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1500 questions
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Short story about a detective and criminal who disguise themselves and interact while in pursuit
I read a short story around 1996 in the US. I think it was part of a 5th grade reader book (kind of a compilation of short stories at the appropriate reading level). I remember thinking the story was kind of old, which would have meant about…
Sinenomen
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What suggests Edmund might be gay?
While I was doing some research, looking for an answer for Are Frog and Toad more than just friends?, I found this article listing 15 fictional characters the author thinks are probably gay. Some of them are widely joked about (Bert and Ernie, Peter…
Torisuda
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15
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1 answer
What meter are "I lik the bred" poems in?
I'm trying to determine the meter of "i lik the bred" poems:
"i lik the bred" is a series of short poems about a domesticated cow written by British author Sam Garland, better known by his Reddit handle Poem_for_your_sprog
The original poem
my…
AncientSwordRage
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1 answer
Short story in Russian about time travel and changing the history of WW2
I remember when I was a child (probably about 40 years ago), I read some story in a Russian book (I think its original language was Russian).
The story is as follows: a man read some documentary book about WW2, but it wasn't the same WW2 which we…
Alexan
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What is the "Intentional Fallacy"?
The intentional fallacy is described in Wimsatt and Beardsley's essay "The Intentional Fallacy". What exactly is the intentional fallacy? Is the concept still used in academia?
user111
15
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1 answer
"My father declared he should invent a slip button"
From Lady Saba Holland's memoir of her father the Rev. Sydney Smith, published circa 1855:
The reigning bore at this time in Edinburgh was ——; his favourite subject, the North Pole. It mattered not how far south you began, you found yourself…
Quuxplusone
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How did Lee's personal experience affect the narrative of To Kill A Mockingbird?
Many Southern authors of Harper Lee's time period wrote very autobiographical works. This led me to wonder how much Harper Lee's personal life was reflected in the narrative of To Kill A Mockingbird. After some research, I was not able to find much.…
Benjamin
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15
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1 answer
1960s kids book with "invisible" dust which people think improves everything but doesn't actually exist
In the 1960s, my grammar school (grades 1-8) encouraged us to buy cheap kids books; they had lists and we checked off what we wanted and paid for them. They were cheap; these were not new releases, and they were paperbacks (a bit taller and wider,…
Daniel
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1 answer
Dickens invented the scary clown?
Today in "Messages from Firefox" (some annoying thing that comes up in my browser), I saw the following which piqued my interest:
Dickens invented the scary clown, the ‘80s perfected it. Read all about the monsters and ghosts that haunt us in these…
Rand al'Thor
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Did the mechanical hound signify anything in Fahrenheit 451?
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is written with many recurring symbols. After reading the book, I never thought that the mechanical hound was one of them, though my friend told me otherwise.
Did the mechanical hound signify anything in Fahrenheit 451?
Matrim Cauthon
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What languages should one know to appreciate Finnegans Wake?
I have heard it said that Finnegans Wake is a great work, and my impression is that every sentence has one or two words being a pun of an English word and at least one valid word of another language. What are the chief languages which those foreign…
Violapterin
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Why are there three different versions of the "solid/sullied/sallied flesh" line in Hamlet?
While looking up about the passage asked about in this previous question, I noticed that there are different versions of the same line in Hamlet, Act I Scene II, line 333:
O that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Oh, that this too too sullied…
Rand al'Thor
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Why is Macondo a city of mirages?
In the conclusion of One Hundred Years of Solitude:
[I]t was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped
out by the wind ...
We know why Macondo is a city of mirrors:
José Arcadio Buendía dreamed that night that right there a…
muru
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6 answers
How could Thorin and co. journey all the way to Erebor without discussing how to deal with Smaug?
Thorin and co. with the hobbit take such an immense journey to Erebor as known to everyone who has read the book. But isn't it absurd that 14 men do undertake such a perilous journey without ever discussing the chief issue, that is how to deal with…
Kashmiri
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Were R.A. Salvatore's works inspired by real world D&D campaigns?
I have been reading the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. I am currently half way through Stream of Silver, which is in book two of the collection. While reading this, I noticed that it almost reads like a novelization of a dungeons and…
DForck42
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