Myth and Folklore

Sleepy John -Sleepy John slept everywhere -One day he fell asleep in a cart, whose owners returned and put him in a cask, which they left in the forest -When John awake there were wolves surrounding the cask, and John feared for his life -When one of the wolves stuck its tail through a hole in the barrel, John grabbed on -As the wolf ran, the cask trampled along and frightened the wolves, who ran away -He meets a hermit in the mountains who offers him shelter -The hermit says he will die in three days and asks John to bury him -The hermit then gives him gifts -A stick: wherever he points the stick with a desire to go, he will find himself there -A knapsack: whatever he desires will be inside -A cap: that will make him invisible -John hears how the Queen's dancing slippers are being worn down every night -He goes to the King to accept the challenge of tracing her -Once she thinks he is asleep in a room adjacent to hers, she sets off -John is able to follow because of ...

Grammar and Usage This page offered insightful quotes from authors about different nuances related to grammar. The split infinitive came up in several quotes, and as I had never heard of this concept, I looked it up. The best example I found was a line from Star Trek that began "to boldly go..." All of the quotes related to this concept seemed to agree that infinitive splitting was absolutely alright despite notions that it is grammatically clumsy and/or incorrect. As Lederer states, it can add just the right "shade of meaning" in some cases. Many of the quotes also seemed to recommend against the use of adjectives, which I found very interesting, as I grew up in a school environment where lavish descriptions were encouraged. I particularly liked Fadiman's quote on the topic: "The adjective is the banana peel of the parts of speech." Give it the First Energy of the Day This snippet of advice offered by Salman Rushdie was wonderful and very relata...