#literarygenres

[alfred123]

CHOOSING YOUR GENRE | Book's Target Market

Choosing your book's genre is a crucial step in defining your target market as an author. In this informative discussion, we explore the importance of genre selection, its impact on your book's reception, and how to identify and connect with your ideal readership. Whether you're a seasoned author or a first-time writer, this conversation provides valuable insights into navigating the literary landscape.

[eli-kittim]

The Da Vinci Code Versus The Gospels

By Eli Kittim 🎓

Bart Ehrman was once quoted as saying: “If Jesus did not exist, you would think his brother would know it.” This is an amusing anecdote that I’d like to use as a springboard for this short essay to try to show that it’s impossible to separate literary characters from the literature in which they are found. For example, when Ehrman says, “If Jesus did not exist, you would think his brother would know it,” his comment presupposes that James is a real historical figure. But how can we affirm the historicity of a literary character offhand when the so-called “history” of this character is solely based on, and intimately intertwined with, the literary New Testament structures? And if these literary structures are not historical, what then? The fact that the gospels were written anonymously, and that there were no eyewitnesses and no firsthand accounts, and that the events in Jesus’ life were, for the most part, borrowed from the Old Testament, seems to suggest that they were written in the literary genre known as theological fiction. After all, the gospels read like Broadway plays!

Let me give you an analogy. Dan Brown writes novels. All his novels, just like the gospels, contain some historical places, figures, and events. But the stories, in and of themselves, are completely fictional. So, Ehrman’s strawman argument is tantamount to saying that if we want to examine the historicity of Professor Robert Langdon——who is supposedly a Harvard University professor of history of art and symbology——we’ll have to focus on his relationship with Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist with the French Judicial Police, and the female protagonist of the book. Ehrman’s earlier anecdote would be akin to saying: “if Robert Langdon did not exist, you would think Sophie would know it.”

But we wouldn’t know about Robert Langdon if it wasn’t for The Da Vinci Code. You can’t separate the character Robert Langdon from The Da Vinci Code and present him independently of it because he’s a character within that book. Therefore, his historicity or lack thereof depends entirely on how we view The Da Vinci Code. If The Da Vinci Code turns out to be a novel (which in fact it is), then how can we possibly ask historians to give us their professional opinions about him? It’s like asking historians to give us a historical assessment of bugs bunny? Was he real? So, as you can see, it’s all based on the literary structure of The Da Vinci Code, which turns out to be a novel!

By comparison, the historicity of Jesus depends entirely on how we view the literary structure of the gospel literature. Although modern critical scholars view the gospels as theological documents, they, nevertheless, believe that they contain a historic core or nucleus. They also think that we have evidence of an oral tradition. We do not! There are no eyewitnesses and no firsthand accounts. All we have about the life and times of Jesus are the gospel narratives, which were composed approximately 40 to 70 years after the purported events by anonymous Greek authors who never met Jesus. And they seem to be works of theological fiction. So where is the historical evidence that these events actually happened? We have to believe they happened because the gospel characters tell us so? It’s tantamount to saying that the events in The Da Vinci Code actually happened because Robert Langdon says so. But if the story is theological, so are its characters. Thus, the motto of the story is: don’t get caught up in the characters. The message is much more important! As for those who look to Josephus’ Antiquities for confirmation, unfortunately——due to the obvious interpolations——it cannot be considered authentic. Not to mention that Josephus presumably would have been acquainted with the gospel stories, most of which were disseminated decades earlier.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of the gospel message. I’m simply trying to clarify it. The gospels are inspired, but they were never meant to be taken literally. I’m also a believer and I have a high view of scripture. The message of Christ is real. But when will the Jesus-story play out is not something the gospels can address. Only the epistles give us the real Jesus!

[caillanblog]

Fiction consists of six elements; characters, setting, plot, conflict, point of view, and theme. Characters are those who play roles in the story. They can be flat or round characters. Flat characters are those relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the story, while round characters are complex and undergo development and mostly the leading role in the story. The setting is the time and location where the story happened. The plot is the order of the events that happened in the story. It follows Freytag’s Pyramid, which consists of the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement or resolution. Conflict is the struggle that the main character is facing. It can be external or internal. External could be man against nature or man against man, while internal could be man against society, culture, or against himself or herself. Point of view is what the character or narrator telling the story perspective. It can be first-person POV that uses I, me, my, we, and ours, or second person POV the used you and your, or third person POV that uses he, she, it, and they. Lastly is the theme, it’s the truth that the author hid in the story.

Poetry consists of three elements; rhyme, rhyme scheme, and rhythm. Rhyme is found in the last words in a line and the pattern of sound it makes to the lines of the poem. A rhyme scheme is when you identify the repeating pattern of similar-sounding words at the ends of the lines. Lastly is the rhythm, it is the patterned recurrence of a beat or accent. It’s the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats.

Drama elements are similar to fiction’s plot, it has characters, plot, setting, conflict, and theme. But to make it unique, since it was performed live with an audience, it consists of elements like venue, costumes, set design, lighting design, and music.

Those are the elements that each literary genres possess.

[sophiaee]

Modernized Gems of Literature

Literature is greatly influenced by the changes and factors that was brought along the modernized world. Modern world also means the advancement of technology, which can also mean that literature can be more accessible to the mass media nowadays.

