The words assume and presume both mean that you take something for granted as being true, but the difference is based on how certain you are. Assume is typically used in situations where someone takes something as the truth with a very low level of certainty or with no proof at all. Presume usually involves a higher level of certainty and is used in situations …
Bullies are discussed a lot these days, but they aren’t something new. Tormenters have been around for a long time … especially in literature. Let’s take an inside look at the characters who are bullies and learn about their consequences. Marion Hawthorne In the 1964 children’s novel, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Marion Hawthorne is a smart-mouthed, entitled classroom bully. It’s never determined why she is …
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! That cheer-boosting adage works for some people, but others are perfectly happy sucking sour lemons. Literature is full of chipper lemonade-makers, but there’s something about those lemon-sucking grumps that draws readers in. Is it their angsty sarcasm? Their jaded world-weariness? Their stubborn dedication to doom-and-gloom even when everything else is giggles and rainbows? Are Negative Nancys somehow more …
What’s in a name? A lot, apparently! It’s no secret that writers agonize over what to name their characters. It’s for good reason: a name can make or break how audiences remember a character. It has the potential to be truly iconic. Many authors can’t even begin to write until they’ve given each and every person in their book a name. So how does one …
People around the world have been fascinated by dragons for millennia. From the snake-like dragons of the East to the dinosaur-like dragons of the West, we just can’t get enough of these gargantuan reptiles! They feature prominently in myths and legends (like St. George slaying a fearsome dragon or the Norse hero Sigurd battling the terrifying dragon Fafnir), and even after all of these years, dragons …
