Parahamansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi


As the life story of Paramahansa Yogananda — who is often referred to as the Father of Yoga in the West — the book has touched the hearts and minds of millions around the globe. Translated into many languages, it has served as an ambassador for India’s ancient science of Yoga, introducing countless readers to the methods for attaining God-realization that are India’s unique and lasting contribution to world civilization.
In 1999, a Harper Collins panel of distinguished authors and scholars selected Autobiography of a Yogi as one of the “100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.”
Alive with all the love, warmth, joy, and wisdom that characterize Paramahansa Yogananda, this masterwork of religious literature includes chapters about:
the science of Kriya Yoga meditation;
the law of miracles;
the lives and missions of Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Swami Sri Yukteswar;
Yogananda’s meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramana Maharshi, Luther Burbank, Therese Neumann, and other spiritual luminaries of East and West.
Initially published in 1946 to widespread critical acclaim, Autobiography of a Yogi quickly gained recognition as a literary masterpiece as well as a seminal work in the field of Eastern philosophy.
Before his passing in 1952, Paramahansaji revised the book — adding extensive material, including the lengthy last chapter. Since then, Self-Realization Fellowship has kept the book in print continuously. A perennial bestseller, it is one of the most widely read and respected books ever published on the wisdom of the East, and is used as a text and reference work in colleges and universities throughout the world.
“There has been nothing before,
written in English or in any other European language,
like this presentation of Yoga.”
—Columbia University Press
Autobiography of a Yogi is available at most bookstores, or may be ordered directly from Self-Realization Fellowship.
The following editions are available in English:
HARDCOVER
520 pages, 80 photos on glossy stock
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520 pages,80 photos on glossy stock
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PAPERBACK
608 pages, 54 photos
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AUDIOBOOK EDITION (unabridged)
Read by Sir Ben Kingsley
15 compact discs
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Also available from iTunes and audible

Mark Twain

ABOUT MARK TWAIN

Biography

On Nov. 30, 1835, the small town of Florida, Mo. witnessed the birth of its most famous son. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was welcomed into the world as the sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. Little did John and Jane know, their son Samuel would one day be known as Mark Twain -America's most famous literary icon.
Approximately four years after his birth, in 1839, the Clemens family moved 35 miles east to the town of Hannibal. A growing port city that lie along the banks of the Mississippi, Hannibal was a frequent stop for steam boats arriving by both day and night from St. Louis and New Orleans.
Writings
The Writings Section contains a comprehensive list of Mark Twain works among which are classics such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi.
Quotes
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

The Complete Literary Works of Mark Twain

-The Innocents Abroad 1869
-Curious Republic of Gondour 1870
-A Burlesque Autobiography 1871
-Roughing It 1872
-The Gilded Age 1873
-Sketches New and Old 1875
-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876
-Carnival of Crime in CT 1877
-A Tramp Abroad 1880
-The Prince and the Pauper 1881
-The Stolen White Elephant 1882
-Life on the Mississippi 1883
-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885
-A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1889
-The American Claimant 1892
-Tom Sawyer Abroad 1894
-The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson 1894
-Tom Sawyer, Detective 1896
-Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 1 1896
-Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Vol 2 1896
-How to Tell a Story and Others 1897
-Following the Equator 1897
-The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and other Stories 1900
-A Double Barrelled Detective 1902
-Extracts from Adam's Diary 1904
-A Dog's Tale 1904
-The $30,000 Bequest 1906
-What is Man? and Other Essays of Mark Twain 1906
-Mark Twain's Speeches 1906
-Christian Science 1907
-A Horse's Tale 1907
-Is Shakespeare Dead? 1909
-Extract from Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven l909
-The Mysterious Stranger 1916 uncompleted
-Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories
-Essays on Paul Bourget
-Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences
-Goldsmith's Friend Abroad Again
-In Defense of Harriet Shelley
-On the Decay of the Art of Lying
-Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion
-The Boys Life of Mark Twain
-Those Extraordinary Twins
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume I Part 1 1835-1866
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume I Part 2 1866-1875
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume II Part 1 1875-1886
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume II Part 2 1886-1900
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume III Part 1 1900-1907
-Mark Twain a Biography Volume III Part 2 1907-1910
-Mark Twain's Letters 1867-1875
-Mark Twain's Letters 1876-1885
-Mark Twain's Letters 1886-1900
-Mark Twain's Letters 1901-1906
-Mark Twain's Letters 1907-1910
-Mark Twain's Letters, Complete