21st Century Literature which is written by the contemporary authors all around the world, may deal with current themes and issues, and reflects a technological culture. The modern literature often breaks traditional writing rules that were first introduced by the past forms of literature. Doodle Fiction, Manga and Graphic Novels are just examples of genres that belong to the 21st Century Literature, that is associated with various works and words that portrays messages and emotions to the readers. The three aforementioned literary genres have similarities, and also differences in terms of its elements and structures.

Doodle Fiction is a literary genre that incorporates handwritten graphics in telling the story. It enhances the story by adding humorous elements, and it uses handwritten graphics making it more enjoyable for the readers. Mangas, which is probably the most famous among the teenagers, uses a comic book format in panels that are read from right to left. Manga also has an artistic and storytelling style. This literary genre is periodically published in Japan. Lastly, the Graphic Novel also uses a comic book format in panels that are read from left to right. It is one of the literary genres that uses narratives and is also filled with colors to have more visual impacts for the readers.

These literary genres have their own ways on sharing their works to the readers. The graphics, illustrations, and drawings that are used helps the readers visualize more the stories. By being this creative, the writers' or authors' imaginations will be brought to life, clashing fantasy and the reality.

~~

[claudiacassoma]

_________________________________________ Let’s think about what we’re teaching our kids, and how we’re teaching them too. What are we telling girls and boys regarding they self-worth and how are we equipping them to deal with the world. ________________________________________ • • #CláudiaCassoma #Angolan #Educator #CitizenDiplomat #Volunteer #Leader #Artist #Author #Writer #Writing #WritersLife #Reader #WritingInspiration #Studio_Moment #LiteraryGenres #Quotes #TheAfricanWriters #HerHeartPoetry #PoetryMagazine #Mirakee #YoungAchievers #IAfrica #WhootAfrica #LeadersofAfrica #LeadingLadiesAfrica #SheLeadsAfrica #WellReadBlackGirl #WRBG

[secretpathseditions]

The nature of literary genres as defining categories and their limitations for the creative process... https://author.secret-paths.com/beyond-literary-genres/ #literarygenres #writing #novels #alanmccluskey #creativity #secretpaths #secretpathseditions https://www.instagram.com/p/Bul_YSBB_mS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jtaadmyheo6

[generallygothic]

Born this day, 1717: Horace Walpole (d. 1797), the progenitor of the Gothic literary tradition. Walpole wrote in his letters that “a god, at least a ghost, was absolutely necessary to frighten us out of too much senses" (Vol. 3, 381). His ghost came to him in a dream - a giant armoured hand - and was the source of his work of fiction, the very first gothic novel, 'The Castle of Ortanto' (1764). The novel, which took just two months to write, was criticised for its flat characters and its return to barbaric (true, historical 'gothic') sensibilities. The reliance of the plot upon superstition contradicted the efforts of the Enlightenment - an intellectual movement which confined unfounded beliefs within contemporary religion. Walpole cared not for his critics; his public were captivated by his crazy tale, which influenced the direction of literature to follow. Writing from his homemade, pseudo-gothic castle, Strawberry Hill House (see stories), the tale looks back to medieval times and is set in the real, historical castle of Otranto (again, see stories). To this day, the absolute OG of the gothic canon is often overlooked. Why not celebrate his birthday by reading 'The Castle of Otranto (it's available to download free online)? If you do, let me know what you think! 📸: 1. Manfred's servants vs "the ghost's gigantic foot," Bertie Greathead. 2. The hand of the ghost, unknown. Anyone else getting major Monty Python vibes from these 2 illustrations?! . #generallygothic #gothic #glimpsesofghosts #ghost #haunting #haunted #spirits #thecastleofotranto #horacewalpole #gothicnovel #gothicfiction #progenitor #englishliterature #gothicliterature #literary #literarygenre #spookynerd #booknerd #academic #bornonthisday #bookish #bookstagram #illustration #religion #theenlightenment #giantghost #gothicghost #strawberryhillhouse #literaryhistory #politics https://www.instagram.com/p/B20Ock2A4mr/?igshid=1578apvubevio

[creativity-is-rebellion]

The First Chapter of My Novel, “Sunshine State Limbo”

The longer you stay in one place, the greater your chances of disillusionment

     -Art Spander

Chapter One - Same Place, Different Year

     The outside air of the day was unbearably stifling, with the searing mid-February heat bearing down relentlessly and crushing me under the denseness of its touch. My heavy fringe clung stubbornly to my forehead in drenched, jet-black clumps, assisted by the several beads of sweat that had already accumulated there. My whole body, languid with exhaustion, felt as if it were ready to melt into a watery puddle on the university side-walk, and then evaporate into thin air with one last sullen and defiant hiss.

     Yawning sleepily, I scanned the lively campus with my jaded green eyes. There now seemed to be such an endless conflagration of first-year students cluttering the sidewalks, grass areas, and building entrances that it reminded me of being in the midst of a river where the salmon are haplessly attempting to swim upstream. High up in the birch trees that formed a circle around the courtyard I was seated in, cicadas sung their mating calls in rhythmic, droning sounds, as if daring me to lie down, close my eyes, and shut out the world.

     “Check it out, Tanya,” one of my best friends, Miranda, who was seated next to me behind the booth, leaned in and hissed vehemently, interrupting my private reverie. She ran her hand through her brightly-dyed red hair and shook her head disapprovingly.

