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Skullduggery, Jiggery-Pokery, Hugger-mugger, etc.

3/26/2013

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Speaking of synonyms. There are a number of ways of talking about skullduggery. 

skullduggery (n.) -- deceitful or dishonest manipulation; underhand scheming or behavior; hocus-pocus, humbug, subterfuge, skullduggery, slickness, trickery.

Interesting tidbit #1: jiggery-pokery and is a classic example of what’s called a double dactyl, a dactyl being a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables; it’s named after the Greek word for finger, whose joints represent the three syllables. Another example of a double dactyls are higgledy-piggledy.

Interesting tidbit #2: Hugger-mugger and hanky panky are classic examples of a reduplicated word, one in which its two halves are very closely similar in form. Other examples include hoker-moker, helter-skelter, and hodge-podge.

Interesting tidbit #3: In the 18th century, skulduggery meant fornication, adultery, unchastity (hanky-panky). In the 19th century it seems to have shifted to a sense of obscenity and indecency in language. Later in the 19th friendly was changed again to its current meaning.
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Frankenstein - Does Justine Get Justice?

3/21/2013

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Just a reminder: you should read the background material that is available on this website.

    DOWNLOAD: Introduction to Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Prometheus (DOC)

In-class work
Today, you will be completing the second of two worksheets on author Mary Shelley. Dropbox the completed worksheet by the end of class.

    DOWNLOAD: Mary Shelley -- Worksheet #2 (DOC)

LRJ Assignment #2 -- The Literary Gothic
You will have four LRJ assignments this unit. The second is on the elements of Gothic fiction. If you still need the LRJ download, see below:
    
    DOWNLOAD: LRJ Prompts for Frankenstein (DOC)

For next Wednesday
Read Chapters 13-18 and be prepared for a quiz on Wednesday, March 27.
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Word Stuff: "Utilize" vs. "Use"

3/21/2013

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One of the most commonly overused and misused words these days is "utilize." One simple rule of thumb would be: every time you want to say or write the word "utilize" use "use" instead.

Although (arguably) use and utilize have the same denotation, their connotations call for differing usages. Both mean "to put to practical purpose." However, utilize is used when something is used for a purpose for which it was NOT designed. For example:

    Quincy used his credit card to purchase 25 copies of Moby Dick.
    Quincy utilized his credit card to pick the lock on his front door when he forgot his key.

Utilize also connotes making use of something in a mechanical or scientific way.

If you'd like another perspective, here's what Grammar Girl has to say on the subject:
Bonnie says that as a copy editor she often reads fluffed up marketing material full of big words that try to make the writer sound important or knowledgeable. She usually just changes them
to normal, unimpressive words that get the point across without much fuss. One of these words she changes often is “utilize,” as in the pretentious-sounding sentence “If you utilize this brand of printer, you will go far.” A sentence like that sounds fluffy and overly important, and it gives readers the impression that you’re trying too hard. Most of the time you can avoid the verb
“utilize”; “use” works just fine (7).
 
So if you’re in marketing or PR, you can just use “use”; it’s probably not a good idea to utilize “utilize.” In a similar vein, please avoid the word “utilization.” It does your sentence no
good.

Surprisingly, “utilize,” a 19th-century loanword from French (8), does have very specific and valid uses, mostly in the scientific world. The word “utilize” often appears “in contexts in which a strategy is put to practical advantage or a chemical or nutrient is being taken up and used effectively” (9). For example, according to the American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style, you might hear “utilize” properly used in a sentence such as “If a diet contains too much phosphorus, calcium is not utilized efficiently” (9).
 
So if you're a science writer, you might find yourself using the word “utilize.” If you’re just a regular person writing a regular sentence, you should probably just stick with the word “use.”
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A Midsummer Night's Dream

3/20/2013

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Midsummer Night's Dream is opening at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company on Friday. This is the first of two extra credit plays for the fourth quarter.

Here's an article about the play that appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer on the Ides of March:
'Night's Dream' gets jazzed

It’s high concept time at Cincinnati Shakespeare, where “A Midsummer Night’s  Dream” is set in 1940s America and a jazz-inspired magical forest.

 It’s a “Dream” with original music (set to the  text) and a swinging soundscape of period tunes, both created by  sound designer Doug Borntrager. He provides musical underpinning as story lines collide, including four young lovers who need to untangle who’s with who; a fairy king and queen at war; and a troupe of eager if inept “actors” caught in magical crossfire.

“I admit it. I love musicals,” says “Dream” director Jeremy Dubin. “Cynicism just sort of melts away in that moment of excited anticipation when those first chords strike up under the dialogue, when the characters slip the mundane bonds of ordinary language and soar into the wondrous world of song. It’s magical. And magic is exactly what is called for in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’”

Read the whole article on Enquirer.com
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Frankenstein, Mary Shelley & Gothic Horror

3/19/2013

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As we begin the Frankenstein unit, you should read the background material that is available on this website.

    DOWNLOAD: Introduction to Mary Shelley and Frankenstein Prometheus (DOC)

In-class work
Today, you will be completing the first of two worksheets on author Mary Shelley. Dropbox the completed worksheet by the end of class.

    DOWNLOAD: Mary Shelley -- Worksheet #1 (DOC)

LRJ Assignment #1 -- Rime of the Ancient Mariner
You will have four LRJ assignments this unit. The first is on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," one of the works that inspired Mary Shelley in her writing of Frankenstein. You should download the LRJ prompts and the full text of the Rime below.

    DOWNLOAD: LRJ Prompts for Frankenstein (DOC)
    DOWNLOAD: Rime of the Ancient Mariner -- full text (PDF)

For next class
Read Chapters 7-12 and be prepared for a quiz on this material.
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From Macbeth to Frankenstein

3/15/2013

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Hubris is the theme -- from Doctor Faustus to Macbeth and now to Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

I will be distributing Frankenstein books today during the exam. Again, I recommend that you procure your own copies of the book so that you can annotate.

For Tuesday
Your first assignment is to read from the beginning of the book (Letters) through Chapter 6. Yes, you will have a quiz over these chapters.

I also suggest that you have a look at the resources available on the Frankenstein page of this website. 

    LINK: Frankenstein Page
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