Download or read book Wit written by Margaret Edson and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Oppenheimer Award. Adapted to an Emmy Award-winning television movie, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Emma Thompson. Margaret Edson's powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize–winning play examines what makes life worth living through her exploration of one of existence's unifying experiences—mortality—while she also probes the vital importance of human relationships. What we as her audience take away from this remarkable drama is a keener sense that, while death is real and unavoidable, our lives are ours to cherish or throw away—a lesson that can be both uplifting and redemptive. As the playwright herself puts it, "The play is not about doctors or even about cancer. It's about kindness, but it shows arrogance. It's about compassion, but it shows insensitivity." In Wit, Edson delves into timeless questions with no final answers: How should we live our lives knowing that we will die? Is the way we live our lives and interact with others more important than what we achieve materially, professionally, or intellectually? How does language figure into our lives? Can science and art help us conquer death, or our fear of it? What will seem most important to each of us about life as that life comes to an end? The immediacy of the presentation, and the clarity and elegance of Edson's writing, make this sophisticated, multilayered play accessible to almost any interested reader. As the play begins, Vivian Bearing, a renowned professor of English who has spent years studying and teaching the intricate, difficult Holy Sonnets of the seventeenth-century poet John Donne, is diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Confident of her ability to stay in control of events, she brings to her illness the same intensely rational and painstakingly methodical approach that has guided her stellar academic career. But as her disease and its excruciatingly painful treatment inexorably progress, she begins to question the single-minded values and standards that have always directed her, finally coming to understand the aspects of life that make it truly worth living.
Download or read book Literary Wit written by Bruce Michelson and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book offers a fresh examination of literary wit as a distinct variety of discourse - one that is fundamentally different from wit, humor, and laughter in nonliterary contexts. Bruce Michelson moves beyond outmoded assumptions and canonical authorities to explore how wit can transform fiction, plays, and poetry, providing "a fire that keeps our imaginative literature hot
Download or read book Ruse and Wit written by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays examine a millennium of humorous and satirical writing in the Islamic world. Humor in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish narrative emerges here as a culturally modulated phenomenon that demands examination with reference to its historical framework and that, in turn, communicates as much about its producers as it does about its audience.
Download or read book Wit s End What Wit Is How It Works and Why We Need It written by James Geary and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entertaining, illuminating, and entirely unique, Wit’s End “convey[s] the power of wit to refresh the mind” (Henry Hitchings, Wall Street Journal). In “this inventive and playful book” (Tom Beer, Newsday), James Geary explores every facet of wittiness, from its role in innovation to why puns are the highest form of wit. Adopting a different style for each chapter—from dramatic dialogue to sermon, heroic couplets to a barroom monologue—Geary embodies wit in all its forms. Wit’s End agilely balances psychology, folktale, visual art, and literary history with lighthearted humor and acute insight, demonstrating that wit and wisdom are really the same thing.
Download or read book The Devil s Dictionary written by Ambrose Bierce and published by Standard Ebooks. This book was released on 2021-03-16T22:46:04Z with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Dictionary, n: A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.” Bierce’s groundbreaking Devil’s Dictionary had a complex publication history. Started in the mid-1800s as an irregular column in Californian newspapers under various titles, he gradually refined the new-at-the-time idea of an irreverent set of glossary-like definitions. The final name, as we see it titled in this work, did not appear until an 1881 column published in the periodical The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp. There were no publications of the complete glossary in the 1800s. Not until 1906 did a portion of Bierce’s collection get published by Doubleday, under the name The Cynic’s Word Book—the publisher not wanting to use the word “Devil” in the title, to the great disappointment of the author. The 1906 word book only went from A to L, however, and the remainder was never released under the compromised title. In 1911 the Devil’s Dictionary as we know it was published in complete form as part of Bierce’s collected works (volume 7 of 12), including the remainder of the definitions from M to Z. It has been republished a number of times, including more recent efforts where older definitions from his columns that never made it into the original book were included. Due to the complex nature of copyright, some of those found definitions have unclear public domain status and were not included. This edition of the book includes, however, a set of definitions attributed to his one-and-only “Demon’s Dictionary” column, including Bierce’s classic definition of A: “the first letter in every properly constructed alphabet.” Bierce enjoyed “quoting” his pseudonyms in his work. Most of the poetry, dramatic scenes and stories in this book attributed to others were self-authored and do not exist outside of this work. This includes the prolific Father Gassalasca Jape, whom he thanks in the preface—“jape” of course having the definition: “a practical joke.” This book is a product of its time and must be approached as such. Many of the definitions hold up well today, but some might be considered less palatable by modern readers. Regardless, the book’s humorous style is a valuable snapshot of American culture from past centuries. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
Download or read book Words Wit and Wonder written by Nancy Loewen and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2009 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents advice to help young readers compose their own poems, including twelve points on the use of rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, similes, metaphors, Onomatopoeia, and several poetic forms.
Download or read book Elements of Wit written by Benjamin Errett and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Got wit? We’ve all been in that situation where we need to say something clever, but innocuous; smart enough to show some intelligence, without showing off; something funny, but not a joke. What we need in that moment is wit—that sparkling combination of charm, humor, confidence, and most of all, the right words at the right time. Elements of Wit is an engaging book that brings together the greatest wits of our time, and previous ones from Oscar Wilde to Nora Ephron, Winston Churchill to Christopher Hitchens, Mae West to Louis CK, and many in between. With chapters covering the essential ingredients of wit, this primer sheds light on how anyone—introverts, extroverts, wallflowers, and bon vivants—can find the right zinger, quip, parry, or retort…or at least be a little bit more interesting.
Download or read book Bite Size Twain written by Mark Twain and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2015-01-13 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend Mark Twain... On kindness: Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. On friends: Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. On growing old: Take any road you please...it curves always, which is a continual promise, whereas straight roads reveal everything at a glance and kill interest. On truth and lies: many when they come to die have spent all the truth that was in them, and enter the next world as paupers. I have saved up enough to make an astonishment there. On health and fitness: Part of the secret success in life is to eat what you like and let the food it out inside.
Download or read book The Library of Wit and Humor Prose and Poetry written by Ainsworth Rand Spofford and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Notes and Queries A Medium of Inter Communication for Literary Men Artists Antiquaries Genealogists Etc written by and published by . This book was released on 1864 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Essays on Wit No 2 written by Richard Flecknoe and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-08-19 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays on Wit No. 2 emerges as a pivotal collection in the exploration of wit, traversing a broad literary landscape from subtle humor to sharp social commentary. The anthology encapsulates a rich variety of styles and themes, reflecting the breadth and complexity of wit as a literary device across different epochs. The curatorial effort shines in the selection of works, promising a thoughtful journey through the nuances of wit, with contributions that stand as testament to both the enlightenment and decadence of human intellect. The diversity within this collection not only celebrates the ingenuity of authors but also invites readers into a deeper appreciation of wit's versatile nature in literature. The contributors, Richard Flecknoe and Joseph Warton, bring together an exceptional assemblage of insight and perspective. Collectively, their backgrounds span a crucial period in literary history, touching on the evolution of English literature and its engagement with wit. Their anthology aligns with significant literary movements, including the Augustan age and the burgeoning of neoclassical literature, offering a reflective look at the era's intellectual currents. This amalgamation of works serves not only as a historical snapshot but enriches the reader's understanding by juxtaposing contrasting interpretations of wit. Essays on Wit No. 2 is recommended for readers eager to immerse themselves in the complexity and evolution of literary wit. This collection provides a unique lens through which to explore varied expressions of intellect and humor, delivering an educational journey through the art of wit. It promises not merely an encounter with historical perspectives but an ongoing dialogue with the enduring power of words to entertain, critique, and enlighten.
Download or read book From Rhetoric to Aesthetics Wit and Esprit in the English and French Theoretical Writings of the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries written by Klára Bicanová and published by Masarykova univerzita. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Práce se zabývá především anglickým termínem wit v jeho moderním i historickém kontextu. Dále se zabývá literárními a estetickými důsledky pojmů wit a esprit a jejich použitím v teoretických spisech několika kritiků v období raně moderní Anglie a Francie. Práce má dva hlavní cíle. Prvním cílem je přehodnocení anglického pojmu wit, který je dnes považován za poněkud zastaralý výrazový prostředek historických poetických systémů a prezentovat jej jako životaschopnou a užitečnou součást současného uměleckého diskurzu. Druhým cílem této práce je poskytnout srovnávací výklad raně moderních anglických a francouzských teoretických textů zabývající se termíny wit a esprit.
