The term creative writing means imaginative writing, or writing as an art. The primary concern of creative writing is not with factual information, or with the more routine forms of communication. It does, however, use many of the same skills. A novel, for example, may contain much sociological, political or psychological information. Scholars may study […]
The tales told by minstrels during the Middle Ages are called romances. At that time, the nobles of Europe lived in desolate castles. There were few books to read, and travel was difficult. In such a life, visitors were eagerly welcomed, and most welcome of all was the minstrel. The family would gather around the […]
Other American industrialists and factory managers were stunned when automobile manufacturer Henry Ford announced in 1914 that he would pay his assembly line workers $5.00 a day and reduce the working day from nine to eight hours. The average daily wage in American industry at the time was $2.34. He became world famous almost overnight. […]
Over 200 years ago, the British chemist Joseph Priestley received an intriguing bouncy ball from an American friend. It was made of a material he had not seen before. Priestley noticed that it could rub away pencil marks, and so he named the material rubber. Not only has the name stuck, but since then rubber […]
The Roman writer Seneca once commented: “All things are cause either for laughter or weeping.” The 18th-century French dramatist Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais echoed Seneca’s words by stating: “I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.” Both Seneca and Beaumarchais understood that laughing and crying are closely related emotional responses to some […]
If one term can be used to describe the forces that have shaped the modern world, it is Romanticism. Romanticism had a dynamic impact on art, literature, science, religion, economics, politics, and the individual’s understanding of self. There is no single commonly accepted definition of Romanticism, but it has some features upon which there is […]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children develop – intellectually, physically, and emotionally – much like plants. He believed, moreover, that children are innately good, but that all social institutions, including schools, are evil and distort children into their own image. He doubted, therefore, that there should be formal schools at all. Whether there were or not, […]
You go out for dinner and order spaghetti with your favourite sauce. The pasta is so plentiful that it’s falling off the plate. Yes, your meal is appetizing. But isn’t it more than you bargained for? In an era when consumers look for great deals, it often seems as though the bigger things are, the […]
There are scarcely any moments that won’t benefit from a humorous remark or a cheerful lift. Yet still, some people regularly complain about everything, griping at the taxes and the political opposition and lambasting everyone around them. Frequently the gripers wind up in the doctor’s office. But I know many executives who carry on under […]
There has been an emphasis, recently, on the possibility that society itself, or the group culture, may be producing the mental illness, emotional instability and distortions of personality which apparently are widespread. Various writers have pointed out that man’s basic needs are being extensively thwarted by the demands of society. According to this view, man […]