     “What is it?” I questioned, alarmed by the thinly-veiled sound of contempt in her voice.

     “First-years everywhere,” she continued, gesticulating to the burgeoning crowd. “It’s unbelievable, they’re just like rats. Where’s the Pied Piper when you need him?”

     She let out a dark laugh.

     I glanced around slowly at the array of well-dressed adolescents stretched out before us in a steady line, and then back at Miranda, making a face as I did so. I had to admit that it was a typical orientation week here at the University of Queensland, and exceedingly boring on account of it being the fifth one in a row I had now attended. But at least now I had something to distract me from my drowsiness.

     “I know,” I agreed. “It’s like I’ve just entered the Seventh Circle of Hell. The stifling heat here today just makes it even more official.”

     Miranda’s dark brown eyes lit up warmly, appreciating my sardonic reply.

     “Oh, come on, you two, what did you expect?” Kit, my other best friend, who was standing under an umbrella to protect her alabaster skin from the blazing sun, queried in her strong, South-London accent. She glanced up from her phone, which she had been staring at incessantly, alternating between Instagram and Facebook. “I mean, it is, after all, orientation week.”

     “I know, I know,” Miranda insisted energetically. “It’s just that I despise first-years. They’re always so well-dressed, and come in this neat, labelled eighteen-year-old package, fresh from mummy and daddy’s house. It annoys the crap out of me.”

     She started scratching distractedly at her bright blue, chipped nail-polish, letting the shards fall carelessly into her lap before sweeping the contents onto the gravelled ground, a mass of blue speckles forming around her feet.

     “Well, at least we don’t have to do another year after this one. I can’t imagine how it must feel to have to repeat a year,” Kit responded thoughtlessly.

     Miranda’s almond-shaped eyes widened as I fell into a stony silence and Kit realised what she had said.

     “Shit, sorry Tanya, that wasn’t a dig at you, I promise. Sometimes words just come out of my mouth before I have a chance to think. Forgive me?”

     After a moment I nodded wordlessly, even though I was still troubled by Kit’s words. First-years annoyed me too, but mostly because I felt that my perceived failures were drastically accentuated by their overall sense of promise. I’m a psychology student who should have graduated from my degree last year; however, due to having experienced my second quarter-life crisis at the ripe old age of twenty-two (and much to my parent’s chagrin) I’m still here. At the end of last year, I had to watch people I had known since the beginning of my degree graduate, while I languished in academic limbo. The only reason why my friends are still here is because all their degrees take five years to complete, which is a small mercy, as it would be doubly as awful if I had to make new friends at this late stage in my university career. I had to admit I felt incredibly disappointed in myself, especially because it wasn’t always like this. I have always felt with every fibre of my being that I was destined to really do something atypical with my life. That’s why I have always felt the urgency of now. But I’m so keyed up all the time, hampered down by things big and small, significant and trite. I feel torn in so many directions at once.

     When I was younger, people always said that I was the person that was supposed to “go places”. I grew up in a quiet little town and went to a small school, however, when we graduated, it was my seventy other class-mates that voted for me as the person most likely to succeed. I had felt stifled in so many ways at school, and as such had believed that at university, I could finally embrace my destiny. I had convinced myself that success and recognition eagerly awaited me. Each of these triumphant words had resounded in my head like some awe-inspiring choir, singing exaltations of my promising future.  It was my fate. However, I could now feel myself collapsing under the pressure of these expectations, with so many metaphorical opportunities slipping through my fingers like so much water. As such, I irrationally half-expected all these first-years that were here today to leave this damned place before me as well.

    “Could it be that you’re all just a little bit jealous?” Miranda’s boyfriend, Hamish, broke his silence, regarding us earnestly with his large, hazel-green eyes. “There’s no reason to be too critical. You have to remember that you were probably just like them when you first came here.”

     Miranda whacked Hamish playfully on the arm, but with enough force that he flinched, and Kit chuckled quietly to herself, before exchanging a meaningful glance with me.

     “Excuse me, but I was never like them!” Miranda exclaimed, clearly insulted. “I can’t really imagine that you were either, Hamish. So, save the pep-talk, okay?”

     Her dark eyes glittered dangerously, a clear signal that she was ready to pounce at the first sign of protest.

     “Okay, point taken,” Hamish conceded, after a moment of thought, clearly choosing the safer path. “But if you don’t like first-years, then why’d you sign up for this gig?”

     “For the same reason everyone else here today did. Twenty-five dollars an hour, baby. For six hours. Who wouldn’t? Nothing else is going to pay my share of the rent this month.”

     I smiled and shook my head. Miranda always had a very direct way of putting things. This was one of the many reasons she was my closest friend.

     At the end of last semester, we had all signed up to work in an information booth for the entire duration of orientation week, distributing catalogues and advice to new students about the various sports and social clubs that the university encouraged students to sign up for through their union. They offered everything, from the tennis club, to the medieval club, to the underwater hockey club. Hamish had worked here three years in a row, and, according to his experience, the majority of students signed up for these clubs eagerly enough, but after a few weeks, when their fervour had died down, most tended to quit, even if they had paid a substantially high fee to join. Last year, there was approximately a sixty percent drop-out rate, which was the equivalent of how many students actually deferred their degrees that same year. Logically, this year would be no exception, for, as we have all agreed, and as so-called experts have discussed, people around our age did not seem to be widely known for their tenacity.

