The Literary Life Podcast

On The Literary Life podcast today, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks discuss chapters 7-10 of C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Angelina points out the way in which Lewis uses the "newcomer" character to explain the world he has created. They discuss the various personalities Lewis presents who choose not to take the journey to heaven, sharing how these sketches often hit a little too close to home. They also talk about the influence of George MacDonald on Lewis and his role in this story. Thomas helps us make some connections with Lewis and Virgil, as well as explaining some of the references made by MacDonald's character. Cindy points out how our loves can be entryways into either heaven or hell. Join us again next week as we finish up our discussion of The Great Divorce together! (Amazon affiliate links are used in this content.) Commonplace Quotes: Meanwhile, you will write an essay on self-indulgence. There will be a prize of half a crown for the longest essay, irrespective of any possible merit. Evelyn Waugh Shame belongs, rather, to the bookish recluse who knows not how to apply his reading to the good of his fellows or to manifest its fruit to the eyes of all. Cicero It is simply my lifelong experience—that men are more likely to hand over to others what they ought to do themselves, and women more likely to do themselves what others wish they would leave alone. Hence both sexes must be told "Mind your own business," but in two different senses! C. S. Lewis To The Skylark by William Wordsworth Ethereal minstrel! pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still! Leave to the nightingale her shady wood; A privacy of glorious light is thine; Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with instinct more divine; Type of the wise who soar, but never roam; True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home! Book List: Letters to an American Lady by C. S. Lewis Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh Pro Archia Poeta by Cicero Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams George MacDonald Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis Psychomachia by Prudentius Holy Living and Dying by Jeremy Taylor Satires of Circumstance by Thomas Hardy Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On The Literary Life podcast today, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks discuss chapters 2-6 of C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. Angelina reminds us as we begin this exploration of Lewis' narrative not to read too much theology into the details of this dreamlike world he creates. Cindy points out the similarities between these chapters and his descriptions at the end of The Last Battle. Thomas highlights the passage on Napoleon from chapter 2, showing what Lewis envisioned hell to be like. Angelina, Cindy and Thomas talks about the description of the land near heaven, the various characters' responses, as well as the weight of the actual environment and Lewis' picture of those who people it. (Affiliate links are used in this content.) Commonplace Quotes: We long for paradise because we were created for paradise. We were created to live in an environment that cooperates with, not fights against, our desires. We were created for Eden, a place we've never been, and so we desire a perfect life full of healthy relationships. Julie Sparkman Anyone who puts himself forward to be elected to a position of political power is almost bound to be socially or emotionally insecure, or criminally motivated, or mad. Auberon Waugh "The secret is not to dream," she whispered. "The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder. I have woken up and now I am real. I know where I come from and where I'm going. You cannot fool me anymore. Or touch me. Or anything that is mine." Terry Pratchett The Stricken Deer by William Cowper I was a stricken deer, that left the herd Long since; with many an arrow deep infixt My panting side was charg'd, when I withdrew To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. There was I found by one who had himself Been hurt by th' archers. In his side he bore, And in his hands and feet, the cruel scars. With gentle force soliciting the darts, He drew them forth, and heal'd, and bade me live. Since then, with few associates, in remote And silent woods I wander, far from those My former partners of the peopled scene; With few associates, and not wishing more. Here much I ruminate, as much I may, With other views of men and manners now Than once, and others of a life to come. I see that all are wand'rers, gone astray Each in his own delusions; they are lost In chace of fancied happiness, still wooed And never won. Dream after dream ensues, And still they dream that they shall still succeed, And still are disappointed; rings the world With the vain stir. I sum up half mankind, And add two-thirds of the remainder half, And find the total of their hopes and fears Dreams, empty dreams. The million flit as gay As if created only like the fly That spreads his motley wings in th' eye of noon To sport their season and be seen no more. Book List: Unhitching from the Crazy Train by Julie Sparkman Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis The Personal Heresy by C. S. Lewis and E. M. Tillyard East of Eden by John Steinbeck The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom Paradise Lost by John Milton The Brook Kerith by George Moore Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On The Literary Life podcast today, Cindy Rollins, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks begin their series on The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. Today you are going to get a crash-course in Medievalism through Lewis' story, and we hope you will enjoy this book as much as our hosts do. Angelina kicks off the discussion even while sharing her commonplace quote, sharing some information about the epigraph and front matter. She