Author: jwheeler1967

Lead Editor at eNotes.com, Associate Faculty English Collin College, Richland College

Violent Delights: A New Romeo and Juliet Film Coming Soon

jwheeler1967 July 25, 2013

Me, an hour ago on Tumblr: Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll... Wait. What's this? Yep. It's time for a new cinematic interpretation of the Ultimate Forbidden Love. It's been seventeen years, believe it or not, when the then 17-year-old Claire Danes starred as Juliet, opposite 22-year-old Leonardo di Caprio as Romeo. This time, the…

For Hemingway’s Birthday, A Gift to the World

jwheeler1967 July 22, 2013

JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY / AP (The birth certificate and family photograph of Ernest Hemingway from a scrapbook created by his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway.) Long before "scrapbooking" was a verb, mothers were collecting memories about their children and their achievements in volumes for posterity. Fortunately for both fans and scholars of Ernest Hemingway,…

Not At This Time: Rejection Letters to Famous Writers

jwheeler1967 July 17, 2013

Why is dad so sad? Probably because he just checked his mail and found his self-addressed stamped envelope in his box, his manuscript inside, and the dreaded form letter saying, "We are sorry, but your manuscript does not currently meet our specific needs." The first dozen or so times, Dad wanted to believe the closing…

Celebs Gettin’ Schooled by 8-to-12 Year Old “Grammar Cops”

jwheeler1967 July 15, 2013

Red Balloon is a private school in Brazil designed to help Portuguese and Spanish-speaking children become fluent in English. The faculty came up with an innovative idea to engage kids AND help them learn. They encouraged the children to follow their favorite celebrities on Twitter and then tweet them back, correcting their often egregious spelling…

Feats of Greatness, Feet of Clay: Authors, Flaws, and the People Behind the Stories

jwheeler1967 July 11, 2013

(Orson Scott Card poses at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in 2008. Wikimedia Commons/ Nihonjoe) "Just because someone's a member of an ethnic minority doesn't mean they're not a nasty small-minded little jerk.” ~ Terry Pratchett, from Feet of Clay There is a reason I frequently shy away from reading biographies: people suck. Even the best people suck.…

Guerrilla Poetry Projects

jwheeler1967 July 9, 2013

T.S. Eliot once observed that "genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood." This is a sentiment that "guerrilla" poets embrace. Guerrilla tactics, whether in war or in art, often rely on hit-and-run assaults, leaving the subjects of their surprise attacks a bit dazed and hopefully more aware. This week, the website Flavorpill (by way of booooooom.com) published…

Ten Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About the Fourth of July

jwheeler1967 July 3, 2013

There are lots of things we expect on the Fourth: fireworks, friends, family. There are things we love (sparklers, Roman candles, cold beer) and things we despise (sauerkraut, ambrosia, Lee Greenwood... all right, haters... this was from a friend. Direct all your spittle-filled anger elsewhere). Here are a few unexpected things about the Fourth you…

Top Ten Pick-Up Lines in Literature

jwheeler1967 July 1, 2013

For the Power of Words, I give you Exhibit A: Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible) and Marilyn Monroe. As Exhibit B: Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses, Midnight's Children) and Padma Lakshmi. I could go on. Here are ten great lines from literature that just might help you get lucky, too. 1. “The only way to…