Archive for the ‘literature’ Category
March 3rd, 2010
It’s cold and wet outside, so there aren’t many options for entertaining activities. Oh sure, you could turn on your television and sit on your butt for the next several hours, but there is only so much time you can spend watching daytime soap operas or court TV. Instead of just staring at a screen, letting your mind go sedentary, there are some exciting books to read that are just perfect for those stuck-in-the-house rainy days. One or two suggestions may be educational, but they are too fun to read to even notice that you’re brain is keeping active.
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Do not let the name fool, there isn’t anything about marine life in the book. The main character, T.J. Jones, is an adopted teenager who is smart, funny, and an all-around cool guy, who is incredibly humorous to read about. The story deals with a team of underdog swimmers, and T.J. just happens to be the only popular guy on the team. Acting as the wise-butt hero at times, this book had me stifling my own laughter because I was afraid someone would hear me guffaw too loudly.
Darwin Awards Books
For those who are not familiar with the Darwin Awards, they are a comical competition that relay the odd, stupid, and funny things people do in life, as well as the interesting outcomes of these actions. There are at least seven of these books by now, so the options are wide and the hilarity of man’s stupidity just continues to entertain readers. If for some reason you cannot finish one of the books, there is no harm in putting it aside to come back to it on another rainy day. The chapters do not have a sequence of events, so there is no plot to keep up with. You can read one funny story after another. Or, if you somehow finish one book in a day, there are more to read out of the series.
A Bad Beginning, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett
Yes, it is part of a series, but what better day is there to try out a new series of books than on a rainy day? And, there is never a dull moment in A Bad Beginning, not to mention it is a relatively shorter book, which also makes it a quick read. Funny, exciting, and sometimes creepy, the Series of Unfortunate Events relays the story of the cruel Count Olaf, who is trying to take the inheritance of three incredibly talented orphaned children. Don’t knock it just because it’s in the young adult section; this book even has adults enthralled to read the whole series.
Short Stories by Nikolay Gogol
For those who want a fun, yet slightly more sophisticated read, the short stories by Nikolay Gogol never seem to disappoint. Although most short stories are a good pick for rainy days, Gogol’s are both deep and amusing at the same time. Stories like “The Nose” is so incredulous to have a nose as the supporting role, while “The Diary of a Madman” is so funny, I almost felt guilty as I laughed at the poor narrator. Gogol’s short stories are a bit longer than others, but you can still several with a day’s time. And, with a collection of shorts, it is easy to just put the rest of the book aside once you have finished a particular story. There is no commitment to reading all of the short stories if you do not have time.
Psych – A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read by William Rabkin
If you are a fan of the show, you are going to love the books, particularly this one. Although many popular shows are providing a series of books alongside their show, Psych is one of those shows that is both smart and funny at the same time, which is exactly what the books are like, too. A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read happens to be only 273 pages, which makes for a quick read with all of the dialogue and humorous activities.
March 1st, 2010
by Julia H. Jackson
As the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver come to a close, spectators worldwide are reminded how sports and international competition function as yet another way to tell stories. Think back to the best moments of this year in Canada: American Lindsey Vonn’s gold medal in downhill skiing, Yu Na Kim of Korea’s winning free skate performance, or Team Canada’s men’s hockey win in overtime. When these athletes go home, not only will they take their medals, but they’ll take something perhaps more significant: the record that they beat and the odds that they faced; in effect, their very own Olympic story.
Speaking of stories—there is a long legacy of Olympic athletes teaming up with journalists and biographers to share their stories as memoirs. Here’s a list of 5 Books about Inspirational Olympians to get you started.
Jesse Owens’ life was not just one, but several important stories. Owens was the first American to win four track and field medals in one Olympic Game—the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, to be exact. His athletic achievements notwithstanding, Owens’ decision to participate at all was an act of courage, given the intense backdrop of what would later become Nazi Germany. Schapp’s book takes a cinematic approach to Owens’ life, starting with his childhood in 1920s Cleveland, through his early track career to Berlin, where the concept of the Aryan race was just gaining popularity.
In 1980, the U.S. men’s hockey team was up against the Soviets, the reigning international hockey champions whose legacy made them seem unbeatable. The New York Daily News sportswriter Coffey approaches the pivotal 1980 games from U.S. Coach Herb Brooks’ perspective, describing the physical and psychological exercises he used to build up the American team. Unlike many sports stories, Coffey seeks to make both teams human, showing not just their strengths and weaknesses, but their attitude in light of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Cold War.