The wonderful wizard of oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Original title page.
Author L. Frank Baum
Illustrator W. W. Denslow
Country United States
Language English
Series The Oz Books
Genre(s) Fantasy Children's novel
Publisher George M. Hill
Publication date 1900
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback), Audiobook
Pages 259 p., 21 leaves of plates (first edition hardcover)
ISBN N/A
OCLC Number 9506808
Followed by The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900,and has since been reprinted countless times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of both the 1902 stage play and the extremely popular, highly acclaimed 1939 film version. The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Thanks in part to the 1939 MGM movie, it is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. Its initial success, and the success of the popular 1902 Broadway musical Baum adapted from his story, led to Baum writing thirteen more Oz books.
Baum dedicated the book "to my good friend & comrade, My Wife", Maud Gage Baum. In January 1901, the publisher, the George M. Hill Company, completed printing the first edition, which probably totaled around 35,000 copies. Records indicate that 21,000 copies were sold through 1900.
The original book has been in the public domain in the United States since 1956. Baum's thirteen sequels entered public domain in the United States from 1960 through 1986. The rights to these books were held by the Walt Disney Company, and their impending expiration was a prime motivator for the production of the 1985 film Return to Oz, based on Baum's second and third Oz books.[citation needed]
Historians, economists and literary scholars have examined and developed possible political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. However, the majority of the reading public simply takes the story at face value.
Contents
1 Plot summary
2 Illustration and design
3 Sources of images and ideas
3.1 The Gold Standard representation of the story
4 Cultural impact
5 Critical response
6 Adaptations
7 See also
8 Footnotes
9 References
10 External links
Plot summary
This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (September 2010)
Dorothy is a girl who lives in a farmhouse in Kansas with her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and little dog Toto. One day the farmhouse, with Dorothy and Toto inside, is caught up in a tornado and deposited in a field in the Land of the Munchkins in the Land of Oz. The falling house kills the ruler of the Munchkins, the Wicked Witch of the East.
The Good Witch of the North comes with the Munchkins to greet Dorothy and gives Dorothy the Silver Shoes that the Wicked Witch of the East had been wearing when she was killed. In order to return to Kansas, the Good Witch of the North tells Dorothy that she will have to go to the "Emerald City" or "City of Emeralds" and ask the Wizard of Oz to help her.
On her way down the road paved with yellow brick, Dorothy frees the Scarecrow from the pole he is hanging on, restores the movements of the rusted Tin Woodman with an oil can, and encourages them and the Cowardly Lion to journey with her and Toto to the Emerald City. The Scarecrow wants to get a brain, the Tin Woodman a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, courage. All are convinced by Dorothy that the Wizard can help them too. Together, they overcome obstacles on the way including narrow pieces of the yellow brick road, Kalidahs, a river, and the Deadly Poppies.
When the travelers arrive at the Emerald City, they are asked to use green spectacles by the Guardian of the Gates. When each traveler meets with the Wizard, he appears each time as someone or something different. To Dorothy, the Wizard is a giant head; the Scarecrow sees a beautiful woman; the Tin Woodman sees a ravenous beast; the Cowardly Lion sees a ball of fire. The Wizard agrees to help each of them, but one of them must kill the Wicked Witch of the West who rules over the Winkie Country.
As the friends travel across the Winkie Country, the Wicked Witch sends wolves, crows, bees, and then her Winkie soldiers to attack them, but they manage to get past them all. Then, using the power of the Golden Cap, the Witch summons the Winged Monkeys to capture all of the travelers.
The Wicked Witch melts, from the William Wallace Denslow illustration of the first edition (1900).When the Wicked Witch gains one of Dorothy's silver shoes by trickery, Dorothy in anger grabs a bucket of water and throws it on the Wicked Witch, who begins to melt. The Winkies rejoice at being freed of the witch's tyranny, and they help to reassemble the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. The Winkies love the Tin Woodman, and they ask him to become their ruler, which he agrees to do after helping Dorothy return to Kansas.
Dorothy uses the Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys to carry her and her companions back to the Emerald City, and the King of the Winged Monkeys tells how he and the other monkeys were bound by an enchantment to the cap by Gayelette.
When Dorothy and her friends meet the Wizard of Oz again, he tries to put them off. Toto accidentally tips over a screen in a corner of the throne room, revealing the Wizard to be an old man who had journeyed to Oz from Omaha long ago in a hot air balloon.
The Wizard provides the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion with a head full of bran, pins, and needles ("a lot of bran-new brains"), a silk heart stuffed with sawdust, and a potion of "courage", respectively. Because of their faith in the Wizard's power, these otherwise useless items provide a focus for their desires. In order to help Dorothy and Toto get home, the Wizard realizes that he will have to take them home with him in a new balloon, which he and Dorothy fashion from green silk. Revealing himself to the people of the Emerald City one last time, the Wizard appoints the Scarecrow, by virtue of his brains, to rule in his stead. Dorothy chases Toto after he runs after a kitten in the crowd, and before she can make it back to the balloon, the ropes break, leaving the Wizard to rise and float away alone.
Dorothy turns to the Winged Monkeys to carry her and Toto home, but they cannot cross the desert surrounding Oz. The Soldier with the Green Whiskers advises that Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (changed to the "North" in the 1939 film), may be able to send Dorothy and Toto home. They, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion journey to Glinda's palace in the Quadling Country. Together they escape the Fighting Trees, dodge the Hammer-Heads, and tread carefully through the China Country. The Cowardly Lion kills a giant spider, who is terrorizing the animals in a forest, and he agrees to return there to rule them after Dorothy returns to Kansas—the biggest of the tigers ruling in his stead as before. Dorothy uses her third wish to fly over the Hammer-Heads' mountain, almost losing Toto in the process.
At Glinda's palace, the travelers are greeted warmly, and it is revealed by Glinda that Dorothy had the power to go home all along. The Silver Shoes she wears can take her anywhere she wishes to go. She tearfully embraces her friends, all of whom will be returned, through Glinda's use of the Golden Cap, to their respective sovereignties: the Scarecrow to the Emerald City, the Tin Woodman to the Winkie Country, and the Cowardly Lion to the forest. Then she will give the Cap to the king of the Winged Monkeys, so they will never be under its spell again. Dorothy and Toto return to Kansas and a joyful family reunion. The Silver Shoes are lost during Dorothy's flight and never seen again.
Illustration and design
The book was illustrated by Baum's friend and collaborator W.W. Denslow, who also co-held the copyright. The design was lavish for the time, with illustrations on every page, backgrounds in different colors, and several color plate illustrations. The distinctive look led to imitators at the time, most notably Zauberlinda, the Wise Witch. The typeface was the newly designed Monotype Old Style.[citation needed]
Sources of images and ideas
Dorothy meets the Cowardly Lion, from the first edition.Baum acknowledged the influence of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, which he was deliberately revising in his "American fairy tales" to include the wonder without the horrors.
Local legend has it that Oz, also known as The Emerald City, was inspired by a prominent castle-like building in the community of Castle Park near Holland, Michigan where Baum summered. The yellow brick road was derived from a road at that time paved by yellow bricks. These bricks were found in Peekskill, New York where Baum attended the Peekskill Military Academy. Baum scholars often reference the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (the "White City") as an inspiration for the Emerald City. Other legends allude that the inspiration came from the Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego, California. Baum was a frequent guest at the hotel, and had written several of the Oz books there.Baum said that the name "OZ" came from his file cabinet labeled "O-Z" Another influence lay in the Alice books of Lewis Carroll. Although he found their plots incoherent, Baum identified their source of popularity as Alice herself, a child with whom the child readers could identify; this influenced his choice of a protagonist.
The Gold Standard representation of the story
See also: Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
In 1964, Henry Littlefield claimed that the book contained an allegory of the late 19th-century debate regarding monetary policy.According to this view, the "Yellow Brick Road" represents the gold standard, the silver slippers (ruby in the film version) represent the sixteen to one silver ratio (dancing down the road). The thesis achieved some popular interest and elaboration but is not taken seriously by literary historians.
Cultural impact
The Wizard of Oz has been translated into well over forty different languages, at times being modified in local variations. For instance, in some abridged Indian editions, the Tin Woodman was replaced with a snake.
Russian author Alexander M. Volkov brought his own loose translation of the story to the Soviet Union in 1939 (the same year MGM released their film). The Soviet Union did not recognize foreign copyrights at the time, and neither Baum nor his family received any royalties for it. Volkov's version was published under the title The Wizard of Emerald City (Волшебник Изумрудного Города) and the country where the story takes place was changed from Oz, to "Magic Land". Volkov also took many liberties with the text itself, editing as he saw fit, and adding a chapter in which Dorothy, now renamed Ellie, is kidnapped by a man-eating Ogre and rescued by her friends. The Wizard is renamed "James Goodwin", the Scarecrow is called "Strasheela" (derived from a Russian word meaning "to scare"), and the Tin Woodman is called "the Iron Woodman". The four witches each have new names as well: Villina (The Good Witch of the North), Gingema (The Wicked Witch of the East), Bastinda (The Wicked Witch of the West), and Stella (The Good Witch of the South). Volkov subsequently wrote his own independent series of sequels to the book, even more tenuously based on Baum's books, including: Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers, Seven Underground Kings, The Firey God of the Marrans, The Yellow Fog, and The Secret of the Deserted Castle. Some characters in these sequels have clear origins in the original Oz books, such as Ellie's uncle Charlie Black, who is a combination of Baum's Cap'n Bill and Johnny Dooit, and Volkov's last book invokes the Forbidden Fountain. The latter three sequels feature, instead of Ellie and Toto, her younger sister Annie along with her own dog, Toto's grandson Arto, and her childhood friend Tim. Baum's original version and all of its sequels were later translated in a more faithful fashion, and Russians now see these two versions as wholly different series. In 1959, illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky depicted Volkov's Scarecrow as short, round and tubby; his influence is evident in illustrations for translations across the Soviet bloc, where the Scarecrow is usually portrayed in this manner. Vladimirsky has written at least two additional sequels to Alexander Volkov's alternative Oz; two more Russian authors and one German have written additional sequels to the "Magic Land" stories. The books have been faithfully translated to English by Peter Blystone as Tales of Magic Land. These last two books were previously made available as Oz books through Buckethead Enterprises of Oz, but were translated loosely to make them Oz books.