gives us some historical context, both for where this books comes in Lewis' own timeline, as well as some ideas of the journey of the soul and medieval dream literature. Thomas gives some background on Prudentius and his allegorical work The Psychomachia. Angelina goes into some comparisons between The Great Divorce and Dante's Divine Comedy. Thomas talks about Nathanial Hawthorne's short story The Celestial Railroad as a satire of Pilgrim's Progress. Also, if you haven't read and listened to E. M. Forster's Celestial Omnibus, see Episode 17. As they get into discussing the Preface, Thomas give us some information on William Blake. We will be back next week with a discussion on Chapters 2-6. Listen to The Literary Life: Commonplace Quotes: We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them but by waiting for them. Man cannot discover them by his own powers and if he sets out to seek for them he will find in their place counterfeits of which he will be unable to discern the falsity. Simone Weil No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of hell in it–no plan to retain this of that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather. George MacDonald A poet is not a man who says "look at me", but rather a man who points at something and says "look at that." C. S. Lewis MCMXIV by Philip Larkin Those long uneven lines Standing as patiently As if they were stretched outside The Oval or Villa Park, The crowns of hats, the sun On moustached archaic faces Grinning as if it were all An August Bank Holiday lark; And the shut shops, the bleached Established names on the sunblinds, The farthings and sovereigns, And dark-clothed children at play Called after kings and queens, The tin advertisements For cocoa and twist, and the pubs Wide open all day– And the countryside not caring: The place names all hazed over With flowering grasses, and fields Shadowing Domesday lines Under wheat's restless silence; The differently-dressed servants With tiny rooms in huge houses, The dust behind limousines; Never such innocence, Never before or since, As changed itself to past Without a word–the men Leaving the gardens tidy, The thousands of marriages, Lasting a little while longer: Never such innocence again. Book List: Amazon affiliate links are used in this content. The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald The Personal Heresy by C. S. Lewis and E. M. Tillyard The Aeneid by Virgil The Divine Comedy by Dante Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan The Holy War by John Bunyan Ourselves by Charlotte Mason A Preface to Paradise Lost by C. S. Lewis The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake Paradise Lost by John Milton Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis Thanks to Our Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by New College Franklin. We want to encourage you to check out their 2020 Spring Preview Days happening online via Zoom conferencing. Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On today's episode of The Literary Life podcast, our fearless hosts discuss Oscar Wilde's unraveling of the tangle of plot points in Act 3 of The Importance of Being Earnest. Cindy Rollins talks about her reaction to Act 3 and how it gets resolved. Thomas Banks observes how Wilde sets up the conflict with the possibility to become a tragedy like Oedipus Rex instead of a comedy. Angelina Stanford talks about the theme of the identity quest, tokens of identity and foundlings in literature. The conversation, as in previous episodes, centers around the way Wilde pokes fun at Victorian ideals and cliches. Commonplace Quotes: Wear your learning like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show that you have one. Lord Chesterfield We must travel this path as lovers, amateurs, of the Word and of words because all things reveal themselves more truly to the eyes of love. Stratford Caldecott Time's glory is to calm contending kings, To unmask falsehood, and bring truth to light, To stamp the seal of time in aged things, To wake the morn and sentinel the night, To wrong the wronger till he render right; To ruinate proud buildings with thy hours, And smear with dust their glittering golden towers. William Shakespeare Easter Wings by George Herbert Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till he became Most poore: With thee O let me rise As larks, harmoniously, And sing this day thy victories: Then shall the fall further the flight in me. My tender age in sorrow did beginne And still with sicknesses and shame. Thou didst so punish sinne, That I became Most thinne. With thee Let me combine, And feel thy victorie: For, if I imp my wing on thine, Affliction shall advance the flight in me. Book List: Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott Oedipus Rex by Sophocles The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle Howards End by E. M. Forster Bleak House by Charles Dickens A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis Thanks to Our Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by New College Franklin. We want to encourage you to check out their 2020 Spring Preview Days happening online via Zoom conferencing. Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On today's episode of The Literary Life podcast, Cindy, Thomas and Angelina cover Act 2 of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Angelina is excited to share her research on the connection between the work of Oscar Wilde and P. G. Wodehouse. Cindy brings up Booth Tarkington's Penrod books as another example of witty, humorous literature. Thomas points out the importance of cultural lens for appreciating humor in art. They also talk about all the puns that Wilde gives his characters in this play. Angelina discusses the reformed rake motif in Victorian literature and how Wilde plays with this theme. Thomas gives a little background on the mentions of lending libraries and the three-volume novel. Cindy talks about the parallels between the Victorians' high view of earnestness and our modern valuation of transparency. Angelina contrasts Oscar Wilde and his contemporary Thomas Hardy in the way that Wilde handles heavy topics with a light touch. They all agree that Wilde has an almost Shakespearean plot in complexity and manages to pull it all together at the end. Listen to The Literary Life: Commonplace Quotes: About the lack of religious education: of course you must be grieved, but remember how much religious education has exactly the opposite effect to that which was intended, how many hard atheists come from pious homes. May we not hope, with God's mercy, that a similarly opposite effect may be produced in her case? Parents are not Providence: their bad intentions may be frustrated as their good ones. C. S. Lewis It is faintly amusing when one reads about society lapsing back into paganism. I, for one, would think it rather a picturesque incident if the Prime Minister were to sacrifice an ox in the temple of Venus. C. S. Lewis Hell is a state of mind – ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind – is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakeable remains. C. S. Lewis Ye Meaner Beauties by Sir Henry Wotton Ye meaner beauties of the night, That poorly satisfy our eyes More by your number than your light; Ye common people of the skies, What are you when the sun shall rise? Ye curious chanters of the wood, That warble forth Dame Nature's lays, Thinking your voices understood By your weak accents; what's your praise When Philomel her voice shall raise? Ye violets that first appear, By your pure purple mantles known, Like the proud virgins of the year, As if the spring were all your own; What are you when the rose is blown? So, when my mistress shall be seen In form and beauty of her mind, By virtue first, then choice, a queen, Tell me, if she were not design'd Th' eclipse and glory of her kind? Book List: (Amazon affiliate links are used in this content.) Letters to an American Lady by C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewi Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens Pamela by Samuel Richardson Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Tom Jones by Henry Fielding The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Psmith, Journalist by P. G. Wodehouse An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

This week on The Literary Life podcast, our hosts dive into Act 1 of Oscar Wilde's satirical play The Importance of Being Earnest. Angelina, Cindy and Thomas share their commonplace quotes, which leads into a conversation on education before they begin talking about the play. Thomas talks about the name of the play as well as the name "Ernest" in context of this time period. Angelina highlights her excitement of noticing the connection between Wilde's humor and P. G. Wodehouse. Angelina talks about the changing roles of social classes in the late Victorian age and how that comes into this story. Our hosts go through this first act and discuss the social conventions at which Wilde is poking fun. Commonplace Quotes: We find that the mind is better fed by digesting a page than by devouring a volume. Thomas Macaulay Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Oscar Wilde The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion, all in one. John Ruskin Kew Gardens by D. M. Black (in memory of Ian Armstrong Black, d. 1971) Distinguished scientist, to whom I greatly defer (old man, moreover, whom I dearly love), I walk today in Kew Gardens, in sunlight the colour of honey which flows from the cold autumnal blue of the heavens to light these tans and golds, these ripe corn and leather and sunset colours of the East Asian liriodendrons, of the beeches and maples and plum-trees and the stubborn green banks of the holly hedges – and you walk always beside me, you with your knowledge of names and your clairvoyant gaze, in what for me is sheer panorama seeing the net or web of connectedness. But today it is I who speak (and you are long dead, but it is to you I say it): 'The leaves are green in summer because of chlorophyll and the flowers are bright to lure the pollinators, and without remainder (so you have often told me) these marvellous things that shock the heart the head can account for. But I want to sing an excess that is not so simply explainable, to say that the beauty of the autumn is a redundant beauty, that the sky had no need to be this particular shade of blue, nor the maple to die in flames of this particular yellow, nor the heart to respond with an ecstasy that does not beget children. I want to say that I do not believe your science although I believe every word of it, and intend to understand it; that although I rate that unwavering gaze higher than almost everything, there is another sense, a hearing, to which I more deeply attend. Thus I withstand and contradict you, I, your child, who have inherited from you the passion that causes me to oppose you.' Book List: Amazon affiliate links are used in this content. The Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Macaulay The Modern Painters, Vol. 3 by John Ruskin Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis "A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated" by Oscar Wilde Hard Times by Charles Dickens The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton The Allegory of Love by C. S. Lewis Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

On this episode, the hosts introduce Oscar Wilde and his play The Importance of Being Earnest, discussing themes such as art for art's sake and Victorian society. They also share personal experiences during isolation, reflect on noisy neighborhoods, explore the influence of Coleridge on American romantics, discuss Charlotte Mason's belief in the power of attention, and examine the transition from the Victorian to the Edwardian era. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the balance of forgiveness and condemnation and looks forward to the next episode.