     I myself am a member of the philosophy club. We meet up once a month and discuss various prominent philosophers, both past and present. Initially, I joined not only because I enjoy discussing numerous philosophical ideals, but also due to the fact that, when I arrived as a new student, I wanted to be a member of at least one club in order to reduce my feelings of isolation and make some friends, but I was quite short on money. Their entry fee, however, was the cheapest on campus: one cask of cheap red wine. Since then, though, I’ve come to really enjoy myself during their lively once-a-month meetings, and recently became the club’s vice-president.

     The unforgiving heat of the day continued on as I downed my fifth glass of water. Deciding I needed some shade from the blazing sun, I slumped down into the nearest deck chair, which was situated under the large blue beach umbrella, emblazoned with the university’s monogram, which Kit had been pacing up and down under. Shading my eyes, I turned to Kit, who was now perched daintily on the top of the drink cooler, and was visibly bored, staring absent-mindedly into space.

     “Where’s Scott?” I inquired, somewhat half-heartedly. Even he had graduated before me, I thought, depressingly.

     I felt a little ashamed to admit that I had only just noticed he wasn’t there. Scott was Kit’s boyfriend, and my least favourite person in our group. His father was one of Brisbane’s foremost property developers, a point he endlessly bragged about. As such, Scott was a spoilt rich kid who had always gotten what he wanted. He was a year older than the rest of us, and had graduated from a double-degree in law and business management the year before, with dreams of one day sitting at the head of his father’s company, which had now expanded to Tokyo in Japan. Furthermore, he always flirted outrageously with any pretty girl who so much as glanced his way, and had cheated on Kit several times. Needless to say, Scott was, in my general estimation, a complete arsehole. In fact, no-one in our group, apart from Kit, obviously, really liked Scott. We tolerated him at best, and avoided him at worst. Both Scott and his father spoke fluent Japanese, even though they were both white Australians. I personally felt that this trait was Scott’s only redeeming feature, which didn’t really say much. In any case, he was probably just as unlikeable when he spoke Japanese as he was when he spoke English. Jerk is decipherable in all languages, and rarely needs translation.

     “I told you several days ago,” she said, with a hint of frustration entering her usually calm voice. “He has to sit in on a meeting with his father’s company because his dad’s on business in Sweden. He keeps complaining that he won’t be able to see me again for at least another three weeks, as he must oversee the company’s affairs.”

     Miranda, Hamish, and I all exchanged dubious glances.

     “It was so sweet when he spoke to me on the phone last night, he said he missed me so much,” Kit continued happily, before adding, “Three weeks is just too long.”

     On a point that had been much debated-upon within our clique recently (obviously when Kit was not present), Hamish, Miranda, and I had come to the conclusion that the main reason Kit stayed with Scott was because she felt so important talking about him. She was clearly in awe of both his position and wealth, perhaps because she herself possessed neither of these attributes growing up. Sometimes, the way she talked about him made you half-wonder if she was actually dating the Australian-Japanese-Swedish-whatever equivalent of the future president of the United States of America.

     While Kit wasn’t looking, Miranda and I exchanged glances, with Miranda mouthing “Bullshit” to me mutely. Unable to keep silent, I laughed audibly.

     “What?” Kit questioned, raising one arched and defiant eyebrow in my direction. “It’s true,” she insisted.

     “Oh, I don’t doubt you,” I said, trying to come up with an alternative reason for laughing. “I was just laughing at....at Lukas,” I stammered.

     Lukas was a post-graduate law student, and our supervisor for the day. As he had been bestowed with such an honoured title, he had taken it as a cue to run the program like a Gestapo agent. Kit arched her eyebrow at me even more dubiously. Miranda and Hamish chuckled at what was quickly turning out to be a failed attempt at recovery. Nevertheless, I pushed on.

     “He looks so humorous when he’s solemn, don’t you think?” I queried.

     Lukas was busy standing with his hands on his hips at the booth set up opposite ours, making sure the free pizza and soft drink was being dispersed amongst the growing queue evenly and in an orderly fashion, his face wearing a look of pure concentration.

     It was working. Phew, I thought to myself, I was lucky with that one!!

     Kit glanced over and smirked, hiding the obviously-upturned corners of her mouth behind her dainty hands. “That’s hilarious and sad at the same time. He’s taking his job waaaay too seriously.”

     I turned away, but it was already too late. He’d spotted us while we were doing next to nothing.

     “Shit, here he comes.”

     In saying that, everyone looked over at Lukas, who was marching toward us, his thick, dark eyebrows creased into a deep frown.

     “Oh great,” Kit muttered. “He looks like a thunder-cloud.”

     Lukas stopped right in front of our booth, wearing a look of complete exasperation.

     “Why are you guys slacking off?” he yelled. “It’s not the end of the day yet. The university doesn’t pay you twenty-five dollars an hour to just sit there and do nothing. Look busy! Now!”

     We all sat in stunned silence for a minute. I was the first to speak.

     “C’mon, give us a break, Lukas, it’s so freakin’ hot today. I’m dy-iiing,” I emphasised dramatically, sinking further down into my chair.

     My gaze was met with a hard stare. “It’s Brisbane. You’ve all been here enough summers by now to know what it’s like. Get used to it already. Everyone else is working.”

     Miranda’s eyes widened in disbelief. “So, like, we’re not even allowed a mini-break?”

