Feeding the Muse

Creative Epitaphs: What Would YOUR Epitaph Say?

Some of the dearly departed have chosen to have creative epitaphs engraved on their tombstones.

Here are a few:

'Here lies an honest lawyer - That is Strange.'
John Strange.

'Quoth the raven: nevermore.'
Edgar Allan Poe.

'She did it the hard way.'
Bette Davis.

'All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia.'
W.C. Fields.

'That's all folks!'
Mel Blanc.

Question: Who was the famous writer who had these words inscribed on his tombstone?

Blessed be the man that spares these stones

And cursed be he who moves these bones.

Cliches Weren't Always Cliches

We can blame it on "The Bard": These cliches were once fresh … in the 16th century.

green eyed monster

hot-blooded

more sinned against than sinning

strange bedfellows

wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve

clothes make the man

method in his madness

to thine own self be true

via I See Invisible People

Check out other words "The Bard" inspired at
Shakespeare Words and Phrases

In Praise of the Bad Metaphor

Metaphors so very, very bad, that they're actually good!

Every year, English teachers from across the country submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school writing. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners.

Which one is YOUR favorite?

image via TechToons

"The Journey" by Mary Oliver and Sample Literary Analysis

  "One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice...
...a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
...kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper into the world..."
-from Mary Oliver's "The Journey"

Look below the fold for the poem in its entirety, an accompanying literary analysis by Ms. K, and guidelines for your literary analysis papers.