Lead Editor at eNotes.com, Associate Faculty English Collin College, Richland College
Author: jwheeler1967
Sanitizing “The Giver”
On August 11, 2014, thousands of teens and their parents eagerly purchased tickets for the long-awaited film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s 1994 Newbery Award-winning novel The Giver. My teenaged son read it in junior high and loved it. I loved …
Zeroes and Ones and Your Odds of Writing a Best-Seller
Did you ever suspect the runaway best-seller Fifty Shades of Grey was written by robots? Well, somebody check E.L. James for vital signs because she might actually be an algorithm. Check this out: Surely a human being would die of …
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And the Oxford Word of the Year is… Selfie
Must. Remind. Self.. The OED is not an arbiter of, but a chronicler of, English language use. Every year, the Powers-That-Be lean over the windowsills located high atop their Ivory Towers and cock an ear towards the milling crowds below. …
2013 National Book Award Winners
Is your Kindle finger itching? Do you have a yearning to go to the bookstore or library but don’t know what sounds good? Well, maybe this will help. Last night, this year’s National Book Awards were announced. Here is the …
Do It Now: Advice from Doris Lessing and Junie B. Jones
The world lost two influential literary voices this week. Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing, best known for her novel The Golden Notebook, passed away Sunday at age 94. And Barbara Park, author of the beloved children’s books featuring her irascible character Junie B. Jones, …
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Joseph Brodsky’s Reading List for Essential Conversations
In 1972, poet Joseph Brodsky angered government officials in his native Russia and was expelled from the country. With the help of fellow poet W.H. Auden, Brodsky settled in the United States, found a position at Yale and taught classes at …
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Libraries and Kids: The Only True Magic
True Story: I remember getting my library card more vividly than I recall getting my driver’s license. My best memories of childhood were going to the library with my mom and checking out armfuls of books, which she would read …
One Hundred Years: Celebrating Albert Camus
Today would have been Albert Camus‘s 100th birthday. I have had a crush on Albert Camus for a long time. C’mon… he’s hot, rebellious, an intellectual, and like most artists I’m madly in love with, dead… the ultimate unattainable. Although …