     “That was what lunch was for,” Lukas stated coldly, before adding in a dangerously low voice, “Listen, it’s like this: you can all either get up off your chairs, tables, or whatever else you have chosen to park your arses on, and start handing out the pamphlets that were given to you at the beginning of the day, or you can all go home, and you won’t be paid for the full day, are we clear? It’s as simple as that.”

     After Lukas finished his tirade, he straightened up and folded his arms, clearly feeling triumphant. I saw red. My initial reaction was that I wanted to permanently wipe the smirk that was lingering at the corners of his crooked mouth off his face, however, after a second, I thought better of it, and instead exploded by unloading a barrage of words.

     “Fine! We’ll all just leave, then! Screw you and your unfair working conditions.”

     “Oh, Tanya, when are you and your friends going to grow up?” Lukas sneered condescendingly.

     “Being ‘grown up’ has got nothing to do with it,” I stated fervently, emphasising the ‘grown up’ by using my index fingers as inverted commas. “We are entitled to a break. It’s the law. You of all people should know that. My friends and I won’t be treated like garbage just because we need the money.”

     I promptly rose from my seat and stormed off, leaving behind a stunned, spluttering, and red-faced Lukas. I guess I just really don’t respond well to people who like to throw their weight around.

     My friends also got up from their resting places in quick succession, pushing past Lukas and following after me in stunned silence.

     “Great,” Miranda grumbled, breaking the silence after they had finally caught up with me. “What are we going to do now?”

     Hamish shrugged. “I don’t know. Hopefully there’ll be another way to pay the rent this month.”

     Miranda let out an exasperated sigh. “Not about that, genius, I mean what are we going to do with the rest of our afternoon?”

     Kit grinned, looking down at the ground. “And they say the longer you’ve been together as a couple, the more likely it is that you are on each other’s wavelengths. By the way, I guess you resigned us from that job, Tanya.”

     I shrugged my thin but broad shoulders. “I guess I did.”

     Hamish and Kit laughed.

     “I guess ‘they’ say a lot of things,” Miranda ranted, ignoring the last two comments. “Who would have thought ‘they’ could be so wrong? I think if you paid me to do research like that I could come up with better results than ‘they’ ever did.”

     “Perhaps,” Kit stated, by way of gaining a painless closure. She knows from past experience that Miranda and Hamish’s frequently obvious lack of compatibility is a sore point in their relationship.

     “Yeah. So what are we going to do now?,” Miranda repeated.

     All eyes turned to me.

     “What?”

     “Well, you were the one who quit first,” Kit articulated all too correctly.

     I sighed. “Good point, but, to be honest, I don’t know. It’s not exactly like I planned this thing out. It was kind of an impulse thing”

     “Let’s go to the mall,” Miranda suggested.

     “Yeah,” Kit said, her ice-blue eyes suddenly brightening. “It’s Friday night. Which means only one thing: late night shopping.”

     Hamish made a face. “Queen Street? The only thing worse than first-year university students has got to be idiotic high school students, and there are plenty of them there.”

     I didn’t really feel inclined to go, either. Being in a mall when you haven’t got any money makes you feel rather like a lactose-intolerant person that has been invited out to an ice-cream parlour. You can look, but you really, really shouldn’t touch.

     Miranda turned to Hamish again, clearly aggravated. “Well, do you have any better suggestions?”

     Hamish thought for a second and shook his head, his wavy, dark blonde hair sweeping away from his face.

     Miranda held her head up in victory. “So, it’s decided, then.”

     Kit nodded her head vigourously, while Hamish and I exchanged glances and finally consented, albeit reluctantly.

     “Okay,” Miranda asserted. “But we should leave my car parked here; it’s too expensive to park in the city.”

     “I know,” Kit agreed. “I once had to pay $50 for two hours because I was parked at the casino.”

     “And that was before you lost $300 at the Black Jack table. What a rip-off,” I continued, grinning mischievously.

     “What was that?,” Kit said, clearly not catching my joke.

     “Oh, nothing,” I said, still smiling to myself. “Let’s go.”

     And with that, we all headed off in the direction of the university bus-station, talking non-stop as we walked.

    Ah, I thought to myself as we made our way to the campus bus terminals. Same place, different year.

[thelgh]

Just a little poem about looking inwards rather than outwards for acceptance and truly finding what you are passionate about and to follow your dreams every day @the_lgh . . . . . #mindseye #beyourownbeautiful #beyourownmuse #beyourownyou #beyourownqueen #rightfromthestart #poem #poetry #igpoetry #poetryofig #writersofinstagram #igpoets #spilledink #poetryisnotdead #poetscorner #omypoetry #poetrycommunity #literarygenre #rhetoric #onomatopoeia #literacy #rhymescheme #rhymer #poets #writing #alliterate #poetize #poetise https://www.instagram.com/p/BzvKr0klBLl/?igshid=1mfenk9x2umzn

[pandalifehacks]

11 Popular Healthy Foods That Actually Aren't (Remarkable)

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[eli-kittim]

The Gospels are Nonhistorical Theological Documents: Only the Epistles Give Us the Real Jesus

By Bible Researcher Eli Kittim 🎓

The Theological Gospels Versus the Prophetic Epistles

First, the epistles are the more explicit and didactic portions of the New Testament.

Second, they are expositional writings, giving us facts, not theological narratives with plots, subplots, characters, etc. The gospels are more like broadway plays (theatrical productions) whereas the epistles are more like matter-of-fact newspapers.

Third, the epistles are not only devoid of all the legendary elements of the gospels, but they also apparently contradict the gospels with regard to Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, by placing them in eschatological categories. For them, Scripture comprises revelations and “prophetic writings” (see Rom. 16.25-26; 2 Pet. 1.19-21; Rev. 22.18-19)! According to the NT Epistles, the Christ will die “once for all” (Gk. ἅπαξ hapax) “at the end of the age” (Heb. 9.26b), a phrase which consistently refers to the end of the world (cf. Mt. 13.39-40, 49; 24.3; 28.20). Similarly, just as Heb. 1.2 says that the physical Son speaks to humanity in the “last days,” 1 Pet. 1.20 (NJB) demonstrates the eschatological timing of Christ’s initial appearance by saying that he will be “revealed at the final point of time.”!

Was There An Oral Tradition?

The oral tradition is hypothetical and presupposed. There is no evidence for it. In fact, the evidence seems to refute it.

There Was No Pre-Pauline Oral Tradition

First, the gospels are written anonymously.

Second, there are no eyewitnesses.

Third, there are no firsthand accounts.

Fourth, how is a supposed Aramaic story suddenly taken over, less than 2 decades after the purported events, by highly articulate Greeks and written about in other countries like Greece and Rome? Do you realize that none of the New Testament books were ever written in Palestine by Jews? None! That doesn’t make any sense and it certainly casts much doubt about the idea of a supposed Aramaic oral tradition.

When, Where, and By Whom Was Each Book of the New Testament Written?

Fifth, you can certainly compare a novel with the gospels. Almost every event in Jesus’ life is borrowed from the Old Testament and reworked as if it’s a new event. This is called intertextuality, meaning a heavy dependence of the New Testament literature on Hebrew Scripture. A few examples from the gospels serve to illustrate these points. It’s well-known among biblical scholars that the Feeding of the 5,000 (aka the miracle of the five loaves and two fish) in Jn 6.5-13 is a literary pattern that can be traced back to the OT tradition of 2 Kings 4.40-44. Besides the parallel thematic motifs, there are also near verbal agreements: "They shall eat and have some left” (2 Kings 4.43). Compare Jn 6.13: “So they gathered ... twelve baskets ... left over by those who had eaten.” The magi are also taken from Ps. 72.11: “May all kings fall down before him.” The phrase “they have pierced my hands and my feet” is from Ps. 22.16; “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” is from Psalm 69.21. The virgin birth comes from a Septuagint translation of Isaiah 7.14. The “Calming the storm” episode is taken from Ps. 107.23-30, and so on & so forth. Is there anything real that actually happened which is not taken from the Jewish Bible? Moreover, everything about the trial of Jesus is at odds with what we know about Jewish Law and Jewish proceedings. It could not have occurred in the middle of the night during Passover, among other things. This is historical fiction. That’s precisely why E.P. Sanders once called the book of Acts (the so-called fifth gospel) historical fiction:

“The majority of New Testament scholars

agree that the Gospels do not contain

eyewitness accounts; but that they present

the theologies of their communities rather

than the testimony of eyewitnesses”. — Wiki

“Many biblical scholars view the discussion

of historicity as secondary, given that

gospels were primarily written as

theological documents rather than historical

accounts”. — Wiki

Scholarship is not necessarily a bad thing for evangelical Christians. It actually helps them to clear up the apparent theological and historical confusion.

8 Theses or Disputations on Modern Christianity’s View of the Bible

What About the Extra-Biblical Sources that Seem to Support the Historicity of Jesus?

First, Jesus is not your everyday, garden-variety Jew, as most apologists depict him when trying to explain why Jesus is never mentioned by any secular contemporary authors.

Mark 1.28

“News about him spread quickly over the

whole region of Galilee”.

Mt. 4.24

“News about him spread all over Syria.”

Matthew 4.25

“Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and

the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea

and from beyond the Jordan.”

So why is it that in approximately 65 years there is not so much as a single word about him in any extra-biblical book?

Why aren’t the meticulous Roman historians (who wrote just about everything) mentioning Jesus? Why is Plutarch and Philo unaware of Jesus’ existence? You’d think they would have, at least, heard of him. So something doesn’t add up. Not even the local Jewish writers mention Jesus, even in passing.

Second, the so-called extra-biblical sources that briefly mention Jesus have all been tampered with. The first mention of Jesus outside the New Testament was at the close of the first century by Josephus’ Testimonium Flavianum. Scholars know that this account is inauthentic and unacceptable, containing an interpolation. Josephus scholars suspect that Eusebius might be the culprit.

Third, Pliny the Younger, writing from the 2nd century, was in communication with Tacitus so his account cannot be viewed as an independent attestation.

Fourth, the Talmud was written many centuries later and contains no eyewitnesses. It is totally irrelevant.

Fifth, Tacitus’ Annals was in the possession of Christians (Medicis) and was most probably altered by 11th century monks:

“It is the second Medicean manuscript, 11th

century and from the Benedictine abbey at

Monte Cassino, which is the oldest surviving

copy of the passage describing Christians.

Scholars generally agree that these copies

were written at Monte Cassino and the end

of the document refers to Abbas Raynaldus

cu ... [sic] who was most probably one of

the two abbots of that name at the abbey

during that period”. — Wiki

Moreover, Tacitus probably lifted the passage from Luke 3.1 and even got Pontius Pilate’s title wrong. Scholars have found traces of letters being altered in the text, and they have pointed out that Tacitus, an unbeliever, would not have referred to Jesus as the Christ. Besides, these Roman writers were not even eyewitnesses and are too far removed from the purported events to have any bearing on them. If we can’t make heads or tails from the second generation Christians who themselves were not eyewitnesses, how much more information can these Roman writers give us, writing from nearly one century later? So it’s a strawman argument to use these 2nd century writers, who were drawing on earlier materials, as independent attestations for the existence of Jesus.

Sixth, a consensus can also be used as a fallacious argument, namely, as an appeal to authority fallacy. We know of many things that were once held to be true that were later proven to be false. Like the idea that everything revolved around the earth. That was once a consensus. It was false. Similarly, the current consensus concerning Christ may be equally false! If Bible scholars reject the historicity of Noah, Abraham, and Moses, then why do they support the historicity of Jesus? If there were no eyewitnesses and no firsthand accounts, if Paul tells us almost nothing about the life of Jesus, if the Testimonium Flavianum and the Annals of Tacitus are inauthentic, and if Bertrand Russell and world-renowned textual critic Kurt Aland questioned the existence of Jesus (as if he were a phantom), then on what grounds does the scholarly consensus affirm the historicity of Jesus? It seems to be a case of special pleading. A nonhistorical Jesus would obviously put a damper on sales and profits. Jesus sells. Everyone knows that. Perhaps that’s the reason why the consensus is maintained!

But Didn’t the Early Church Fathers’ Writings Attribute Authorship to Jesus’ Disciples?

Let’s cut to the chase. The gospels were written anonymously. There were no firsthand accounts. And there were no eyewitnesses. The names of the authors were added in the 2nd century. Even the second generation Christians who wrote the gospels don’t claim to be eyewitnesses. They claim to know someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, and so on. The earliest case of attributing a gospel to a particular person comes from the writings of Papias, whom both modern scholars and Eusebius distrust. Eusebius had a "low esteem of Papias' intellect" (Wikipedia). And scholars generally dismiss Papias’ claim that the original gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew.

As for the purported authorship by the disciples themselves, that is utterly impossible for three main reasons. One, they would have been long dead by the close of the first century. Two, they were illiterate fishermen from the backwoods of Galilee. See Acts 4.13 in which Peter and John are described as uneducated and illiterate (ἀγράμματοι) men. Three, they were unable to write in highly sophisticated and articulate Greek. Not to mention that the authors of the gospels spoke very sophisticated Greek and copied predominantly from the Greek rather than from the Hebrew Old Testament. So, the traditional story that we’ve been told just doesn't hold water. It needs to be revisited.

Am I Inconsistent in Trusting Only Part of the New Testament While Tossing Out the Gospels and Claiming to Be a Follower of Christ?

First, I know what Christ’s teachings are by way of direct revelations from the Holy Spirit, similar to those Paul experienced and wrote about in Galatians 1:11-12 (NASB):

“For I would have you know, brothers and

sisters, that the gospel which was preached

by me is not of human invention. For I

neither received it from man, nor was I

taught it, but I received it through a

revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Second, I’m not trusting only part of the New Testament and tossing out the gospels, while claiming to be a follower of Christ. I actually believe in the entire New Testament. I have a high view of scripture and I believe that every word was given by inspiration of God (including those of the gospels). The Bible has many genres: poetry, parable, metaphor, wisdom, prophecy, apocalyptic, history, theology, etc. If someone doesn’t interpret poetry as history, that doesn’t mean that he’s tossing out the poetic part of scripture and claiming that it’s not inspired. He’s simply saying that this part of scripture is not meant to be historical but rather poetic. Similarly, my view that the gospels are theological doesn’t mean that they are not inspired by God or that they’re false. It simply means that I’m interpreting genres correctly, unlike others who have confused biblical literature with history, and turned prophecy into biography. It appears, then, that the theological purpose of the Gospels is to provide a fitting introduction to the messianic story beforehand so that it can be passed down from generation to generation until the time of its fulfillment. It is as though NT history is written in advance. So the gospels have a certain role to play.

There’s No Such Thing As a Follower of Christ

I keep seeing profiles on Facebook and Twitter where people claim to be “followers of Christ.” What does that even mean? You’re either in-Christ or out-of-Christ. Only someone who is not in Christ is a follower of Christ. People often confuse the terminology. They think that a true Christian is a follower of Christ. False! A true Christian is not following Christ. He is in Christ! Only those who have not yet been reborn are “followers of Christ,” seeking to become united with him. Those who are already reborn from above through the spirit (Jn 3.3; Acts 2.1-4) are already in-Christ. They’re not followers of Christ. And you don’t get to be in-Christ through belief alone (Jas. 2:19), professions of faith, the sinner’s prayer, altar calls, by an intellectual assent to the truths of Christianity, or by following Christ through performance-based behaviors (i.e. observing the commandments, etc.). These are all false conversions. You must first get rid of the false self and put on God as your new identity (the true self). I’m afraid there’s no other way.

How Are We Saved: Is It Simply By Belief Alone, Or Do We Have To Go Out Of Ourselves Ecstatically In Order To Make That Happen?

[caillanblog]

Since 1565, the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, literature started to arise in the Philippines. Literature is an “art of words”, we can play with our mind and write words that we created in our mind. Literature has four major genres; fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction.

First is fiction, it is a creative work that consists of imaginary characters, settings, or events in the story. It is not based on a true story or facts. It has different forms, some of them are horror, mystery, literary fiction, and on, these are fiction genres. Next is poetry, it is expressing experiences, stories, or feeling in a concentrated imaginative way of the use of language. It follows a certain structure and has word patterns of sound. Nowadays, free verse is popular and most used by poets especially students like me. It is easy and we’re free to express our words by creating vivid images for the readers. Next is drama, it is presenting a story using dialogue that is performed in front of an audience and on the stage. It has a combination of performance, performance, music, dance, props, and others that get the audience's attention. Lastly, nonfiction is literary that consists of facts, and based on real events rather than stories invented. It can be educational, offer commentary and humor, and examine philosophical themes because it is based on history and biography.

That was a close look at the literary genres.

[giunonegiove]

Me basta imaginarte así, gesto de besos, instante breve, corazón suspirado presente en el alfabeto de mis días. Y te abrazo como a un sueño sin dueño, cuando enredo mi llovizna a tus albores, deseando romper las últimas fronteras. by #ArelysAgostini #poetess #literarygenre #writer #poetry #poet #poem #idea #spanishpoetry #sensation #emotion #poeticalart #poeticliterature #freeverse #contaminatedart #graphicart #impureart #recreation #hybridization #creative #artists_anonymous

[claudiacassoma]

________________________________________ • • #CláudiaCassoma #CitizenDiplomat #Volunteer #Educator #Angolan #Reader #Leader #Author #Writer #Artist #Writing #WritersLife #LiteraryGenres #Poetry #SheLeadsAfrica #YoungAchievers #TheAfricanWriters #WhootAfrica #LeadersofAfrica #LeadingLadiesAfrica #IAfrica #Studio_Moment #HerHeartPoetry #Mirakee #PoetryMagazine #WritingInspiration #WRBG #WellReadBlackGirl

[meganews77-blog]

The Big Bang Theory Funniest Episode All Seasons (Popular Episode) The Big Bang Theory (often shortened to Big Bang Theory, and abbreviated to TBBT or BBT) is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers. The show premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. In March 2014, the show was renewed for three more years through a tenth season, which premiered on September 19, 2016. The show is primarily centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who later becomes a pharmaceutical representative and who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. The geekiness and intellect of the four men are contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense. Over time, supporting characters have been promoted to starring roles: Leslie Winkle, a physicist who dated Leonard and Howard; neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, who joins the group after being matched to Sheldon on a dating website (and later becomes Sheldon's girlfriend); Bernadette Rostenkowski, Howard's wife (previously his girlfriend), a microbiologist and former part-time waitress alongside Penny; Stuart Bloom, the cash-strapped owner of the comic book store the characters often visit; and Emily The Big Bang Theory Funniest Episode: - The Love Spell Potential - The Decoupling Fluctuation - The Staircase Implementations - The Excelsior Acquisition - The Adhesive Duck Deficiency - The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis - The Euclid Alternative - The Barbarian Sublimation - Middle Earth paradigm #BigBangTheory #Funny #Hilarious #Funniest #Scenes #Ever #Clips #Videos #JimParsons #KaleyCuoco #JohnnyGalecki #ChuckLorre #BillPrady #SheldonCooper #Leonard #Penny #Fox #Humour(LiteraryGenre) #Comedy #Best #Moments #BestoftheBigBangTheory #TheBigBangTheory(TVProgram) #Penny(FictionalCharacter) #bigbang #Thebigbangtheory #bigbangtheoryepisodes #bigbangtheoryepisodelist #bigbangepisodes #bigbangtheoryclips https://youtu.be/GAJC58KqMKU

[generallygothic]

The carnivalesque is a literary mode first observed by Russian philosopher and literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin (1895 - 1975). Along with the grotesque body, subversion and chaos are at its core - in style & content - allowing otherwise marginalised voices to speak up & claim power. All of this is apparent in the frenzied atmosphere under the circus' big top; the assumed power of the ring master, the mocking commentary of the clown, the popularity of the Freak Show. Bakhtin offers French author François Rebelais' (1494 - 1553) 'Gargantua and Pantagruel' (1693) as a perfect example of the carnivalesque. In the novel, a transgressive subculture threatens to disrupt a structured society from behind the façade of which it flourishes. Born in the black shadow of the Second World War, Bakhtin's literary theory is commonly read in two ways. Firstly, as a utopian response to wartime oppression & a celebration of revolution. And secondly, because the circus is its expected playground, as nothing more than a representation of transgression; it is merely the replacement of one façade for another. 📸: 'Two Fools of Carnival' print by Hendrik Hondius I of Pieter Bruegel The Elder's original 1642 engraving, via Wiki Commons. . #generallygothic #gothic #circusofhorrors #circus #thecircusisintown #circusisintown #bigtop #carnival #gothiccircus #circushistory #circushistory #history #socialhistory #carnivalesque #literarymode #literarygenre #literarytheory #linguistics #literarycriticism #bakhtin #mikhailbakhtin #russianliterature #frenchliterature #academic #scholarly #gothicliterature #booknerd #bookworm #books #literature https://www.instagram.com/p/Byd1bQNgr7E/?igshid=gq0p7w1t8n66