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Lipogram
A lipogram (from grc, λειπογράμματος, ''leipográmmatos'', "leaving out a letter") is a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided.McArthur, Tom (1992). ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', p. 612. Oxford University Press. Extended Ancient Greek texts avoiding the letter sigma are the earliest examples of lipograms.Motte Jr, Warren F (1986). "Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature", pp. 100–101 University of Nebraska Press. Writing a lipogram may be a trivial task when avoiding uncommon letters like '' Z'', '' J'', '' Q'', or '' X'', but it is much more challenging to avoid common letters like '' E'', '' T'', or '' A'' in the English language, as the author must omit many ordinary words. Grammatically meaningful and smooth-flowing lipograms can be difficult to compose. Identifying lipograms can also be problematic, as there is always the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gadsby (novel)
''Gadsby'' is a 1939 novel by Ernest Vincent Wright which does not include any words that contain the letter E, the most common letter in English. A work that deliberately avoids certain letters is known as a lipogram. The plot revolves around the dying fictional city of Branton Hills, which is revitalized as a result of the efforts of protagonist John Gadsby and a youth organizer. Though vanity published and little noticed in its time, the book has since become a favorite of fans of constrained writing and is a sought-after rarity among some book collectors. Later editions of the book have sometimes carried the alternative subtitle ''50,000 Word Novel Without the Letter "E"''. Despite Wright's claim, some editions of the book accidentally contain a handful of uses of the letter "e". The 1939 first edition, for example, contains "the" three times and "officers" once. Lipogrammatic quality In the introduction to the book (which, not being part of the story, does contain the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oulipo
Oulipo (, short for french: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: ''"workshop of potential literature"'', stylized ''OuLiPo'') is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais. Other notable members have included novelists Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, poets Oskar Pastior and Jean Lescure, and poet/mathematician Jacques Roubaud. The group defines the term ''littérature potentielle'' as (rough translation): "the seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy". Queneau described Oulipians as "rats who construct the labyrinth from which they plan to escape." Constraints are used as a means of triggering ideas and inspiration, most notably Perec's "story-making machine", which he used in the construction of '' Life: A User's Manual''. As well as established ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Void
''A Void'', translated from the original French ( "The Disappearance"), is a 300-page French lipogrammatic novel, written in 1969 by Georges Perec, entirely without using the letter '' e'', following Oulipo constraints. Translations It was translated into English by Gilbert Adair, with the title ''A Void'', for which he won the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 1995. Three other English translations are titled ''A Vanishing'' by Ian Monk, ''Vanish'd!'' by John Lee, and ''Omissions'' by Julian West. All translators have imposed upon themselves a similar lipogrammatic constraint to the original, avoiding the most commonly used letter of the alphabet. This precludes the use of words normally considered essential such as ("I"), ("and"), and (masculine "the") in French, as well as "me", "be", and "the" in English. The Spanish version contains no '' a'', which is the second most commonly used letter in the Spanish language (first being ''e''), while the Russian version contains no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constrained Writing
Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form. Description Constraints on writing are common and can serve a variety of purposes. For example, a text may place restrictions on its vocabulary, e.g. Basic English, copula-free text, defining vocabulary for dictionaries, and other limited vocabularies for teaching English as a second language or to children. In poetry, formal constraints abound in both mainstream and experimental work. Familiar elements of poetry like rhyme and meter are often applied as constraints. Well-established verse forms like the sonnet, sestina, villanelle, limerick, and haiku are variously constrained by meter, rhyme, repetition, length, and other characteristics. Outside of established traditions, particularly in the avant-garde, writers have produced a va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nestor Of Laranda
Lucius Septimius Nestor ( grc, Λεύκιος Σεπτίμιος Νέστωρ) also known as Nestor of Laranda (Νέστωρ Λαρανδεύς), was a Greek poet who lived during the late-second and early-third centuries AD. According to Strabo and Stephanus Byzantinus he was from the Laranda in Lycaonia, while acording to Suda from the Laranda in Lycia. He composed learned poetry on a variety of subjects in the tradition of Hellenistic poets like Nicander and Parthenius of Nicaea, but his '' magnum opus'' was perhaps the lipogrammatic ''Iliad'', a work which would have been a showpiece for his poetic virtuosity and knowledge of Homeric scholarship. Although his fame was great during his lifetime, little survives of Nestor's poetry today, but its influence may be recognized in Nonnus' ''Dionysiaca'', which appears also to have drawn upon the work of Nestor's son Peisander. Works The ''Suda'' attributes two poems to Nestor by name, a lipogrammatic ''Iliad'' (, ''Iliàs leip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pangram
A pangram or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding. Origins The best-known English pangram is " The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". It has been used since at least the late 19th century, was used by Western Union to test Telex/ TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and reliability, and is now used by a number of computer programs to display computer fonts. Short pangrams Short pangrams in English are more difficult to devise and tend to use uncommon words and unnatural sentences. Longer pangrams afford more opportunity for humor, cleverness, or thoughtfulness. The following are examples of pangrams that are shorter than "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" (which has 33 letters) and use standard written English without abbreviations or proper nouns: *"Waltz, bad nymph, for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Perec
Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Holocaust. Many of his works deal with absence, loss, and identity, often through word play. Early life Born in a working-class district of Paris, Perec was the only son of Icek Judko and Cyrla (Schulewicz) Peretz, Polish Jews who had emigrated to France in the 1920s. He was a distant relative of the Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz. Perec's father, who enlisted in the French Army during World War II, died in 1940 from untreated gunfire or shrapnel wounds, and his mother was killed in the Holocaust, probably in Auschwitz sometime after 1943. Perec was taken into the care of his paternal aunt and uncle in 1942, and in 1945, he was formally adopted by them. Career Perec started writing reviews and essays for '' La Nouvelle Revue française'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Vincent Wright
Ernest Vincent Wright (1872October 7, 1939) was an American author known for his book '' Gadsby'', a 50,000-word novel which, except for the introduction and a note at the end, did not use the letter "e". Biography The biographical details of his life are unclear. A 2002 article in the ''Village Voice'' by Ed Park said he might have been English by birth but was more probably American. The article said he might have served in the navy and that he has been incorrectly called a graduate of MIT. The article says that he attended a vocational high school attached to MIT in 1888 but there is no record that he graduated. Park said rumors that Wright died within hours of ''Gadsby'' being published are untrue. In October 1930 Wright approached the ''Evening Independent'' newspaper and proposed it sponsor a blue lipogram writing competition, with $250 for the winner. In the letter, he boasted of the quality of ''Gadsby''. The newspaper declined his offer. A 2007 post on the ''Bookride' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Arago
Jacques Étienne Victor Arago (6 March 1790 – 27 November 1855) was a French writer, artist and explorer, author of a ''Voyage Round the World''. Biography Jacques was born in Estagel, Pyrénées-Orientales. He was the brother of François Arago (1786–1853), a scientist and politician, the most famous of the six Arago brothers. His parents were François Bonaventure Arago (1754–1814) and Marie Arago (1755–1845). His four other brothers were Jean Arago (1788–1836), a general in the Mexican army; Victor Arago (1792-1867), a military in France; Joseph Arago (1796-1860), also a military in France and Mexico, Étienne Arago (1802–1892), a writer and politician. Jacques Arago joined Louis de Freycinet as an artist when he left Toulon in 1817 in command of a scientific voyage around the world aboard the corvette ''Uranie''. The expedition returned in 1820 and Arago was the first to publish an account, the ''Promenade autour du monde'', in the form of letters to a friend n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is an English-language pangram — a sentence that contains all the letters of the alphabet. The phrase is commonly used for touch-typing practice, testing typewriters and computer keyboards, displaying examples of fonts, and other applications involving text where the use of all letters in the alphabet is desired. History The earliest known appearance of the phrase was in '' The Boston Journal''. In an article titled "Current Notes" in the February 9, 1885, edition, the phrase is mentioned as a good practice sentence for writing students: "A favorite copy set by writing teachers for their pupils is the following, because it contains every letter of the alphabet: 'A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.'" Dozens of other newspapers published the phrase over the next few months, all using the version of the sentence starting with "A" rather than "The". The earliest known use of the phrase starting with "The" is from the 1888 bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Curtius Rufus
Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', " Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt'', "All the Books That Survive of the Histories of Alexander the Great of Macedon." Much of it is missing. Apart from his name on the manuscripts, nothing else certain is known of him. This fact alone has led philologists to believe that he had another historical identity, to which, due to the accidents of time, the link has been broken. A few theories exist. They are treated with varying degrees of credibility by various authors. Meanwhile, the identity of Quintus Curtius Rufus, historian, is maintained separately. The historical ''alter ego'' Curtius' work is uniquely isolated. No other ancient work refers to it, or as far as is known, to him. Peter Pratt pointing out that the Senate and emperors frequently prosc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Enrique Jardiel Poncela (15 October 1901 – 18 February 1952) was a Spanish playwright and novelist who wrote mostly humorous works. In 1932-33 and 1934 he was called to Hollywood to help with the Spanish-language versions shot in parallel to the English-language films. His daughter, Evangelina, wrote a book entitled, ''Mi padre'' (My Father). Work Novels * ''Amor se escribe sin hache'' (1928) * ''Espérame en Siberia, vida mía'' * ''Pero... ¿hubo alguna vez once mil vírgenes?'' (1931) * ''La tournée de Dios'' (1932) Short stories compilations * ''El libro del convaleciente'' * ''Pirulís de la Habana'' * ''Exceso de equipaje'' Theatre * ''El príncipe Raudhick'', 1919. * ''La banda de Saboya'', 1922. * ''Mi prima Dolly'', 1923. * ''¡Te he guiñado un ojo!'', 1925. * ''La hoguera'', 1925. * ''La noche del Metro'', 1925. * ''¡Achanta que te conviene!'', 1925. * ''El truco de Wenceslao'', 1926. * ''¡Qué Colón!'', 1926. * ''¡Vamos a Romea!'', 1926. * ''Se alquila un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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