By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The words ‘child’ and ‘children’ have had an interesting history. Although we can all easily define ‘child’ now – a young person who had not yet attained adulthood – this definition in itself raises some intriguing questions. Legally, a ‘child’ may be someone under sixteen years of age, or ... Read more| Interesting Literature
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Of all of the short stories written by H. G. Wells (1866-1946), ‘In the Avu Observatory’ is one of the most genuinely frightening. In this story, Wells’s writing is sublime, and the way he slowly builds suspense as a mysterious monstrous creature attacks the scientist manning an observatory in ... Read more| Interesting Literature
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The word ‘girl’, like many everyday words which we might assume have perfectly ordinary and straightforward histories, actually has a surprising etymol…| Interesting Literature
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Wants’ is a very short story by the American writer Grace Paley (1922-2007). First published in the Atlantic in 1972, it was the opening story in Paley’s 1974 collection, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute and remains one of her most popular and widely studied stories. Summary The narrator ... Read more| Interesting Literature
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The British author H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific writer of novels, scientific romances, and non-fiction. His late work All Aboard for Ararat, which was published in 1940 against the backdrop of world war, is not one of his most celebrated books, but it’s an interesting example of ... Read more| Interesting Literature