References to The Wizard of Oz (and Magic Land) are thoroughly ingrained in British, American, Russian, and many other cultures. A mere sampling of the breadth in which it is referenced includes Futurama, Family Guy and Scrubs (the former parodied it in an episode, the latter based an episode on it), The Cinnamon Bear (a 1938 radio serial), RahXephon (a 2002 Japanese animated television show), Zardoz (a 1974 Sean Connery movie), Avatar (a 2009 fantasy film),The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (a 1997 Stephen King fantasy/Western novel), World of Warcraft(in the form of a boss fight), and the science fiction literature of Robert A. Heinlein, particularly The Number of the Beast. The Wizard of Oz Mystery, a murder mystery game based on the famous characters was released in 2007 from Shot In The Dark Mysteries. John Connor, a character in the Terminator series who sometimes uses the alias John Baum (presumably in honor of L. Frank Baum), stated that one of his favorite memories was of his mother reading him the story of the Wizard of Oz in Spanish as a child. The terminator series also references the Wicked Witch, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman in a few episodes. The character of Cypher in the 1999 movie The Matrix explicitly quotes a part of a line from the original book. In the film, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, reporter Polly Perkins meets with scientist Walter Jennings at Radio City Music Hall during a showing of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film.

In 1967, The Seekers recorded "Emerald City", with lyrics about a visit there, set to the melody of Beethoven's "An die Freude".

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz. It was later made into a musical (also titled Wicked) that premiered on Broadway in 2003.

Many of these draw more directly on the 1939 MGM Technicolor film version of the novel, a now-classic of popular culture shown annually on American television from 1959 to 1991, and shown several times a year every year beginning in 1999.

Critical response
The novel received good critical notices upon release; The New York Times wrote in September 1900:

[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] is ingeniously woven out of commonplace material. It is of course an extravaganza, but will surely be found to appeal strongly to child readers as well as to the younger children … [the book] rises far above the average children's book of today, high as is the present standard.

