New York Grounds
Writing
Poe
Stories
100

Colson Whitehead has a special name for the imagined and artistically created "New York" we all have. 

What is a "private New York."

100

The relationship between logic and illogic in essays can be compared to a philosophical idea in Taoism and Buddhism...

What is yin/yang or the nature of transformation, mutual dependence of apparent opposites, or the presences of balance between elements to form a whole and a path?

100

A successful poem or story, according to Poe must...

What is:

Be short

Be melancholy

Focus on one single emotional effect

100

A notable Native story is...

What is "Rainy Mountain" by M. Scott Momaday, the history of the sacred site and the attempts to displace or assimilate Natives fail, but the raider, warrior, and cruel nature of Native culture is documented with research-style footnotes that go along with the poetic text 

"Fleur" by Louise Erdrich  Accident and attempted murder are used to try to drown Fleur, but she survives that and attempted rape and lives alone, with a child, and might be a wendigo spirit

or "Lullaby" by Leslie Marmon Silko (baby taken from mother, mother flees with baby)

200
Colson Whitehead has a particular attitude toward the constant destruction and re-creation and change in New York. 

What is enjoying destruction and change and still seeing the places as they once were--as they matter to you?

200

The logicians Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and Alan Turing had dramatic lives in which their identities, sexuality, and principles were perceived to be at odds with conservatism and tradition, yet they...

Created the logical principles on which modern science including computers and computer science depends as well as seeking personal freedom that the world denied to Wittgenstein and Turing. Logic and illogic in our humanity and aspirations must mingle if we are to reach people through art and writing. 

200

Poe accused New Yorkers of a many bad qualities, among which are..

What is?

Gossip

Celebrity Worship

Gullibility to the media

Bragging

Cheap taste--brownstones, not wooden mansions

200

The Fourth State of Matter weaves together mass murder at a Physics Department with   

What is the death of a dog, a friendship with a professor, a husband who left his wife, plasma in the universe, and a lack of purity and respect along with racism...

300

Mark Twain pointed out that the use of media kept people isolated, cowardly, and disconnected, longing for deeper connections and not even realizing that they did in a newspaper article he wrote. 

What is "The Personals" and what is smartphone addiction?  

300

One particular step in writing Coherent Paragraphs is the most difficult for most writers. 

What is writing a second sentence that is about the  WHOLE of the first sentence.

Chester is a charming dog.

He is a mix of Chihuahua and Terrier (DOG) who dances on his back paws when he sees someone he likes (CHARMING).

300
The Black Cat can be called psychological horror for several reasons.

What is the guilt of the narrator, his increasing addiction, is escalating cruelty and violence?

300

"Woven" contains a spirit who does good and harm.

What is the Water Spirit who protects children and punishes those it sees as neglectful of abusive parents? 

400

Patti Smith performed Spoken Word Poetry in dive bars and cafes, wandered into a record contract, had minor hits, wrote two best-selling memoirs, and is nicknamed The Godmother of Punk. One chaotic, awkward, and hostile-to-the-audience performance is Stockholm is...

The song horses

An attack on a boy at school

A vision of wild horses

An homage to the French teen Queer poet Arthur Rimbaud

--The Allerton Hotel is about a flophouse hotel inhabited by addicts--and Smith and soulmate Robert Mapplethorpe

400

A long list of evidence lends authority, plentiful examples, and a tone to introductory paragraphs and has a special name. 

What is Enumeration?

400

Poe had biographical obstacles.

What is 


Orphan and ward

Class envy and anger

Genius but only sporadic recognition

Addiction

Poverty despite workaholic productivity?

400

"Precious Artifact" presents a trope that is also basic to The Matrix and many other sci fi narratives.

What is a false world imposed on beings who have been defeated in warfare and that unknowingly serve the victor in the war? 

500

Willa Cather wrote about a kind of sitting and lifestyle that never dies in New York....the musical Rent, and the meta-musical Tik, Tik, BOOM keep the trope and motif of this kind of world alive, from SoHo to Williamsburg to...

What is "Bohemia"?

500

The voice and personality of a writer can be suggested by word choices, but even more distinctive and revealing is another practice. 


What is a distinctive and interesting choice of EXAMPLES?

500
The  Goth and the Gothic are in strong contrast. 


Gothic--aristocratic, massive and enduring, religious in inspiration

Goth--Germanic " barbarians" and, today, deliberate rebels and outsiders against bougey rulles 

500

Give it another go. In the film Brooklyn, support Team Tony or Team Jim, and explain your answer.

What is security, wealth, courtesy and sophistication opposed to fun, attraction, adventure?