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7 answers
Does "The Charge of the Light Brigade" glorify war or criticize it?
The Charge of the Light Brigade is an 1854 narrative poem at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.
Does it glorify war or criticize it?
kenorb
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24
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Has a book ever been translated in its own fictional language?
In programming language design, there's a process called bootstrapping:
In computer science, bootstrapping is the process of writing a compiler (or assembler) in the source programming language that it intends to compile.
This is a significant…
user8
24
votes
2 answers
Translation: Why are parts of the original language kept?
Inspired by this question.
In many translated works (the first to come to mind are translations by Richard Pevear and the English versions of Isaac Bashevis Singer's writings) there are elements of the original language which is kept, while the bulk…
NoahM
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How to read é, ä, û?
If I want to read Tolkien's text aloud, or appreciate the rhythm and rhyme in his poems, I find it distracting not to know how names including these characters (and similar ones) were meant to be pronounced. Unfortunately I only have the main books…
The Vee
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24
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Was pretending to be an abridgement of a made-up work invented by William Goldman?
William Goldman's The Princess Bride is famous (among other reasons) for a literary device it employs - it pretends to be an abridgment (or "the good parts version") of a longer work by S. Morgenstern, and Goldman's "commentary" asides are constant…
DVK
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24
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2 answers
In 1984, why does O'Brien expect Winston to know what Room 101 is?
In 1984, O'Brien expects Winston to know what Room 101 is.
I know that Room 101 is more torture, but why would O'Brien expect Winston to know that?
‘What is in Room 101?’
The expression on O’Brien’s face did not change. He answered drily: ‘You…
user72
24
votes
1 answer
Why does Shakespeare's Julius Caesar switch to Latin for the "Et tu, Brute" line?
Like all of Shakespeare's plays, his Julius Caesar is of course written and performed almost entirely in English. But there is one line of this particular play - perhaps the most famous - which is always reproduced in the original Latin:
CASCA:…
Rand al'Thor
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1 answer
What is a Pooh?
Winnie the Pooh is our favorite ball of fluff that likes to eat honey in the Hundred-Acre Wood... but where does he get his name from? Specifically, where does "Pooh" come from?
I know that Winnie comes from a real bear that was the pet/mascot of a…
Skooba
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24
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4 answers
Why doesn't James Joyce ever use quotation marks?
None of his books use quotation marks for direct speech. For example:
— Will he come? The jejune jesuit!
Ceasing, he began to shave with care.
— Tell me, Mulligan, Stephen said quietly.
— Yes, my love?
— How long is Haines going to stay in this…
Abhijeet Melkani
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2 answers
Could you actually go around the world in 80 days?
Around the World in 80 Days is a novel be Jules Verne about an Englishman who makes a bet with some fellow club members that he can travel around the world in 80 days.
Nowadays with modern flight, going round the world in 80 days wouldn't only be…
Beastly Gerbil
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Did Shakespeare consider Julius Caesar a tyrant or a martyr?
I've seen the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar interpreted in two different ways (by people with different social and political views, naturally):
either Caesar as a power-mad tyrant who got his comeuppance, and Brutus and Cassius as freedom fighters…
Rand al'Thor
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6 answers
If Tolkien disliked allegory, why are there so many allegorical readings of The Lord of the Rings?
There is a famous quote from J.R.R. Tolkien in which he states his hatred of allegorical writing.
"I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always
have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.
I much…
Matt Thrower
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Was Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum at all inspired by A Predicament?
Poe's satirical short story A Predicament tells the story of a woman who is slowly decapitated by the minute hand of a large cathedral clock. In all its ridiculousness, it was supposed to be a horror parody, a bit unlike much of the rest of Poe's…
HDE 226868
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23
votes
3 answers
How are graphic novels different from comic books?
I always get confused between the terms comic-book and graphic novel. What makes a comic-book be referred to as Graphic novel? What is the difference between both of the terms?
Ankit Sharma
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Is a moral lesson a requirement for fairy tales?
Many of the fairy tales collected by the Grimm's have a moral. Is a moral lesson a requirement for fairy tales?
James Jenkins
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