In modern times, it is widely held as a classic of children's literature; however, it has repeatedly come under fire over the years. Some religious commentators, for example, have objected to Baum's portrayal of "good witches". On a more secular note, feminist author Margery Hourihan has described the book as a "banal and mechanistic story which is written in flat, impoverished prose" and dismissed the central character from the movie adaptation of the book as "the girl-woman of Hollywood".

Adaptations
Main article: Adaptations of The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz has been adapted to other media numerous times, most famously in the 1939 film starring Judy Garland. There have been several preceding stage and screen adaptations, as well as subsequent stage and screen adaptations and sequels for theatrical release, television broadcast, and home video. The story has been translated into other languages (at least once without permission), and adapted into comics several times. Following the lapse of the original copyright, the characters have been adapted and reused in spin-offs, unofficial sequels, and reinterpretations, some of which have been controversial in their treatment of Baum's characters.

List of Oz books
Footnotes
1.^ On May 17, 1900 the first copy of the book came off the press; Baum assembled it by hand and presented it to his sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. The public saw the book for the first time at a book fair at the Palmer House in Chicago, July 5–20. The book's copyright was registered on August 1; full distribution followed in September. Katharine M. Rogers, L. Frank Baum, pp. 73–94.
2.^ Oz Reference Home Page
3.^ a b Baum, L. Frank; Hearn, Michael Patrick (1973). The Annotated Wizard of Oz. New York: C.N. Potter. pp. 38. ISBN 0-517-500868. OCLC 800451.
4.^ The Writer's Muse: L. Frank Baum and the Hotel del Coronado
5.^ Schwartz, Evan I. (2009). Finding Oz: how L. Frank Baum discovered the great American story (illustrated ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 273. ISBN 0547055102.
6.^ Henry Littlefield, "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism," American Quarterly 16 (Spring, 1964), p. 50. The full text of this article is also online at www.amphigory.com/oz.htm.
7.^ Setting the Standards on the Road to Oz, Mitch Sanders, The Numismatist, July 1991, pp 1042-1050
8.^ David B. Parker, "The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a Parable on Populism," Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians, 15 (1994), pp. 49-63.
9.^ Responses to Littlefield - The Wizard of Oz - Turn Me On, Dead Man
10.^ a b Gjovaag, Eric (2006). "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Frequently Asked Questions: The Books". The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website. http://thewizardofoz.info/faq02.html#20. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
11.^ Rutter, Richard. Speech Indiana Memorial Union, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (July 2000).
12.^ "Friends of the Emerald City (Volkov's)", EmeraldCity.ru
13.^ "James Cameron on 'Avatar': Like 'Matrix,' 'This movie is a doorway'". Los Angeles Times. August 10, 2009. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/08/james-cameron-on-avatar-like-the-matrix-this-movie-is-a-doorway-.html. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
14.^ http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/oz/ozsect2.html To See The Wizard: Oz on Stage and Film]. Library of Congress, 2003.
15.^ "Books and Authors" (PDF). The New York Times: pp. BR12–13. 1900-09-08. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D00E2D9153FE433A2575BC0A96F9C946197D6CF. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
16.^ Houihan, Margaret. Deconstructing the Hero. pp. 209. ISBN 0-415-14186-9. OCLC 36582073.
[edit] References
Aycock, Colleen and Mark Scott (2008). Joe Gans: A Biography of the First African American World Boxing Champion. McFarland & Co, 133-139.
Baum, Frank Joslyn; MacFall, Russell P. (1961). To Please a Child. Chicago: Reilly & Lee Co.
Culver, Stuart. "Growing Up in Oz." American Literary History 4 (1992) 607–28.
Culver, Stuart. "What Manikins Want: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors", Representations, 21 (1988) 97–116.
Dighe, Ranjit S. (ed.) The Historian's Wizard of Oz: Reading L. Frank Baum's Classic as a Political and Monetary Allegory (2002)
Gardner, Martin; Nye, Russel B. (1994). The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press
Gardner, Todd. "Responses to Littlefield" (2004), online
Greene, David L.; Martin, Dick (1977). The Oz Scrapbook. Random House.
Hanff, Peter E and Douglas G. Greene (1988). Bibliographia Oziana: A Concise Bibliographical Checklist. The International Wizard of Oz Club. ISBN 978-1-930764-03-3
Hearn, Michael Patrick (ed). (2000, 1973) The Annotated Wizard of Oz. W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-04992-2
Littlefield, Henry. "The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism." American Quarterly. v. 16, 3, Spring 1964, 47–58.
Parker, David B. (1994) "The Rise and Fall of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a 'Parable on Populism'." Journal of the Georgia Association of Historians. 16 (1994): 49–63
Riley, Michael O. (1997) Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum. University of Kansas Press ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
Ritter, Gretchen. "Silver slippers and a golden cap: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and historical memory in American politics." Journal of American Studies (August 1997) vol. 31, no. 2, 171–203.
Rockoff, Hugh. "The 'Wizard of Oz' as a Monetary Allegory," Journal of Political Economy 98 (1990): 739–60 online at JSTOR
Rogers, Katharine M. L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz. New York, St. Martin's Press (2002).
Sherman, Fraser A. (2005). The Wizard of Oz catalog: L. Frank Baum's novel, its sequels and their adaptations for stage, television, movies, radio, music videos, comic books, commercials and more. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 0786417927
Sunshine, Linda. All Things Oz (2003)
Swartz, Mark Evan. Oz Before the Rainbow: L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" on Stage and Screen to 1939 (2000).
Velde, Francois R. "Following the Yellow Brick Road: How the United States Adopted the Gold Standard" Economic Perspectives. Volume: 26. Issue: 2. 2002. also online here
Ziaukas, Tim. "100 Years of Oz: Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' as Gilded Age Public Relations" in Public Relations Quarterly, Fall 1998
External links
Wikisource has the complete text of:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
This audio file was created from a revision of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz dated 2006-01-08, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Project Gutenberg
"Down the Yellow Brick Road of Overinterpretation," by John J. Miller in the Wall Street Journal
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Audio Book a Librivox project.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900 illustrated copy), Publisher's green and red illustrated cloth over boards; illustrated endpapers. Plate detached. Public Domain – Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, full text and audio.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, an unabridged dramatic audio performance at Wired for Books.
The Baum Bugle: A Journal of Oz published by The International Wizard of Oz Club, provides frequent critical and historical information about L. Frank Baum and the Oz Series.
The Oz books
Previous book:
N/A The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
1900 Next book:
The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Characters Princess Ozma · Dorothy Gale · Scarecrow · Tin Woodman · Cowardly Lion · Hungry Tiger · The Sawhorse · The Wizard of Oz · Good Witch of the North · Glinda · Wicked Witch of the West · Nome King · Mombi · Ugu the shoemaker · Tik-Tok · Jack Pumpkinhead · Aunt Em · Uncle Henry · Cap'n Bill · Unc Nunkie · Jellia Jamb · Woggle-Bug · Shaggy Man · Polychrome · Frogman · Cayke · Ervic · Belfaygor of Bourne · Toto · Billina · Eureka · Glass Cat · Button-Bright · Betsy Bobbin · Trot · Peter Brown · Wicked Witch of the East · Bell-snickle · Jenny Jump · Soldier with the Green Whiskers · Guardian of the Gates · Dr. Pipt · Ojo the Lucky · Ku-Klip · Nimmie Amee · Patchwork Girl · Jinjur · Woozy · Kabumpo · Sir Hokus of Pokes · Jinnicky the Red Jinn · Pigasus · Pastoria · Gayelette · Queen Lurline · Princess Langwidere · Queen Coo-ee-oh · Herby · Mrs. Yoop · Johnny Dooit · The Gump · Boq · Munchkins · Winkies · Quadlings · Gillikins

Adaptations Official canon The Wizard of Oz (1902) · The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) · Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz · The Land of Oz · The Patchwork Girl of Oz · The Magic Cloak of Oz · His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz · Wizard of Oz (1925) · The Wizard of Oz (1933) · The Wizard of Oz (1939) · Tales of the Wizard of Oz · Return to Oz (1964) · The Wonderful Land of Oz · Journey Back to Oz (1974) · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1975) · The Marvelous Land of Oz · The Wizard of Oz (1982) · Return to Oz (1985) · The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True · Lost in Oz · Dorothy of Oz · Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz (1987) · The Muppets' Wizard of Oz · Emerald City Confidential · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (comics) · Dorothy of Oz (2011) · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2011)
TV series The Wizard of Oz (1990) · The Oz Kids (1996)
Translations The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986 TV series) · The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz · Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz · Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde
Parodies The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's
Reimagining The Wizard of Mars · Zardoz · Oz · Twister · Tin Man
The Wiz Broadway Musical (1975) · Film (1978)
The Wicked Years Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West · Son of a Witch · A Lion Among Men · Wicked
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz"
Categories: 1900 novels | Children's fantasy novels | Oz books | Series of children's books | Literature featuring anthropomorphic characters | Kansas in fiction | American children's novels

Sue Townsend and Adrian Mole Series

Sue Townsend
Born Susan Lillian Townsend
2 April 1946 (1946-04-02) (age 64)
Leicester, United Kingdom
Occupation Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, columnist
Language English
Nationality British
Genres Drama, Fiction, Screenplay
Notable work(s) Adrian Mole books
Spouse(s) Colin Broadway
Children Sean, Daniel, Victoria, Elizabeth

Susan Lillian Townsend (born 2 April 1946) is an English novelist and playwright, best known as the author of the Adrian Mole books. Although her writing primarily combines comedy with social commentary, she has also written purely dramatic works.

Contents
1 Biography
2 Awards
3 Works
3.1 Adrian Mole series
3.2 Other novels
3.3 Plays
3.4 Non-fiction
4 Footnotes
5 External links

Biography
Townsend was born in Leicester and went to Glen Hills Primary school, where the school secretary was Mrs Claricotes, a name she used for the school secretary in the Adrian Mole books. Her father was a postman and she was the eldest of five sisters. After failing her 11-plus exam, Townsend then went to the secondary modern South Wigston High School.She left school at the age of 15 and worked in a variety of jobs including factory worker and shop assistant. She married a sheet-metal worker and had three children under five by the time she was 22. She joined a writers' group at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester in her thirties.
She has four children: Sean, Daniel, Victoria and Elizabeth.
At the time of writing the first Adrian Mole book, Townsend was living on the Saffron Lane Estate, a stone's-throw away from the house in which playwright Joe Orton was brought up. The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole was reputedly based on her children's experiences at Mary Linwood Comprehensive School in Leicester. Several of the teachers who appear in the book (such as Ms Fossington-Gore and Mr Dock) are based on actual staff who worked at the school in the early 1980s. When the book was televised, it was mostly filmed at a different school nearby. Mary Linwood Comprehensive was closed in 1997.
The first two books in the series appealed to many readers as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of Britain during the Thatcher period.
Townsend has suffered from diabetes for many years, as a result of which she was registered blind in 2001,and has woven this theme into her work.
On February 25, 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Townsend will be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester (where she still lives) alongside singer Engelbert Humperdinck and former professional footballer Alan Birchenall.
In September 2009, she received a kidney from her son Sean after a 2 year wait for a donor. Surgery was carried out at Leicester General Hospital and Townsend spoke to reporters about the work of the UK National Kidney Federation. Her son who fears Adrian Mole is partly based on him is said to be "very proprietorial about what he still calls his kidney".
Awards
Year Award
1981 Thames Television Playwright Award for Womberang
2003 Frink award
2007 Two honorary doctorates, one from the University of Leicester and one from Loughborough University
2007 James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin

Works
Adrian Mole series
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), her best selling book, and the best-selling new British fiction book of the 1980s.
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (1984)
The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (1989)
Adrian Mole From Minor to Major (1991) is an omnibus of the first three, and includes as a bonus the specially written Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians.
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (1993)
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (1999)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999–2001 (2008)
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years (2009)
Other novels
Rebuilding Coventry (1988)
The Queen and I (1992), a story about the British royal family living a "normal" life on an urban housing estate following a republican revolution.
Ghost Children (1997), a non-comedic novel
Number Ten (2002)
Queen Camilla (2006)
Plays
Womberang (Soho Poly – 1979)
The Ghost of Daniel Lambert (Leicester Haymarket Theatre – 1981) Theatre closed in January 2007
Dayroom (Croydon Warehouse Theatre – 1981)
Captain Christmas and the Evil Adults (Phoenix Arts Theatre – 1982) now known as the Phoenix Arts Centre
Bazaar and Rummage (Royal Court Theatre – 1982)
Groping for Words (Croydon Warehouse – 1983)
The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court Theatre and tour – 1984)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4-The Play (Leicester Phoenix – 1984) now know as Phoenix Arts Centre
Disneyland it Ain't (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs – 1989)
Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes (Library Theatre, Manchester – 1989)
The Queen and I (Vaudeville Theatre – 1994, toured Australia in the summer of 1996 and was entitled The Royals Down Under)
Non-fiction
Mr Bevan's Dream: Why Britain Needs Its Welfare State (1989)
The Public Confessions of a Middle-Aged Woman (2001)

stephanie Meyer and Twilight saga

Stephenie Meyer

Born Stephenie Morgan
December 24, 1973 (1973-12-24) (age 36)
Hartford, Connecticut,
United States
Occupation Novelist, Producer
Nationality American
Genres Vampire romance, young-adult fiction, science fiction

Influences Orson Scott Card, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Maeve Binchy, Brontë sisters, Daphne du Maurier, L. M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Eva Ibbotson, William Goldman, Janet Evanovich

Influenced Prilynne Pike


Signature

stepheniemeyer.com/

Stephenie Meyer (born December 24, 1973), née Morgan, is an American author best known for her vampire romance series Twilight.The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally,with translations into 37 different languages.Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel The Host.

Meyer was the biggest selling author of both 2008 and 2009, having sold over 29 million books in 2008 alone,with Twilight being the best-selling book of the year.She sold an additional 26.5 million books in 2009, making her the first author to achieve this feat. Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was also included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million. Also in 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrity with annual earnings $40 million.

Contents
1 Personal life
2 The Twilight series
2.1 Twilight
2.2 Subsequent novels
2.3 Inspiration
2.4 Film adaptations
3 Reception and recognition
3.1 Fan following
3.2 Criticism
4 Other works
5 Philanthropy
6 Publications
7 References
8 External links

Personal life
Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1997. Meyer met her husband Christian, nicknamed "Pancho", when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they both were 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli. Christian Meyer, formerly an auditor, has now retired to take care of the children.

Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has stated that she is "straitlaced" about her beliefs, and does not drink alcohol or smoke. Meyer had never written even a short story before Twilight, and had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer; she later noted that the birth of her oldest son Gabe changed her mind, saying, "Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom." Before becoming an author, Meyer's only professional work was as a receptionist in a property company.

Meyer currently lives in Cave Creek, Arizona,and also owns a home on Marrowstone Island, Washington.

The Twilight series
Twilight
Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003.The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what is now Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment.Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies. Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House.Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction. By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.

Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies. It reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release, and later rose to #1. Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries.The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice.

Subsequent novels
Following the success of Twilight (2005), Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, New Moon reached #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list. After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies. Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day.The novel also won Meyer her first British Book Award, despite competition with J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 37 languages. In 2008, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat as well as being the bestselling author of the year.
The Twilight novels held the top four spots on USA Today's year-end list again in 2009.


Meyer, November 2008In August 2009, USA Today revealed that Meyer broke J.K. Rowling's record on their bestseller list; the four Twilight books had spent 52 straight weeks in the top 10. The books have also spent more than 102 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective. Midnight Sun was to be a companion novel to the series. It would be a retelling of the events of the novel Twilight, but from the perspective of Edward Cullen (as opposed to Bella Swan). Meyer had hoped to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but after an online leak of a rough draft of its first 12 chapters, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely. Since Meyer has decided to pursue non-Twilight related books as a result of the leak, she made the rough chapters of "Midnight Sun" available on her website.

Inspiration
Meyer cites many novels as inspiration for the Twilight series, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Each book in the series was also inspired specifically by a different literary classic: Twilight by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; New Moon by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse by Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn's theme by Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meyer said, "I've been reading books for adults my entire life. Growing up I was an avid reader—the thicker the book, the better." She also said she is a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, and "can't go through a year without re-reading" Jane Austen's books.

She also says that her writing is strongly influenced by music, and she posts "playlists" (from Playlist.com) on her website of songs which specifically inspired her books. Bands included most often in her playlists are Muse, Blue October, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, and Linkin Park.

Meyer, a Mormon, acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical."Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying, "I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."