In light of the recent changes to all our lives, The Literary Life crew is breaking from the previously announced schedule to discuss the importance of stories in times of crisis. But first, we want you to know about a special gift from Cindy Rollins. You can download a PDF copy of her Handbook of Morning Time for free by visiting her shop here. You can also purchase the replays of the Re-Enchanting the World online conference at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Angelina talks about the impulse of humanity to turn to stories during time of upheaval and plague. Cindy points out the need we have for an ordered universe, and that this is one of the things good books provide. Together with Thomas, they discuss how important it is to find stories that reassure us that there is order and redemption to come. They also give some recommendations for personal reading as well as family read-alouds for these challenging times. Finally, our hosts give us an update with how they are doing with their own 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge lists. If you would like more bonus content, especially our new monthly live chats called "All Fellows Eve", become a Patreon supporter of The Literary Life! Listen to The Literary Life: Commonplace Quotes: An important part of a child's education is storytelling, since good stories excite the imagination and strengthen the bond between parent and child. St. John Chrysostom It is in the essential nature of fashion to blind us to its meaning and the causes from which it springs. Edwin Muir Unless the writer has gone utterly out of his mind, his aim is still communication, and communications suggests talking inside community. Flannery O'Connor Sonnet 6 by William Shakespeare Tir'd with all these, for restful death I cry, As, to behold desert a beggar born, And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity, And purest faith unhappily forsworn, And guilded honour shamefully misplaced, And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted, And right perfection wrongfully disgraced, And strength by limping sway disabled, And art made tongue-tied by authority, And folly (doctor-like) controlling skill, And simple truth miscall'd simplicity, And captive good attending captain ill: Tired with all these, from these would I be gone, Save that, to die, I leave my love alone. Book List: Amazon affiliate links are used in this content. The Company They Keep by Diana Pavlock Glyer Tolkien: Man and Myth by Joseph Pierce The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tokien Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis The Kingfisher book of Tales from Russia by James Mayhew Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis Few Eggs and No Oranges by Vera Hodgson Cider for Rosie by Laurie Lee Plainsong by Kent Haruf Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and our discussion of the Art of Writing! If you missed last week's discussion, you can go back and catch up here. We start off today with Angelina Stanford asking Karen Glass about the principles of good writing. Karen talks a bit about William Zinsser and his ideas about writing and education. Our hosts give some practical encouragement to the average homeschool parent listening to this conversation. Cindy highlights the value of waiting to teach specific skills until students are old enough to process them. Angelina, Cindy and Karen talk about narration in the Charlotte Mason education, its benefits and its challenges. They emphasize the importance of guiding children to think well instead of just learning mechanical skills devoid of context. Angelina brings up the sensitive topic of assessing and grading writing. Karen leaves us with a challenge to narrate this podcast discussion in writing in order to apply what you've learned! Loving In Truth by Sir Philip Sydney Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show, That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain, Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know, Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,— I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe, Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain, Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburned brain. But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay: Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows, And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way. Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes, Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite: "Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write." Book List: Writing to Learn by William Zinsser Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

This week on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina, Cindy and Thomas sit down with Karen Glass for a conversation centering on the topic of writing. They discuss the problem of trying to teach writing in a formulaic way. They also talk about the challenge of helping students learn to think well in order to write well. Karen highlights narration as a tool to teach thinking well in the form of oral composition. Cindy digs into the idea of imitation as an integral part of the learning process. Angelina and Karen both emphasize the importance of addressing skill and form on an individual basis, depending on what your student needs to improve. Tune in again next week for Part 2 of this great conversation! Listen to The Literary Life: Commonplace Quotes: To write or even speak English is not a science, but an art. There are no reliable words. Whoever writes English is involved in a struggle that never lets up even for a sentence. He is struggling against vagueness, against obscurity, against the lure of the decorative adjective, against the encroachment of Latin and Greek, and, above all, against the worn-out phrases and dead metaphors with which the language is cluttered up. George Orwell Rhetoric, or the art of writing, is not governed by arbitrary laws. Its rules are not statutes passed long ago by some assembly of critical scholars; they are merely common-sense principles derived from the observed practices of persons who have succeeded in writing well,–that is, from the method of good authors. Hence, when we study composition, we investigate these methods, in order to apply them in our own writing. from "Manual of Composition and Rhetoric" When a child is reading, he should not be teased with questions as to the meaning of what he has read, the signification of this word or that; what is annoying to older people is equally annoying to children. Charlotte Mason Follow Your Saint by Thomas Campion Follow your saint, follow with accents sweet; Haste you, sad notes, fall at her flying feet. There, wrapp'd in cloud of sorrow, pity move, And tell the ravisher of my soul I perish for her love: But if she scorns my never-ceasing pain, Then burst with sighing in her sight and ne'er return again. All that I sung still to her praise did tend, Still she was first; still she my songs did end; Yet she my love and music both doth fly, The music that her echo is and beauty's sympathy. Then let my notes pursue her scornful flight: It shall suffice that they were breath'd and died for her delight. Book List: Amazon Affiliate links are used in this content. Manual of Composition and Rhetoric edited by Gardiner, Kittredge and Arnold Home Education by Charlotte Mason Know and Tell by Karen Glass On Writing Well by William Zinsser Writing to Learn by William Zinsser Range by David Epstein Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the "Friends and Fellows Community" on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at https://cindyrollins.net, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB