Author Archives: knlistman

Figures of seeing

Posted on October 15, 2013 by knlistman

Reading ancient literature is difficult not just because of archaic words, but also ambiguous figures of speech that attempted to help the reader see the image and not just hear the words. Translate an early English text, such as Beowulf … Continue reading →

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Word of media

Posted on October 11, 2013 by knlistman

Recently we had to evacuate the school due to a gas leak. Students were jammed up against the back fence of a subdivision across from the school. Fire trucks roared past, lights flashing and phones were raised in the air … Continue reading →

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The school of social networking

Posted on October 10, 2013 by knlistman

With students glued to Facebook rather than paying attention in class, teachers begin to wonder if they could teach better using a social network instead. Social media and e-learning may be useful, but Facebook is by no means universal. The … Continue reading →

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Vibrant verbs

Posted on October 9, 2013 by knlistman

Writers can throw around the terms used to describe interesting language – sensory images, unusual syntax, well-developed descriptions, and vibrant verbs. But incorporating these into writing and preserving the flow is a challenge. Recently I worked with some nascent writers trying to … Continue reading →

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How to rant like a literature professor

Posted on October 8, 2013 by knlistman

“That was the year I came to class at the start of the new semester and found only one student to sign up for Drama from Aeschylus to O’Neill.” Do you know who Aeschylus or O’Neill were?  I assume you … Continue reading →

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Superhuman weakness

Posted on October 5, 2013 by knlistman

At one time there was a “story” circulating about a famous producer of modern supernatural fiction movies, and an unknown screen writer. The famous producer says “I have a new idea for a movie.” “What’s the plot?” asks the writer. … Continue reading →

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Avoiding flat earths

Posted on October 4, 2013 by knlistman

A few years ago, over the holidays, I stayed at a hotel on a scenic bend in the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It had been build in little over 200 days. How? Concrete cast room units, already decorated, were stacked … Continue reading →

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Unhuman geography

Posted on October 3, 2013 by knlistman

Science Fiction and Fantasy do not describe the type of plot as much as the setting – a world in which imagination changes some of the rules. It is a world in which coming of age, adventure, mystery, romance, war … Continue reading →

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Sci-fi delineated

Posted on October 2, 2013 by knlistman

I, Robot is a collection of short stories that trace the development of robots until they take over running the world while humans remain blissfully ignorant of this fact.  In Perelandra, an earth man is sent to Venus  on a … Continue reading →

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The problem with no problems

Posted on October 1, 2013 by knlistman

Dystopian novels  are much easier to write than those set in a utopia. Typically the main character manages to lift the veil hiding the ugly truth behind the society. For example in H.G. Well’s novella, The Time Machine, an English scientists … Continue reading →

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