Film adaptations
Main article: The Twilight Saga (film series)
Summit Entertainment optioned Twilight in April 2007. Catherine Hardwicke directed the film, and the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg. It stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen.The movie was released on November 21, 2008. Meyer makes a brief cameo appearance in a diner scene. Following the success of Twilight, Summit greenlit a film adaptation of the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in November 2008.Chris Weitz directed the film, which was released on November 20, 2009. Summit greenlit an adaptation of the third book in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in February 2009. David Slade directed the film, which was released on June 30, 2010. Summit also obtained the rights to Breaking Dawn in November 2008, and greenlit a two-part adaptation in June 2010 that will start production in late 2010.A November 18, 2011, release date has been set for the first part, and a November 16, 2012 release for the second part. Following the two-part announcement, Summit is also considering releasing the second part of the film in 3D.

Reception and recognition

Meyer on her book tour for Eclipse in 2007.Entertainment Weekly has hailed Meyer as "the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice", while The Guardian described her as an "imaginative storyteller, a prolific author and a newly powerful figure in the publishing market." Wayne Janes of Toronto Sun agreed, saying, "Meyer's success points up another trend — the virtual domination of the best-seller lists the last few years by what would normally be classified as young adult fiction," and noted, "In the absence of a new Harry Potter adventure, teens, fantasy enthusiasts and women (sales are mostly to females) who swoon at the idea of a virginal James Dean-ish vampire made Meyer the go-to gal for chaste love." Tymon Smith of The Times has described her as the "superstar of young adult fiction".

Meyer was named USA Today's "Author of the Year" in 2008, and one of MSN Lifestyle's "Most Influential Women of 2008" where she was described as a "literary luminary". She was also ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was included in their list of "People Who Mattered", with Lev Grossman noting, "Maybe Americans aren't ready for a Mormon presidential nominee yet. But they're more than ready to anoint a Mormon as the best-selling novelist of the year." As well, Meyer was included in The Arizona Republic's "Valley's Most Fascinating People" in December 2008.

Novelist Orson Scott Card said, "[Stephenie Meyer] writes with luminous clarity, never standing between the reader and the dream they share. She's the real thing". Scott also went on to describe Meyer as an "amazing phenomenon". In an interview with Newsweek, author Jodi Picoult said, "Stephenie Meyer has gotten people hooked on books, and that's good for all of us."

Meyer was ranked #5 on Forbes' list of "Hollywood's Top-Earning Women", the only author on the list, and it was noted that the "Twilight series of young-adult vampire books have taken the publishing and film worlds by storm." She was also ranked #82 on Vanity Fair's list of the "Top 100 Information Age Powers" of 2009. The same year, Meyer was featured in an issue of the biographical comic Female Force, a Bluewater Productions title which celebrates influential women in society and pop culture.The comic has previously published biographies of women such as Oprah Winfrey and Princess Diana.

Meyer was the second bestselling author of the decade, according to a list published by Amazon, beaten only by JK Rowling. Meyer had four books on the bestselling list, compared to Rowling, who had three.

Fan following
Meyer has gained a following among young adult readers for her Twilight novels, which are set in the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Forks has thus received an unusual amount of attention, and celebrates "Stephenie Meyer Day" on September 13, the date of character Bella Swan's birthday.

Fans express themselves in other ways: "[They] dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands."

Criticism
While comparing Meyer to J. K. Rowling, Stephen King stated, "the real difference [between J. K. Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good." King described the Twilight series saying that "people are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual."

Some of the strongest criticism comes from feminists who consider Meyer an anti-feminist writer, pointing out that Bella's entire life revolves around Edward, and that she is never in control; she is absolutely dependent on Edward’s ability to protect her life, her virginity, and her humanity. Meyer has dismissed such criticisms, arguing both that the books center around Bella's choice, and that her damsel in distress persona is due only to her humanity.

Other works
One of Meyer's short stories was published in Prom Nights from Hell, a collection of stories about bad prom nights with supernatural effects. Other authors who contributed to this collection are Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, and Lauren Myracle. Prom Nights from Hell was released in April 2007.

In May 2008, Meyer's adult sci-fi novel, The Host, was released by the adult division of Little, Brown and Company; it follows the story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, a young woman and an invading alien "soul," who are forced to work as one. The Host debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and remained on the list for 26 weeks. In March 2008, Meyer said she was "almost done" writing a possible sequel to The Host, entitled The Soul.If she were to continue the series, the third book would be called The Seeker.

Meyer mentions having several other book ideas on file, including a ghost story titled Summer House and a novel involving time travel, as well as another about mermaids.

On August 28, 2008, it was announced that Meyer had written the treatment for Jack's Mannequin music video, "The Resolution", which she co-directed the following week.

In 2009, Meyer teamed with the skateboard and clothing company Hobo Skate Company to produce her own clothing line, consisting of a line of T-shirts and skateboards related to her science-fiction novel, The Host.

On March 30, 2010, it was announced that Meyer had written a 200-page novella "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner". The book was released on June 5, 2010, by Atom and was also available for free between June 7 and July 5 on the official website.

Philanthropy
In April 2009, Meyer took part in Project Book Babe, a benefit designed to help pay her friend Faith Hochhalter's medical bills after Hochhalter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Meyer donated many advance reader copies and original manuscripts for auction. The same year, Meyer teamed up with Hobo Skate Company to auction off a The Host-themed skateboard, which sold for $1500 that was donated to charity.

Publications
Twilight series
1.Twilight (2005)
2.New Moon (2006)
3.Eclipse (2007)
4.Breaking Dawn (2008)
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (novella, 2010)
Other books
Prom Nights from Hell (section, 2007)
The Host (2008)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American professor and poet wrote Song of Hiawatha (1855);

"There he sang of Hiawatha,
Sang the Song of Hiawatha,
Sang his wondrous birth and being,
How he prayed and how be fasted,
How he lived, and toiled, and suffered,
That the tribes of men might prosper,
That he might advance his people!"

