By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ is a short story by the American writer Bret Harte (1836-1902), published in 1869 in the Overland Monthly magazine. The story helped to confirm Harte’s reputation as an exciting new talent, and by 1871 he was the highest-paid writer […]
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11 of the Best Synonyms for ‘Poetic’
By Dr Oliver Tearle Sometimes we might wish to describe something as ‘poetic’: we might speak or write of an author’s or speechmaker’s ‘poetic turn of phrase’ or describe the style of a novel as ‘almost, at times, poetic’, or something similar. We all know what ‘poetic’ means: having the […]
The Curious Hidden Meaning of ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Poker Face’ is a 2008 song by Lady Gaga, written by Lady Gaga and the Moroccan singer and record producer RedOne. But although the song was recorded and first released in 2008, it was in 2009 that it became a worldwide smash hit – […]
10 of the Best Examples of Similes in Poems
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) A simile is a literary device whereby you liken one thing to another, using the word like or as. Sometimes we use similes in everyday language: describing someone as being as sick as a parrot, for instance. This can be contrasted with metaphor, which […]
The Themes of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, beginning ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ is one of the best-known and most widely studied poems in all of Renaissance literature. The poem is often viewed as a love lyric, but can alternatively be interpreted as a poem […]