Australian swimmer Nadine Neumann writes of her struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as a young woman, a condition that, although challenging, never kept her from international competition. She finished sixth in the 200m breast stroke at the 1996 Atlanta summer games, breaking her personal best. Her memoir describes the intricacy of competing for the best race while overcoming the daily challenges of a chronic condition. In addition to her accomplishments as a swimmer, Neumann went on to become a teacher, coach and writer.
Dorothy Hamill skated onto the ice in Innnsbruk, Austria, in 1976, and into a new life. At age 19, she was about to accomplish her primary goal: to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating. Her 2007 memoir traces her childhood on the ice, showing not only her athletic achievements, but also the complexity of her family relationships. Hamill went on to become a pioneering star in the Ice Capades, the touring skate shows that incorporated stories into skate performances. Hamill’s work on and off the ice has proven her not only to be a professional, high-achieving athlete, but a leader in youth fitness and performance.
Tomm
ie Smith won the gold medal in the 200m running race at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. As the “Star Spangled Banner” echoed across the stands, Smith raised on black-gloved fist to the air, creating perhaps one of the most highly politicized images of the Olympics. This single moment sparked a flurry of responses: did Smith, who had an incredible track record at San Jose State University and later became a successful as teacher and coach, intend for spectators to glean some greater political meaning from his black glove? Smith’s autobiography explores both his views on athletics and his young life, describing how one “silent gesture” redefined him not only as a runner, but also as a leader in the civil rights movement and beyond.
Still not inspired? There is an entire cannon of Olympic stories out there, and (most likely) there will be more to come in the months following the 2010 games in Vancouver. Are you an athlete? Let us know what sports you play and what stories you hope to one day tell!
February 25th, 2010
On February 1, 2010, President Obama wrote an official Proclamation describing this month as National African American History Month. Here’s how our first African-American President describes the theme this year:
“In the centuries since African Americans first arrived on our shores, they have known the bitterness of slavery and oppression, the hope of progress, and the triumph of the American Dream. African American history is an essential thread of the American narrative that traces our Nation’s enduring struggle to perfect itself. Each February, we recognize African American History Month as a moment to reflect upon how far we have come as a Nation, and what challenges remain. This year’s theme, ‘The History of Black Economic Empowerment,’ calls upon us to honor the African Americans who overcame injustice and inequality to achieve financial independence and the security of self empowerment that comes with it.”
Well said, Mr. President. And just how do we recognize these leaders in business, in the arts, education, science—those who are showing just what it means to be “economically empowered?” And just what does it mean to set aside one month of the year to recognize the achievements of African-Americans? Today in Eduify we’ve chosen 5 Notable African-American Leaders whose accomplishments have informed not only other African-Americans, but other Americans and citizens worldwide.
Perhaps one of the greatest American poets of his generation, Langston Hughes wrote lyrically about the black experience in Harlem, New York, as well as commentaries about race and society. His work, which has often been associated with jazz and blues rhythms, laid the groundwork for what later became performance and slam poetry. More important than the form itself, his desire to describe his experience as an African-American set a precedent in American literature. He put it best in a 1947 essay entitled “My Adventures as a Social Poet”:
“…certainly, racially speaking, my own problems of adjustment to American life were the same as those of millions of other segregated Negroes. The moon belongs to everybody, but not this American earth of ours. That is perhaps why poems of the moon disturb no one, but poems about color and poverty do perturb many citizens. Social forces pull backwards and forwards, right or left, and social poems get caught in the pulling and the hauling. Sometimes the poet himself gets pulled and hauled—even hauled off to jail.”
Dr. Benjamin Carter is a contemporary African-American doctor whose long list of achievements include being the first person to successfully separate Siamese twins in 1987. Dr. Carter was born in Detroit in the early 1950s, and was raised by a young single mother who, after noting his poor behavior and bad grades in school, assigned him her own homework assignments and encouraged him to participate more in school. Dr. Carter later went on to get degrees at Yale and the University of Michigan, where his dexterity as a neurosurgeon was first noticed. He became the first Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital at the young age of 32. Dr. Carter’s success has inspired a new generation of health professionals, many of whom he and his wife Candy support through their Carson Scholars Foundation.
Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to U.S. Congress in 1968, is best described in her own words (and the title of her first book): “Unbought and Unbossed.” Chisholm served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat from New York, and she championed causes such as education, daycare, inner city youth and city works programs. She became the first African-American woman to run for President of the United States in 1972, which became a revolutionary year in the world of politics, not only for African-Americans, but for minority groups in general. She ran against Patsy Mink, an Asian-American Congresswoman from Hawaii, and together the two women represented a new movement in American government: that of empowered, educated, intelligent women fighting on behalf of their states and the greater American community as well. She published The Good Fight in 1973, and was later the subject of the PBS documentary Chisholm ’72—Unbought and Unbossed.
Angela Davis grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1944—a time and location that set the stage for her future involvement in the civil rights movement. Davis grew up in the South, but later won an opportunity to attend high school in New England. During her college years at Brandeis University, she seized opportunities to study French, philosophy and politics in France, Germany, and Switzerland. She was studying in France during the 1963 church bombings in Alabama, hate crimes that affected not only her personal and political ties home, but also triggered her activism in civil rights groups. Her political leanings and involvement with the Black Panthers later affected her career as a professor and academic. She was listed on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list in 1970 for an incident involving Judge Harold Haley, an accusation that was later lifted when there was not enough evidence to convict her of anything. Davis went on to become a prominent civil rights leader in California, working specifically within what she called the “prison-industrial complex.” She has lectured at UCLA, San Francisco State University, Bryn Mawr College, Stanford University, Syracuse University, and UC Santa Cruz.
At 27 years old, Shani Davis has already flown around the world and the ice rink several times over. Just this past week, the Chicago native beat the world record for both the 1000 meter and 1500 meter speed skating events. Before Vancouver, Davis already had a gold and a silver medal from the Olympics in Italy in 2006. Although his focus is athletics, he has broken records not only in terms of his speed and technique, but also as the first African-American to place on the Olympic speed skating team in 2002. Davis represents many young African-American athletes of the twenty-first century, who aims not to be the first of his race to succeed in his chosen field, but simply to be the best, and leave it at that. He’s not done yet; the 2010 Olympics have just started!
There are African-Americans achieving great things in every field, just as there are people of every ethnicity, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation achieving just as much. That being said, February is a time to recognize leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Alice Walker, Richard Wright, and so, so many more, because it is crucial we remember their contributions to their fields, as well as to our country. Who inspires you? Let us know!
January 26th, 2010
by Julia H. Jackson
Last fall, Death Cab for Cutie musician Ben Gibbard and Son of Volt’s Jay Farrar released an album entitled “One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Music From Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur.” The duo wrote 12 songs inspired by Kerouac’s 1962 novel after creating the soundtrack for an accompanying documentary. The two musicians gave new life to Kerouac’s celebrated stream-of-consciousness storytelling by creating a new sound from his Beat rhythm. The album and film have gotten good press, in part because Gibbard and Farrar are skilled composers, and also because they are continuing the tradition of recreating stories in song. Perhaps, when a story is shared in one medium, and then reinvented in another a generation later, perhaps that is when the story becomes legend. Just what do we mean? Take a look at Artists for Literacy, a nonprofit that promotes literacy through artistic learning tools, and also happens to host an entire catalog of songs inspired from books. Today we bring you 5 Songs Inspired by Literature, and you’d be surprised by how many you’d recognize.
Book: Ghost World, by Daniel Clowes, which later became the 2001 film of the same name
Daniel Clowes’ 2000 graphic novel follows the story of Enid and Rebecca, inseparable high school graduates who don’t know how to approach impending adulthood. Instead, they first mock and then befriend an older man, who slowly pushes them further apart. Aimee Mann’s album Bachelor No.2 came out the same year, and her song of the same name captures the listlessness of shared adolescence: “So, I’m bailing this town, or– / tearing it down, or — / probably more / like hanging around.”
Book: Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley’s 1818 breakthrough novel Frankenstein is a cult classic; its blend of gothic and romantic tones, combined with its epistolary format and chilling humanity, give it a weight that few books have. It has been reincarnated many times, in many ways, but perhaps none quite so unique as Bob Dylan’s 1967 recording of “All Along the Watchtower.” The song, which like many of Dylan’s most famous, is usually attributed to parables from the Bible, but according to the Artists for Literacy project, there is a link between the song and the famous monster novel. Think about it: a cold 
winter evening, and two lost souls consider a dark horizon: “There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. / But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate, / So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” And, just as the evening is coming to a close, “two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl.” Creepy…
Book: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
Bruce Springsteen earned the name “Boss” for a reason; not only is he heralded as the epitome of an American rock star, but his literary influences are just as American. Steinbeck’s 1939 novel follows the Joads, a family of sharecroppers from Oklahoma who go searching for a new life in California. Springsteen’s style is fitting for this archetypal American dream story; his interpretation of the working class struggle is almost as powerful as the journey of Joads: “Got a one-way ticket to the promised land /You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand.”