Download or read book The European Tribe written by Caryl Phillips and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-09-13 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this richly descriptive and haunting narrative, Caryl Phillips chronicles a journey through modern-day Europe, his quest guided by a moral compass rather than a map. Seeking personal definition within the parameters of growing up black in Europe, he discovers that the natural loneliness and confusion inherent in long jorneys collides with the bigotry of the "European Tribe"-a global community of whites caught up in an unyielding, Eurocentric history. Phillips deftly illustrates the scenes and characters he encounters, from Casablanca and Costa del Sol to Venice, Amsterdam, Oslo, and Moscow. He ultimately discovers that "Europe is blinded by her past, and does not understand the high price of her churches, art galleries, and history as the prison from which Europeans speak." In the afterword to the Vintage edition, Phillips revisits the Europe he knew as a young man and offers fresh observations.
Download or read book Writing the Rebellion written by Philip Gould and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-19 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writing the Rebellion presents a cultural history of loyalist writing in early America. There has been a spate of related works recently, but Philip Gould's narrative offers a completely different view of the loyalist/patriot contentions than appears in any of these accounts. By focusing on the literary projections of the loyalist cause, Gould dissolves the old legend that loyalists were more British than American, and patriots the embodiment of a new sensibility drawn from their American situation and upbringing. He shows that both sides claimed to be heritors of British civil discourse, Old World learning, and the genius of English culture. The first half of Writing Rebellion deals with the ways "political disputation spilled into arguments about style, form, and aesthetics, as though these subjects could secure (or ruin) the very status of political authorship." Chapters in this section illustrate how loyalists attack patriot rhetoric by invoking British satires of an inflated Whig style by Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Another chapter turns to Loyalist critiques of Congressional language and especially the Continental Association, which was responsible for radical and increasingly violent measures against the Loyalists. The second half of Gould's book looks at satiric adaptations of the ancient ballad tradition to see what happens when patriots and loyalists interpret and adapt the same text (or texts) for distinctive yet related purposes. The last two chapters look at the Loyalist response to Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the ways the concept of the author became defined in early America. Throughout the manuscript, Gould acknowledges the purchase English literary culture continued to have in revolutionary America, even among revolutionaries.
Download or read book Ridicule Religion and the Politics of Wit in Augustan England written by Roger D. Lund and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-23 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arguing for the importance of wit beyond its use as a literary device, Roger D. Lund outlines the process by which writers in Restoration and eighteenth-century England struggled to define an appropriate role for wit in the public sphere. He traces its unpredictable effects in works of philosophy, religious pamphlets, and legal writing and examines what happens when literary wit is deliberately used to undermine the judgment of individuals and to destabilize established institutions of church and state. Beginning with a discussion of wit's association with deception, Lund suggests that suspicion of wit and the imagination emerges in attacks on the Restoration stage, in the persecution of The Craftsman, and in criticism directed at Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan and works by writers like the Earl of Shaftesbury, Thomas Woolston, and Thomas Paine. Anxieties about wit, Lund shows, were in part responsible for attempts to suppress new communal venues such as coffee houses and clubs and for the Church's condemnation of the seditious pamphlets made possible by the lapse of the Licensing Act in 1695. Finally, the establishment's conviction that wit, ridicule, satire, and innuendo are subversive rhetorical forms is glaringly at play in attempts to use libel trials to translate the fear of wit as a metaphorical transgression of public decorum into an actual violation of the civil code.
Download or read book Love Poetry of the Literary Academies in the Reigns of Philip IV and Charles II written by Jeremy Robbins and published by Tamesis. This book was released on 1997 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Detailed consideration of the poetry of the literary academies, with particular attention paid to the literary and social role of the academies in 17c Spain.
Download or read book The Wit of Seventeenth century Poetry written by Claude J. Summers and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the twelve original essays collected in this volume demonstrate, to study the wit of seventeenth-century poetry is necessarily to address concerns at the very heart of the period's shifting literary culture. It is a topic that raises persistent questions of thematics and authorial intent, even as it interrogates a wide spectrum of cultural practices. These essays by some of the most renowned scholars in seventeenth-century studies illuminate important authors and engage issues of politics and religion, of secular and sacred love, of literary theory and poetic technique, of gender relations and historical consciousness, of literary history and social change, as well as larger concerns of literary production and smaller ones of local effects. Collectively, they illustrate the vitality of the topic, both in its own right and as a means of understanding the complexity and range of seventeenth-century English poetry.
