigging Out on Turkey Day


English: Saying grace before carving the turke...

English: Saying grace before carving the turkey at Thanksgiving dinner in the home of Earle Landis in Neffsville, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m alone with my pie baking and other preparations for T-day.  I’ve cleaned the house, rearranged furniture, and managed to plunk down another NaNoWriMo post.  My MEPA has proven his value once again by doing the honors of entertaining the tribe so I can cook, bake, and relax a tad before celebrating our favorite holiday with our loved ones.  I really need to see about giving him a bonus.  For now he works for Bit-a-Honey and an ocassional dinner out.  I’ve got a good thing going for sure.

My NaNo protag is babysitting the neighbor’s guinea pig over the long weekend.  Vera is not sure what her family is doing for Thanksgiving.  It’s usually at her Grandmother’s, but she’s sure something is up.  I really don’t know what’s going on either.  Somehow I type and the story begins spilling out.  I don’t always know what direction it’s going to go in.  NaNo-ing is a very different way to write: don’t plot, don’t plan, just write.  We’ll all find out tomorrow what Vera ended up doing for T-day.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving–my favorite holiday, all in all.  I think I like it better than my birthday, and that’s saying something.

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Posted in America, Animals, celebrations, Family, Writing and tagged , , ,
17 Nov 2012
1 Comment

Serendipity and Fricatives


A sign that designates no swearing in a city.

A sign that designates no swearing in a city. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Serendipity.  That happenstance which is unexpected and delightful.  Like finding that forgotten twenty dollar bill in your jacket pocket about the time you need a spare bit of change to enjoy an impromptu gelato and a movie.

Serendipity also happens in writing.  For instance, the other day my NaNo protag went on a side rant about swearing and she wondered (as I do) why certain sounds satisfy that need of relieving vexation.  Those sounds are called fricatives.

Opening my latest version of Children’s Writer I experienced that serendipitous moment upon reading “Punch, Bold, Colorful: Fricatives” by Vera Boyd Jones. Here is her opening segment:


My friend Brendan, a brand-new teacher, sat at my dinner table complaining that a novel for junior high readers was totally unrealistic.
    “There’s no way a juvenile delinquent would talk like that. His language would be full of words like  *!&**## and $^*&$* and %(^*#. (Substitutes are mine.) Your ears would turn blue if you heard the kids talk in our school hallways, and they’re not in trouble with the law.”
   “That may be,” I said in the tone I reserve for talking to young friends I have known since their birth and who should not be cussing in front of me, “but the first reader of a novel is an editor and once it’s in print, the next readers are reviewers and librarians, and they are not going to buy a kids’ book full of profanity. And I won’t even address the role of irate school boards.”
    “But it’s not right,” he said.
    “It’s not accurate, but that’s where substitute fricatives come in.”
    “Fricatives?”
    “Phooey. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of fricatives? Shoot, they’re such wonderful words.”

Jones  goes on to discuss the role of hard consonant sounds (p, f, b, d, k, sh, etc.) in our most colorful (and frowned upon) language.  Fricative, itself, is a great fricative.  Substituting naughty words with imaginative and consonant-rich ones is a solution to being tsked in the classroom.  Chris Crutcher, a popular YA author, cares not for substitutes and runs through as many of the real thing as possible (it seems) in his writing.  He’s proud of it too.  I’ve had him as a guest in my classroom and the students are split between liking the realism of his language usage and being uncomfortable with reading it.

For now, Vera will stick with her frick-atives.  After all, if I’m self-conscious saying them, how can I possibly have my characters utter them?

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15 Nov 2012
4 Comments

It’s Friday? Right? Soon?


To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is nothing like a tough week to make you wish for the weekend.  I’m one day too soon in my wishful thinking it’s Friday. I shouldn’t be feeling so tired since I’m not teaching every single day as usual.

That’s because November is an odd month in that it is so fragmented.

There is actually only one week that contains one fully functioning school week what with quarter break, parent-teacher conferences, professional learning communities, and Thanksgiving holiday.

Like Vera’s dad says, “How do they expect you to get any education if you aren’t in school?”  Vera didn’t have an answer either.

Speaking of Vera, the NaNo blog is going reasonably well.  Today marks 29,860 words.  I already pre-celebrated with my Haagen Daz.

Even with having to invest my evening into the nightly word count, I’m still managing to get some reading done, even if it’s by audio on the way to work.  Anyone else out there read Washington Square by Henry James?  I’m really thinking Morris is quite the cad.  Catherine deserves much better.

I’m also rereading To Kill a Mockingbird for my ninth grade novel unit.  I’ve lost track how many times I’ve reread the novel.  I love introducing this classic to my students.  It is always so gratifying to hear students pop into class, “I finished the book over the weekend!” and this is from kids who couldn’t even turn in their first quarter book report with offerings like The Outsiders to choose from.

Well, the weekend is almost here. Thursdays make me appreciate Friday that much more.

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13 Nov 2012

Bibble, Bobble, Wibble, Wobble


Poor Vera–her state of mind and mood often is a reflection of mine.  After my push week of PTCs and then a weekend of flu my creative verve is very much swerving like a tipsy ballerina on a wet dance floor.  To elucidate, my words are slipping all over the place.

Out of the 2,406 words I posted today I really only like this snippet: Books can be the best friends in the world.  I can find them waiting for me on a shelf no matter where we move to.

You see, Vera, my NaNo protagonist has the misfortune of having a set of parents who tend to move often because her mother Sylvia likes a change of scenery.  This means a lot of adjusting and readjusting for Vera.  Which means making friends is not easy for her.  However, she finds solace in books.  Like me, Vera long ago discovered all kinds of friends are waiting to be made at the library.  They are there waiting patiently on the shelves, just waiting for someone to discover them.

