Kean University Writing Center

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Schrodinger's Bierce: Ambroce Bierce’s Devils Dictionary and Mysterious Disappearance into the Mexican Sunset

“BIRTH, n. The first and direst of all disasters” (Bierce).

Ambrose Bierce was born on June 24, 1842 in Meigs County, Ohio. He was the 10th out of 13 children and at the ripe old age of 15 he moved out and worked for the abolitionist newspaper the Northern Indianan in Warsaw, Indiana. Later he moved in with his uncle Lucious Bierce in Akron, Ohio and through his encouragement Ambrose joined the Kentucky Military Institute. Bierce studied various subjects including Latin, history, and political science. His stay there only lasted about a year, however, and he left to wander and work odd jobs. When the Civil War began in 1861 Bierce enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Infantry and served until 1865 after a bullet wound to the head caused him to have black outs and dizziness. He then began writing war stories and had a collection published in 1891 titled Tales of Soldiers and Civilians.

“DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work” (Bierce).

The Devil’s Dictionary started out as weekly installments in newspaper columns in 1881 originally titled The Cynic’s Word Book.

“CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be” (Bierce).

It wasn’t until Bierce moved to South Dakota where he began writing for a newspaper called Wasp that he had a column titled “Prattle” in which he published what would later become The Devil’s Dictionary. In 1886 he moved to San Francisco and took “Prattle” along with him.

After the deaths of his wife and two sons Bierce ended his journalistic career and the date of his final communication is December 26, 1913 when he informed relatives he would be traveling to Mexico and he did not know when he would return nor did he have a way to be reached.

"Good-bye — if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stars. To be a Gringo in Mexico — ah, that is euthanasia!" ("Top 10 Famous Disappearances").

It would be safe to assume Bierce died in battle and his body was never identified and that’s why there’s no record of his death. That is, if there weren’t so many accounts of him in various locations after the war. There are stories of soldiers seeing him fighting in battle and other stories that claim he went to South America to find ancient artifacts.

Some experts believe Bierce was actually killed in Mexico while others believe he committed suicide and lied about crossing the border. However, to this day the fate of Ambrose Bierce remains a mystery and that’s probably how he’d like it.

                                              Works Cited

"Ambrose Bierce." <i>- Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss. The Literature Network, n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. http://www.online-literature.com/bierce.

"The Ambrose Bierce Site." The Ambrose Bierce Site. The Ambrose Bierce Site, n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://donswaim.com/>.

Bierce, Ambroce. "TheDevilsDictionary.com." Ambrose Bierce. The Devil's Dictionary, n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://www.thedevilsdictionary.com/>. MacGowan, Doug. "The Disappearance of Ambrose Bierce." Historic Mysteries. Historic Mysteries, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://www.historicmysteries.com/disappearance-ambrose-bierce/>.

"Top 10 Famous Disappearances." Time. Time Inc., 03 Oct. 2008. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1846670_1846800_1846845,00.html>.

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Trollfully Yours: The Origins of Three Common Internet Words

The Internet has given us many new words and ideas.  Sometimes the words created by the Internet are new meanings or applications for already-existing words, as is the case with “catfish,” “troll,” and “meme.”  Other times, they are completely new terms meant to describe a thing or action that did not exist before the Internet, such as “malware.”  Today, we will look at three Internet words to see how they have come to hold their current meanings.

In the past, if someone referred to a troll one might think of a Tolkien novel or a Scandinavian folktale, but with the Internet has come another meaning for the word.  In Internet culture, a troll is someone who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.  The first time the word “troll” was used to describe this kind of behavior was in 1992 on an early message board called Usenet (2).  At the time, most users regarded those who trolled as sincere, but obnoxious individuals; they had opinions and they would annoy whomever they had to in order to defend them.   Then, in 2003, came 4chan, the notorious message board site synonymous with trolls and trolling behavior. Unlike their Usenet forebears, these modern trolls annoyed and tormented other users just for the fun of it, giving “troll” its current meaning (2).  There have even been recent psychological studies on Internet trolls, which have confirmed that trolls display dark personality traits such as sadism, psychopathy, and narcissism (3).  That is arguably scarier than a giant, stone-skinned monster.   

When one thinks of the word, “meme,” certain Internet images and themes may come to mind.  Perhaps the rage faces, Business Cat, or Boromir from The Lord of the Rings explaining what “one does not simply” do.  “Meme” has not always referred to these recurring images and their associated phrases, however.  The word, “meme,” was actually created by an evolutionary biologist named Richard Dawkins.  He wanted to describe the way cultural ideas were passed from one person to another with a word that sounded similar to “gene” (1).  The memes of today may be somewhat different from what Dawkins imagined, but they are definitely serving a cultural purpose.  By using humorous memes to share experiences, the silly pictures and phrases actually allow effective communication between people of diverse backgrounds and geographies.

In the past, a catfish was just a large bottom-feeding fish with whisker-like feelers on its face; in the age of the Internet, it refers to someone who lures another person into a relationship by means of a fictional persona.  The term was first used in this sense in the 2010 documentary, Catfish, in which a young man learns that the person with whom he has carried on a long-term online relationship is not what she seemed (4).  One of the people interviewed in the documentary tells a story about the cod-fishing industry, which inspired the title.  He says that when shipping live cod, people used to keep a few catfish in the vats with them so they wouldn’t lose muscle mass and thus produce lower quality meat.  He then goes on to say that there are people who serve the same purpose in life, to keep others on their toes (4). After the makers of the documentary created a television show detailing similar situations of false identity, the term came into widespread use (4).  On the Internet, catfish are things with laptops and insecurities, not gills.

Like printed books, the Internet has given English-speakers new words, new meanings, and new ways in which to use them.  And like many of the new words born of the union between ink and paper, Internet words have fascinating etymologies all their own.  I hope it has been a pleasure to learn about some of them.     

