Stylus Tutors » Whimsy

RIP English Language

admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 20:52:02 +0000

“The English language, which arose from humble Anglo-Saxon roots to become the lingua franca of 600 million people worldwide and the dominant lexicon of international discourse, is dead. It succumbed last month at the age of 1,617 after a long illness. It is survived by an ignominiously diminished form of itself.”

In his Washington Post column, Gene Weingarten muses about the death of the English language. Bonus points to any students who can explain the specific grammatical errors he bemoans.

Lay vs. Lie in Mad Men

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:40:33 +0000

Ironic Sans has created a video tracking the incorrect use of lay and lie in the TV series Mad Men. This is a commonly tested diction error on the writing section of the SAT, so pay attention! Also frequently tested is the difference between raise and rise. Like lay, raise takes an object; like lie, rise does not take an object.

Who do you write like?

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:32:30 +0000

Paste a sample of your writing into the box on this website to find out which famous writer you write like. Disclaimer: it may lack accuracy: pasting a sample of Alice Munro yielded a result of Stephen King. And this blog post? Arthur Conan Doyle!

Slaughterhouse 90210

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:01:52 +0000

Visit this blog for unexpected juxtapositions between modern television screen shots and the literary quotations they’ve been captioned with, or, as the author Maris Kreizman puts it: “Kurt Vonnegut, meet Brenda Walsh.”

Steal These Books

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:53:52 +0000

An essay by Margo Rabb in the New York Times discusses which books are the most stolen in bookstore across the country. Apparently, the most commonly stolen book at Book People in Austin, TX, is the Bible, whereas at St. Mark’s Bookshop in New York, books by Martin Amis, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Raymond Carver, Don DeLillo and Jack Kerouac are so often pilfered that they have been moved to a special case behind the counter.

Top Ten Literary Feuds of the Decade

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:26:30 +0000

Courtesy of Toronto journalist Shaun Smith, here is a top ten list of literary feuds.

SAT Rap: Relax

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:21:04 +0000

On a more light-hearted note, here is a rap music video with advice to help you prepare for the SAT, created by teachers at Williamsburg Charter High School.