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1500 questions
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Do we ever find out what Ike did to have his law license revoked?
In Theodore Boone, Ike Boone gets his license to practice law revoked. Do we ever find out why? Is this mentioned in The Activist?
Mithical
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What's the meaning of "give someone the lie" in Macbeth?
As I have noticed there are multiple interpretations of the following lines from William Shakespeare 's Macbeth. For example, "drink gave thee the lie" has been interpreted as diversely as "deceived you," "told you that you're a liar," and "knocked…
Beatsme
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Krazy language in Krazy Kat, 25 July 1936
The eponymous hero (or heroine) of George Herriman's Krazy Kat cartoons uses a very peculiar language. Most of the time, it's simply phonetical and is easy to understand, but in the strip that appeared on 25 July 1936, I have difficulty…
Tsundoku
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Do the *books* show that Hogwarts is in Scotland?
It's well known among Harry Potter nerds that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is located in Scotland. But the only sources I've found for this are extratextual, e.g. from interviews with the author or from the Pottermore website. These…
Rand al'Thor
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Help Identifying Children's Book with Easter Bunnies
I know this is a hard, but when I was a kid I had a book about a town that asked some Easter Bunnies to paint the town for Easter or the Easter Bunnies just painted the town or one Easter Bunny painted a bridge or there was one Bunny that painted…
Rincewind
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What does the "crimson hexagon" represent in "The Library of Babel"?
In The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, the speaker says,
They were urged on by the delirium of trying to reach the books in the Crimson Hexagon: books whose format is smaller than usual, all-powerful, illustrated and magical.
In the above…
Benjamin
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Why does Steinbeck never name Curley's wife?
Curley's wife plays an important role in the novel and yet is never given a name. Perhaps Steinbeck was trying to not encourage the audience to develop a personal connection to her? I'd like to see various other points of view, supported by textual…
fi12
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What is the history of the universe/canon/word-of-god approach to literature?
Over on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange, some participants apply the following theoretical approach to the interpretation of fiction:
The role of fiction is to describe a fictional ‘universe’, and an important task of readers is to…
Gareth Rees
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Is it reasonable to use the movie version of a book to interpret the book when the same author wrote both?
Related: How much weight should we give authors' declarations of their intent after the fact?
Just to give a concrete example of what I'm asking about, I'm thinking in particular about The Hunger Games books and movies. Since the book was written…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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Why are Dwarfs almost always technologically advanced compared to other races?
In almost every fantasy world Dwarfs are almost always shown to have superior technology compared to other races. Why is that?
LuisLord of the canadian realm
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How does a book become "an American classic"?
It seems that, in passing, some books are referred to as "an American classic," or "one of the great American classics." This seems like it's a whole subsection of what counts as "classic literature."
Oddly, while infrequently, certain books are…
user80
11
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Is there a central theme in I, Robot?
In the book I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, the author wrote several short stories, all usually revolving about robots of different types. It's possible to interpret the short stories with many different themes.
Is there a central theme that connects all…
DForck42
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Why do peasants in 19th century Russian literature often have Greek names?
Why do peasant characters in 19th century Russian literature so often have Greek names? (e.g. "Agafon" and "Platon" in Anna Karenina).
dpc
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Why does Modesta Gómez demand payment from the indigenous girl?
In Rosario Castellanos's short story "Modesta Gómez," we see how a girl named Modesta with bright dreams for the future has them destroyed first by a wealthy family and then by her working-class husband. Destitute and desperate, she becomes an…
Nathaniel is protesting
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In The Mezzotint by M. R. James, what is a "Door Bible"?
A passage in this famous ghost story, from his published collection Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, makes reference to a "Door Bible".
‘Well, sir, of course I don’t set up my opinion against yours, but it ain’t the pictur I should ‘ang where my…
Matt Thrower
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