So my Thirteenth NaNo post is a bit of a bobble, a slip of a wobble, yet the main dance move, the main step is in place and that is books are always there for you.

Happy Pages (and I’m 22,000+ invested in NaNo–drat, where’s the Haagen Daz when you need it?)

Posted in Blogging, Libraries, Reading, Writing and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
11 Nov 2012
1 Comment

Life Imitating Art Imitating Life


Cover of "The Last Action Hero"

Cover of The Last Action Hero

Yesterday I thought I would be enjoying my extra day off, the perk for having worked two twelve hour days.  Instead , I was doing the porcelain hug–yup, the flu bug caught up to me and bit me rather nastily. Lipton soup, napping, and the wonderful ministrations of my MEPA (most excellent personal assistant) righted me from prone to errands.  I had to get my Saturday library run in–plus I expanded my horizons with a chocolate taste-testing lesson from ET, my librarian compatriot.

With a bag of AP Cyrano journals to grade I needed a movie to keep me company–my MEPA had a previous engagement with the roof. It’s an oldie but goodie: Last Action Hero. I checked it out again (third time watching it) because Ahnold plays Hamlet.  “Hey Claudius, you killed my fadder.  Big mistake.” I’m readying for Hamlet in AP and thought it would be appropriate to show how far Shakespeare’s influence reaches.

One reason I like LAH so much is the irony, paradox, parodies, and outright clichés. Here it is in a nutshell if you haven’t seen the movie: Arnold  is playing Jack Slater who is Arnold playing Jack Slater, who is the  quintessential action hero.  There are a bazillion inside jokes and cameos. Maybe this movie gave me the idea for my NaNo novel. Who could resist writing a novel about a girl writing a novel during National Novel Writing Month?  I couldn’t.

If you are writing your NaNo, hang tough, because this is the week people start to find the going tough and drop out of the word count race.  You can do it.  You can do it. You can do it.  Yes, you can.

See you on the other side of 50,000.  It’s one word at a time making each sentence reach into paragraphs into pages.

And with that,
Happy Pages
CM

 

Posted in creativity, Movies, reviews, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
03 Nov 2012
5 Comments

Yes, it’s NaNo time…


VIA Nano Chip Image (top)

VIA Nano Chip Image (top) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

November is a great time for writers.  The weather is chilly enough to no longer tempt outdoor activity, there is a coziness to the house with the crackle of the fire, and NaNo is on.

Two years ago, when I finally decided to leap into NaNo I managed to meet the 50,000 word challenge with a day or two to spare.  I’m still editing that manuscript.  Writing quantity instead of quality is whole different way to write.  I tend to edit as I write and editing is a luxury when it comes to the National Novel Writing Month.

There are a plethora of blogs about NaNo and how it works, so I shall not perpetuate redundancy.  Instead I will bravely leap once again into NaNo; however, this time it will be with a bit more panache.  This time I have created a separate NaNo blog site and will air my daily writings. Warts and all shall be bared to those interested enough to witness the daily grinding process of trying to produce 1,600 words daily.  I take NaNo founder Chris Baty’s words to heart, “No plot? No problem?” I am hopeful my daily outpourings will not be merely NaNonsense.

I will have a link in my column www.veranano.wordpress.com as well as periodic updates on the process.  I still hope to keep up with my Cricket Musings.

If you are NaNo-ing, please let me know.  The solitary tapping of the keyboard is much more comforting knowing I tap not alone.

 

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01 Nov 2012
2 Comments

Whatsa matta with myah Zemanta?


If you’ve been blogging for a bit you are no doubt aware of Zemanta, the wonderful widget which suggests photos and articles based on your text.  It’s a quick way to instantly add some bling to your blog and doubly nice since the credit tag is part of the package.

You stop and mutter, “What the–? because the photo has NOTHING to do with your text.

Case in point–I hoped to insert some raging Gothic images for my Gothic romance post and laughably Zemanta offered me:

  • the AP press insignia (I guess because I mentioned AP literature texts)
  • Luise Pop (no clue)
  • Jungle girl (huh?)
  • various renditions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Height (understandable  since I mentioned these)
  • We alone (excuse me?)
  • Old car 2, sold Lake Utah (don’t think so)
  • Salt and Pepper Prawns (what?)
  • Eden with Ruby Slippers (no thanks
  • David Hockney’s  “The Road Across the Worlds” (whatever)
  • “Robert O. Harris” (wrong Harris)
  • “Another One Rides the Bus” a Queen parody (ha ha–way off)
  •  Laoghane Harbour (Gothic romance in the      tropics?)

Have you been there? Scrolling from the plausible into the oblique?

So I ask: Whatsa matta with myah Zemanta?

Is my text too vague?
Are my topics too oblique?
Do I not inspire the photo picking Zemanta elves to brilliance and relevancy?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate Zemanta. It’s handy, and it’s dandy. It’s just a bit perplexing.

Troubleshooting my concerns I did some researching for answers.

  1. typing in specific searches sometimes dials in more relevant photos, but  truthfully not much
  2. going to help sites doesn’t always clarify–as in this answer for the question:      How do you come up with recommendations?

We analyze your post through our proprietary natural language processing and semantic algorithms, and statistically compare its contextual framework to our preindexed database of content.

In plain speak I think they are telling me that they try to match up photos to my text depending on my content and depending on their photos.

3. I did  learn images come from Wikipedia Commons and Flickr among other stock photo providers.
4.  Overall, I usually find one or two photos that are pertinent. The rest? I just figure the Zemanta elves were messing with me.  As for the articles? No problemo; they match up–mostly.

Anyone else think the Zemanta elves are laughing at them?

Zemanta Offices

image: flickr.com
Zemanta offices. Hello? Anybody home?

Image representing Zemanta as depicted in Crun...

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