All the Feels: the Morphology of Reaction Gifs
From visual emojis depicting simple emotional states, it's a short step to emotion or reaction gifs, used to respond in playful ways to online discussions.
Streaming Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century
What does "live theatre" truly mean when it's broadcast to cinema screens? And how does streaming Shakespeare stack up to the theatrical version?
History’s Other Odd Couple: Mark Twain and Helen Keller
Helen Keller and Mark Twain's unusual friendship.
Word to your Mother (Tongue): Can Hip Hop Save Endangered Languages?
Hip hop is not only linguistically innovative, it helps preserve indigenous languages via oral tradition.
The Snow That Never Drifts: Emily Dickinson’s Slant Winter
Like many of her poems, Emily Dickinson's "The Snow That Never Drifts" presents a riddle for the reader
Before There Was ’50 Shades’…There Was Elinor Glyn’s ‘It’
A writer named Elinor Glyn wrote a novel entitled "It and other stories in 1927"
Why Boris Pasternak Rejected His Nobel Prize
The noted Russian author was forced to choose between his homeland and international recognition of his poetry and fiction.
What’s in a Brand Name: the Sounds of Persuasion
The mere letters and sounds used in a brand name can have a curious impact on its reception by the public.
Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel,” 50 Years Later
Published in 1965, Ariel was published after Sylvia Plath herself had already been dead for two years.
Lingua Obscura: Young Women’s Language Patterns at the Forefront of Linguistic Change
Linguists observe that young women's language patterns invite negative reactions, comments, and suggestions to change.