purdue owl literary theory

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10 Fun Facts About Owls

There is something about owls that fascinates people. Perhaps it’s because they’re the cutest birds of prey; perhaps it’s because they’re one of the most mysterious. Either way, learn more about these beloved birds with these 10 fun facts:

Silent Flight

One reason owls may be labeled as mysterious is that they can fly through the sky without making a peep. Their feathers muffle noise and reduce sound when they’re soaring through the air, so they often do so without anyone noticing.

Owls in Love

Some types of owls, such as the boreal owl, like to stick with one mating partner, and they often raise their young together. The couple stays busy hunting for prey for their babies. But when prey is easy to find and doesn’t require too much extra effort, both the mom and dad boreal owls are likely to go find themselves a little partner or two on the side.

Eating Etiquette

When they eat their prey, owls don’t exactly have the best table manners. They typically crush whatever they catch until it’s dead and swallow it whole, bones and all. What the body can’t digest, the owl throws back up in a pellet shape.

Playing Favorites

While human parents claim they don’t have favorite children, owls aren’t quite so kind. When they don’t have enough food for all of their young, they pick out the healthiest ones to feed and let the others starve.

Owls can’t move their eyes, but they can turn their necks up to 270 degrees, aCC0rding to Audubon. When they rotate their heads, however, it cuts off their circulation, but they have a system that collects extra blood to keep their eyes, brain and other above the neck functions working correctly.

Spotting Prey

Despite the fact that owls can’t move their eyes, they have amazing vision. The Northern Hawk Owl, for example, can spot its prey up to half a mile away from its perch in the trees, aCC0rding to Audubon. This is how barn owls are able to catch and eat prey in total darkness.

Hunting Each Other

What’s the barred owl’s most terrifying predator? Another owl. Great horned owls are at the top of the food chain, and while owls enjoy insects and small mammals, they also have some cannibalistic tendencies.

Most owls live in trees, but some, like the long-legged burrowing owl, actually live underground. While they may dig their own homes, they typically look for one already built by another creature, like a prairie dog, and take it over. ACC0rding to Mental Floss, they place dung all around the entrance of their newly-stolen homes and sit there all day waiting for dung beetles to eat.

Pest Control

Farmers often dislike using poison to keep mice and other varmints out off their properties, because it’s not safe for the other animals, both wild and domestic. As a matter of fact, eating mice that have consumed poison is often deadly for an owl. This is why many farmers go out of their way to welcome owls to their farms to keep pests, like gophers and mice, away. An average family of owls will eat 3,000 mice in four months, aCC0rding to Mental Floss.

You’ve heard of a murder of crows, but did you know a group of owls is called a parliament? The description comes from the CS Lewis book “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Reading a Novel or Story

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These sections describe in detail the assignments students may complete when writing about literature. These sections also discuss different approaches (literary theory/criticism) students may use to write about literature. These resources build on the Writing About Literature materials.

This resource discusses pointers for reading and responding to a novel or story.

Other OWL Resources:

Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work

Pay Attention to Relationships

Whether bonds of blood or emotion that tie characters together, it is their connections to each other and the way those connections evolve that forms the central action of much fiction. Consider drawing a brief relationship chart like this:

This image shows the relationship between the main characters in Bram Stoker's Dracula by drawing lines between them and defining the type of relationship they share. For example, the line between County Dracula and Mina Murray reads victim.

Relationship Chart for Bram Stoker's Dracula

Listen to Characters

When characters in novels speak or ponder at length, it’s time to pay attention. Like soliloquies in drama, a lengthy speech or inner monologue can give you insight into the character’s motives, an idea of his or her world view, and even a clue to central themes in the work.

Practice: Go back over a chapter or story you just read, looking at only what is written inside quotation marks. If the book you’re reading is yours, highlight or otherwise mark each one. Now, read through the chapter once more, reading only your marked passages.

Look Out for Re-occurring Images, Phrases, or Bit Characters

Poetry isn’t the only place to find verbal imagery and symbolism. If you find yourself asking “Haven’t I seen this before?” then you may have discovered an important motif.

Practice: After you’ve finished a novel, re-read the first chapter and see if you recognize any key words from the last chapter of the book. Are there any similarities or coincidences between the two?

Literary Theory

Literature and Literary Criticism: Literary Theory

Introductions to Literary Theory

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism

The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory

A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory

Literary Theory: An Introduction

The Literary Theory Handbook

Recommended Websites

Schools of Criticism

Today's Hours

Helpful links.

[email protected]

610-282-1100 x1266

ENGL 49500: Capstone Seminar

Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism

Looking through different lenses

Many times literary critics analyze works of literature from a particular philosophical or literary perspective. This perspective often evolves as a reaction to the political, economic, cultural, educational and artistic climate of a historical period

Note :This is not necessarily an exhaustive list. There is ongoing debate as to naming conventions and overlap between the literary schools

“Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism.” Purdue Owl, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/index.html 4/17/17

IMAGES

Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Crit
Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism
Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism (With images)
purdue owl feminist criticism
History essay: Owl purdue literary theory
Definition Essay: Owl purdue literary theory

VIDEO

The Philosophic Collage
Networks: How Information Theory Met the Space and Time
Theremin-Guitar-Piano Trio
Dev Sinha
Literature Review and Citation
The Paramedic Method

COMMENTS

What Is the Purdue OWL?
Purdue OWL is an acronym for Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab. Purdue OWL offers a variety of writing resources to the public for free. The online lab contains resources for many different styles of writing, from academic papers to jo...
Where Do Owls Live?
The more than 200 species of owls live in a variety of habitats, including coniferous forests, deserts, mountains and plains. Owls are found across all continents except Antarctica.
10 Fun Facts About Owls
There is something about owls that fascinates people. Perhaps it’s because they’re the cutest birds of prey; perhaps it’s because they’re one of the most mysterious. Either way, learn more about these beloved birds with these 10 fun facts:
Purdue OWL Literary Theory.pdf
Purdue OWL. Page 2 of 26 https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/722/. David H. Richter. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide
Reading Criticism
Reading criticism requires looking through books for the information you need and ignoring what is irrelevant. Even if your stack of books seems taller than you
Writing in Literature Introduction
This OWL sections containts resources for writing about literature across a variety of genres and contexts. Resources. Communication.
Writing in Literature: Overview
You are still required to read the material thoroughly, do research, and make an argument of some kind. An essay on literature does present, however, some
Literary Terms
Style: Comprising an author's diction, syntax, tone, characters, and other narrative techniques, “style” is used to describe the way an author uses language to
Reading a Novel or Story
When characters in novels speak or ponder at length, it's time to pay attention. Like soliloquies in drama, a lengthy speech or inner monologue can give you
Guide to Literary and Critical Theory
The book also fills in theory from 2001 to the present, including work by Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, Bruno Latour, and many others. Whereas
Purdue OWL Literary Theory
A very basic way of thinking about literary theory is that these ideas act as different lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even
Literature and Literary Criticism: Literary Theory
From Purdue University's Online Writing Lab, this page provides and introduction to literary theory and schools of criticism.
Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism
... ongoing debate as to naming conventions and overlap between the literary schools. “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism.” Purdue Owl
Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism_ Feminist Criticism (1960s
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