Works Cited

1.   Hiskey, Daven. “Where the Word Meme Comes From.” Today I Found Out. 25 June 2012. 21 July 2015. <http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/06/where-the-word-meme-comes-from/>  

2.   Feinberg, Ashley. “The Birth of the Internet Troll.” Gizmodo. 30 Oct 2014. 21 July 2015. <http://gizmodo.com/the-first-internet-troll-1652485292>

3.   Mooney, Chris. “Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People.”  Slate. 14 Feb 2014. The Slate Group LLC. 21 July 2015. <http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html>

4.  Harris, Aisha. “Who Coined the Term ‘Catfish’?” Slate. 18 Jan 2013. The Slate Group LLC.  21 July 2015. <http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/18/catfish_meaning_and_definition_term_for_online_hoaxes_has_a_surprisingly.html>

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Spell It Out

Scrabble: arguably one of the most famous word games on the market. What is it about this game that draws us in? Is it the fact that we can play with three of our friends? Do we enjoy scrambling around the wooden tiles to form words that get us points? Do we love being faced with the ultimate challenge of what to do when we have a Q but no U? But let’s face it, sometimes we get stuck. Hopefully this blog helps us the next time we are jam… 12 points!

Qanat (14 points)- First let’s tackle what could be considered the most difficult challenge of all: using that Q without a U in sight. This word, meaning a system of underground tunnels, is most popular in the middle east. Although this word is only five letters, if we end up landing on a double or triple letter, this could be lethal in a game of Scrabble.

Qwerty (21 points)- Another way to tackle that U-less Q is by using the device we are using to view this blog. Look down on your computer or phone keyboard. Start from your Q button, and count out five spaces. Qwerty is the noun that defines our keyboards. This one is also helpful with your W tile.

Lex (10 points)- Even though this word only gives us 10 points, it’s still a decent amount for such a little word. Sometimes we only have three letters left, and that’s when we tend to get creative. Here’s one that maybe we can consider. Lex is derived from Latin meaning law. More specifically, in Canon Law it has been “formulated in written form and promulgated by competent authority” (Wiki).

Zax (19 points)- Stuck in another 3-letter trap? Try this one on for size. This big-pointer is a tool commonly used for cutting roof slates. As shown in this photo, this tool looks like it’s a cross between a spatula and a pickaxe. It is also referred to as a slate or a slater. So, the next time we play scrabble, or cut roof slates, whichever comes first,  we’ll be sure to remember this word.

If these words don’t cut it for out sticky Scrabble situations, try some of these links on Scrabble’s website:

Here’s one for two and three letter words, and U-less Q words.

If this is offical, try this Scrabble score sheet.

May the odds be ever in our favor!

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Don’t Hulk out. Ask for help.

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The Narrative Arc

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15 Words You Never Knew Came From Literature (via Electric Lit)

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Who knew? We sure didn’t!

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Uncommon L Words

lampads - The word is only recorded in the O.E.D. (first used by Coleridge) of the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God in the Book of Revelation, chapter 4 verse 5. lave - wash, bathe lay - a poem that is meant to be sung league - a measure of distance, about three miles[1] leaguer - an encampment or encampments, especially for defensive purposes leave - permission lee - shelter, especially from wind and weather leech - healer leechcraft - the practice of magical medicine. The name is based on the Celtic word for stone. The animal leech (Latin: sanguisuga, literally: blood sucker) is named for the healer (leech), rather than the other way around. [5] legendarium - term coined by Tolkien to mean the entirety of his works concerning his imagined world of Eä lets upon gives on to, opens on to lief gladly, willingly liever more gladly, more willingly, rather lissom - lithe, supple loath - reluctant lob - spider (seen, for example, in the name Shelob) loth - reluctant [a variation on loath above] louver - a domed structure built on a roof with side-openings to allow smoke to escape lustihead vigour

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Who wants to play a game of Scrabble?

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Details are extremely important. A story without details is like an action movie without special effects.

Mark A. Roeder (via writingquotes)

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Junot Diaz, Ken Chen, Dawn Davis and Johnny Temple are just a few of the voices in the second installment of Lynn Neary’s series on diversity in publishing. (Here’s the first, and here’s the Pew study mentioned above.)

You can join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #whoisgettingpublished, or send us a story of your own experience here.

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Advice: Instead of Outlining

Anonymous asked:

i stink at figuring out the plot of a story, but i also hate outlines! do you have any solutions for me? ^u^

A little secret between you and me: I hate outlines, too. Okay, maybe “hate” is too strong a word, but I’m not a fan of them at all. They just don’t work well for me, though they work really well for some writers. What I like to do instead is a timeline. Timelines are sort of like linear outlines, but they’re a little easier to formulate and a lot easier to change as you go. Even if your story doesn’t have specific dates, or you don’t know what they are yet, you can still plot out the individual events in their proper order. I like to start with the obvious beginning, middle, and end, then any known events in-between. From there you can generally piece together a plot, or the basics of one. Here are some posts you can look at for further help: Timelines Building a Story Off a Loose Timeline How to Give Your Story a Purpose Plot and Story Structure

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PhDifferent obsessions than normal people

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Is your literature LEGENDARY?

Legendary Women, Inc. invites you to submit your piece of Legendary literature to our Second Annual Literary Contest.

The final round of judging will be conducted by a panel of professional authors, feminist scholars, and activists.

Prizes include having your story published and promoted on our website, featured interviews, and cash prizes totaling $200 USD. Of course, bragging rights come standard!

Must be 18+ to enter. Please be sure to read the Literary Contest 2015 Rules and Instructions before submitting.

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It *is* National POE-try Month, after all.

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Omg

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