The Ghost of Tom Joad, by Bruce Springsteen
2) “1984,” David Bowie
1984, George Orwell
Few things speak to the dystopian world of George Orwell’s Oceania in 1984 than the unnerving style of a young David Bowie. The 1949 novel is ruled by the totalitarian regime of The Party, which uses mind control and public surveillance to slowly destroy human civil liberties. What better way to recognize the book’s horror, and perhaps dark truth, than with Bowie’s macabre lyrics: “They’ll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air / And tell that you’re eighty, but brother, you won’t care.”
Hamlet, Shakespeare
Fiona Apple has taken one of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues from one of his most famous plays, and given it a throaty twentieth century twist. Hamlet, the Danish prince, asks the question “To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub, / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause.” And while Apple is not contemplating murder, she does conjure up the emotion and power of a timeless moment: “I got my feet on the ground and I don’t go to sleep to dream. / You got your head in the clouds and you’re not at all what you seem. / This mind, this body, and this voice cannot be stifled by your deviant ways. / So don’t forget what I told you, don’t come around, I got my own hell to raise.”
Sleep to Dream, Fiona Apple
The relationship between music and books goes back a long way, perhaps even to the days before printing presses and publishing houses, when the act of storytelling was a vocal enterprise. Once you start to dissect popular music, you’ll see how many popular songs, and even albums, are based on great novels or devoted to well-known writers. Remember Green Day’s cult hit, “Basket Case?” Doesn’t that sound a bit like J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye? How about The Roots’ “Act Won: Things Fall Apart,” which is clearly a reference to Chinua Achebe’s most famous work? And for you rock fans—the Iron Maiden repertoire is replete with literary references: “The Lord of the Flies,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Brave New World,” “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.”
What do you think about this link between books and music? What’s missing from our list? Let us know what you think!
January 13th, 2010
By Amelia Anderson
New backpacks, clothes, folders, pencils, classes, and of course new books are typically bought at the beginning of classes. Although the expenses can add up, some of the most trying things to buy have got to be the books. Maybe you can reuse an old backpack, maybe you don’t necessarily need a new wardrobe for school, and you may very likely have spare pens, pencils, and binders for the new school year. But, new books are something that has to be bought. Depending on the types of classes you are taking, books can be very expensive for students and can easily put a hole in a person’s budget. However, there are ways to make buying new books for the semester a lot more economical.
Order Textbooks Online
It is usually more convenient to buy textbooks through the school you are attending, however that is typically the most expensive way to buy books for school. There are many websites online that sell textbooks for a much cheaper price. Just make sure that you buy your books a week or two in advance, so you have your books in time for school. Popular websites like cheapesttextbooks.com, half.ebay.com/ , textbooks.com/, and even http://www.barnesandnoble.com/textbooks/index.asp are great resources for inexpensive text books. If you can’t find what you want at these sites, research more to find others and compare prices – there are plenty to choose from.
Read Online
There are many novels that are available to read online, without having to spend a dime. Textbooks are probably not accessible, but classic novels are often found. As long as you do not have sensitive eyes to reading for an extensive period on a computer screen, then reading online is a great way to save a little money. I read the entire text of Uncle Tom’s Cabin online, which was required for one of my literature classes. Since the book didn’t need to be brought into class, there was no problem just reading the book online.
Buy Used Books
Both textbooks and novels can be a lot cheaper when they are bought used. And, since most students do not keep their school books after they have finished their class, there is no point in buying a book in pristine condition that you have no intention of holding onto anyway. Novels can be found for half price at used book stores, and used textbooks that are available at the local bookstores can be ¼ the price of a brand new textbook.
Rent Textbooks
It may be the newest form of getting textbooks for school – Renting! Yes, there is actually a website that offers students to rent texts. You can rent and even sell textbooks to make money at http://www.chegg.com/. Renting books is even cheaper than buying used books, and with the speed this new option is taking in popularity, I am certain that there will be more online sites available for renting books in the near future.
Borrow Textbooks from the Library
It is one of the oldest tricks, but it really does work. Borrow books from the library. School libraries are supposed to carry the textbooks that are required for your school’s classes, so just borrowing those books instead buying them is way cheaper. I recommend double checking to be certain that the library does carry the textbook you need and to check the policies for borrowing a textbook (some libraries are stricter with the length of time you can keep a textbook out of the library). If everything seems to work in your favor, borrowing textbooks from the library is a free option instead of having to buy a book that may cost anywhere from $50 to $100.
