A Discourse of Wit

A Discourse of Wit PDF Author: David Abercromby
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Intellect
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description

A Discourse of Wit

A Discourse of Wit PDF Author: David Abercromby
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Intellect
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Places of Wit in Early Modern English Comedy

The Places of Wit in Early Modern English Comedy PDF Author: Adam Zucker
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107003083
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
An exploration of wit, witlessness and social and comic conventions in the plays of Shakespeare, Jonson and their contemporaries.

Wit

Wit PDF Author: Margaret Edson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1466871830
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 99

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Book Description
Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Oppenheimer Award. Adapted to an Emmy Award-winning television movie, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Emma Thompson. Margaret Edson's powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize–winning play examines what makes life worth living through her exploration of one of existence's unifying experiences—mortality—while she also probes the vital importance of human relationships. What we as her audience take away from this remarkable drama is a keener sense that, while death is real and unavoidable, our lives are ours to cherish or throw away—a lesson that can be both uplifting and redemptive. As the playwright herself puts it, "The play is not about doctors or even about cancer. It's about kindness, but it shows arrogance. It's about compassion, but it shows insensitivity." In Wit, Edson delves into timeless questions with no final answers: How should we live our lives knowing that we will die? Is the way we live our lives and interact with others more important than what we achieve materially, professionally, or intellectually? How does language figure into our lives? Can science and art help us conquer death, or our fear of it? What will seem most important to each of us about life as that life comes to an end? The immediacy of the presentation, and the clarity and elegance of Edson's writing, make this sophisticated, multilayered play accessible to almost any interested reader. As the play begins, Vivian Bearing, a renowned professor of English who has spent years studying and teaching the intricate, difficult Holy Sonnets of the seventeenth-century poet John Donne, is diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Confident of her ability to stay in control of events, she brings to her illness the same intensely rational and painstakingly methodical approach that has guided her stellar academic career. But as her disease and its excruciatingly painful treatment inexorably progress, she begins to question the single-minded values and standards that have always directed her, finally coming to understand the aspects of life that make it truly worth living.

Elements of Wit

Elements of Wit PDF Author: Benjamin Errett
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698153863
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Got wit? We’ve all been in that situation where we need to say something clever, but innocuous; smart enough to show some intelligence, without showing off; something funny, but not a joke. What we need in that moment is wit—that sparkling combination of charm, humor, confidence, and most of all, the right words at the right time. Elements of Wit is an engaging book that brings together the greatest wits of our time, and previous ones from Oscar Wilde to Nora Ephron, Winston Churchill to Christopher Hitchens, Mae West to Louis CK, and many in between. With chapters covering the essential ingredients of wit, this primer sheds light on how anyone—introverts, extroverts, wallflowers, and bon vivants—can find the right zinger, quip, parry, or retort…or at least be a little bit more interesting.

Aphra Behn's English Feminism

Aphra Behn's English Feminism PDF Author: Dolors Altaba-Artal
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9781575910291
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Behn's novels, though, discard Zayas's pessimistic views and supernatural accounts; using wit and satire, they completely subvert the original texts."--BOOK JACKET.

The Devil’s Dictionary

The Devil’s Dictionary PDF Author: Ambrose Bierce
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
“Dictionary, n: A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.” Bierce’s groundbreaking Devil’s Dictionary had a complex publication history. Started in the mid-1800s as an irregular column in Californian newspapers under various titles, he gradually refined the new-at-the-time idea of an irreverent set of glossary-like definitions. The final name, as we see it titled in this work, did not appear until an 1881 column published in the periodical The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp. There were no publications of the complete glossary in the 1800s. Not until 1906 did a portion of Bierce’s collection get published by Doubleday, under the name The Cynic’s Word Book—the publisher not wanting to use the word “Devil” in the title, to the great disappointment of the author. The 1906 word book only went from A to L, however, and the remainder was never released under the compromised title. In 1911 the Devil’s Dictionary as we know it was published in complete form as part of Bierce’s collected works (volume 7 of 12), including the remainder of the definitions from M to Z. It has been republished a number of times, including more recent efforts where older definitions from his columns that never made it into the original book were included. Due to the complex nature of copyright, some of those found definitions have unclear public domain status and were not included. This edition of the book includes, however, a set of definitions attributed to his one-and-only “Demon’s Dictionary” column, including Bierce’s classic definition of A: “the first letter in every properly constructed alphabet.” Bierce enjoyed “quoting” his pseudonyms in his work. Most of the poetry, dramatic scenes and stories in this book attributed to others were self-authored and do not exist outside of this work. This includes the prolific Father Gassalasca Jape, whom he thanks in the preface—“jape” of course having the definition: “a practical joke.” This book is a product of its time and must be approached as such. Many of the definitions hold up well today, but some might be considered less palatable by modern readers. Regardless, the book’s humorous style is a valuable snapshot of American culture from past centuries. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Gore Ot Ouma

Gore Ot Ouma PDF Author: Aleksandr Sergeyevich Griboyedov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description


A Modest Proposal

A Modest Proposal PDF Author: Jonathan Swift
Publisher: Modernista
ISBN: 9180949193
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 14

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Book Description
In one of the most powerful and darkly satirical works of the 18th century, a chilling solution is proposed to address the dire poverty and overpopulation plaguing Ireland. Jonathan Swift presents a shockingly calculated and seemingly rational argument for using the children of the poor as a food source, thereby addressing both the economic burden on society and the issue of hunger. This provocative piece is a masterful example of irony and social criticism, as it exposes the cruel attitudes and policies of the British ruling class towards the Irish populace. Jonathan Swift's incisive critique not only underscores the absurdity of the proposed solution but also serves as a profound commentary on the exploitation and mistreatment of the oppressed. A Modest Proposal remains a quintessential example of satirical literature, its biting wit and moral indignation as relevant today as it was at the time of its publication. JONATHAN SWIFT [1667-1745] was an Anglo-Irish author, poet, and satirist. His deadpan satire led to the coining of the term »Swiftian«, describing satire of similarly ironic writing style. He is most famous for the novel Gulliver’s Travels [1726] and the essay A Modest Proposal [1729].

Style, Wit and Word-Play

Style, Wit and Word-Play PDF Author: Tao Tao Liu
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443835935
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This collection of essays is dedicated to the memory of David Hawkes (1923–2009), who is remembered as a pre-eminent translator and interpreter of Chinese literature into English, his most famous work being the translation of the classic eighteenth-century Chinese novel, the Hongloumeng or The Story of the Stone. The first part of the collection consists of studies on him and his works; the second part on the art of translation into English from Chinese literature. All the essays are written by scholars in the field from Britain, America, Australia and Hong Kong.

The Wicked Wit of England

The Wicked Wit of England PDF Author: Geoff Tibballs
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1789290317
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Nobody does irony or sarcasm like the English. The Wicked Wit of England is celebration of British humour, featuring a collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes that capture the various idiosyncrasies of the English character.