....

Ye who love a nation's legends,
Love the ballads of a people,
That like voices from afar off
Call to us to pause and listen,
Speak in tones so plain and childlike,
Scarcely can the ear distinguish
Whether they are sung or spoken;--
Listen to this Indian Legend,
To this Song of Hiawatha!--from the Introduction

Written as a tribute to North American Indians, Longfellow starts his fictional epic poem with the Great Spirit Gitche Manito "the Master of Life" fortelling the coming of a great leader. Hiawatha's deeds of courage and acts of peace with the White Man earn him a legendary place as "Hiawatha the Beloved" among his people. Longfellow's Hiawatha shares the name of the real Mohawk Indian Chief Hiawatha (born c.1400's) who followed De-Ka-Nah-Wi-Da's teachings of peace and was instrumental in the formation of the Iroquois League of Five Nations. Similar to the stories of James Fenimore Cooper including his The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Longfellow drew upon works written at the time about the Indian tribes of North America including Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's (1793-1864) Algic Researches (1839). Sympathetic to the Indians and their way of life, Longfellow blends fact and legend to weave a romantic tale written in the style of the Finnish National Epic poem "Kalevala", written by Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884). Hiawatha's marriage to Minnehaha and overly romanticised elements caused some controversy when Song of Hiawatha first appeared. His tone is at-times sentimental and moralising, and he uses unorthodox meters, but it earned him much esteem from his contemporaries. Longfellow enjoyed international acclaim during his lifetime and today Song of Hiawatha is celebrated as his best-known work. Longfellow had a lifelong friendship with fellow New Englander and author Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom he met at College. He was acquainted with many other noted literary figures of his day including Lord Alfred Tennyson, Oscar Wilde, and Walt Whitman. Queen Victoria invited him to tea and he received honorary doctoral degrees from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, indicative of his popularity outside of the United States.

Another American legend that Longfellow draws upon is that of Patriot Paul Revere's (1734-1818) account of his famous 18 April 1775 ride to alert the countryside of advancing British troops during the American Revolution. Longfellow's "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" was published in 1863. Longfellow used his pen to pay tribute to numerous historical figures and many other authors including William Shakespeare--"Poet paramount, Whom all the Muses loved", John Keats--"Here lieth one whose name, Was writ in water. And was this the meed, Of his sweet singing?", and Geoffrey Chaucer--"He is the poet of the dawn, who wrote 'The Canterbury Tales', and his old age, Made beautiful with song;"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on 27 February 1807, the second child of eight born to Zilpah née Wadsworth (1778-1851) and lawyer Stephen Longfellow (1775-1849) in the city of Portland, Maine. The family soon moved to a house on Congress Street, now known as the Wadsworth Longfellow Home. Early on young Henry knew he wanted to be a poet; he was a fast learner and loved to write stories and poems. The Portland Gazette printed his first at the age of thirteen. Henry and his siblings often visited their Grandparents's farms, and he reveled in the natural beauty of the nearby shores of Casco Bay. The bustling comings and goings of the port city, and the fishing vessels and merchant ships fed his imagination for places far beyond; he would cross the Atlantic Ocean a number of times during his life.

At the age of six Henry entered the Portland Academy; he then went on to attend Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine from 1822 to 1825, whereupon he was offered a professorship with the college. During his three-year Grand Tour of Europe, which the college had advised in order for him to further study languages in preparation for teaching, Longfellow immersed himself in the literature of Europe, and in mastering half a dozen languages. Upon arrival back in America he settled at Bowdoin to teach modern languages including French and Italian from 1829-1835. He also wrote many textbooks for the college. His trip had inspired his own Spanish travel book Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea (1835), which was in part inspired by the writings of Washington Irving.

In 1831 Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter (1813-1835). On his next trip to Europe, this time with his wife, Mary suddenly died in Rotterdam, The Netherlands after having a miscarriage; Longfellow later wrote his poem "Footsteps of Angels" in honour of her;

And with them the Being Beauteous,
Who unto my youth was given,
More than all things else to love me,
And is now a saint in heaven.

With a slow and noiseless footstep
Comes that messenger divine,
Takes the vacant chair beside me,
Lays her gentle hand in mine.
After arriving home from this second trip in 1836, Longfellow took on the Smith Professorship of Modern Languages with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a position he held until 1854. On 13 July 1843 Longfellow married Francis Elizabeth "Fanny" Appleton (1817-1861) with whom he would have six children: Charles, Ernest, Fanny, Alice, Edith, and Anne Allegra. It had been a long courtship; Longfellow taking time from his busy teaching schedule to visit her in Boston. She finally agreed to marriage and a gift from Fanny's father was buying them Craigie House in Cambridge where so many of their friends gathered including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Fanny was a talented artist, well-travelled, and well-read in many subjects. She was a loving and attentive mother and as their father, so she had much influence on their intellectual growth. While teaching full time, Longfellow continued his prodigious output of poetry. Voices of the Night: Ballads; and other Poems (1839), his autobiographical Hyperion, a Romance (1839), Ballads and Other Poems (1841), and Poems on Slavery (1842) are among his many collections that were warmly received in North America and Europe.

After resigning from teaching in 1854, Longfellow was able to put all his energies into writing. One of his next most famous works The Song of Hiawatha showed him at the height of his career. The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems (1858) and his translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (1861) were among his numerous works to follow. 1861 was the year a tragic accident happened to Fanny; her dress suddenly caught fire from a candle and she was engulfed in flames. Henry tried desperately to smother the flames, suffering burns to his hands and face, to no avail; Fanny soon succumbed to her wounds. Longfellow's grief changed him forever; his flowing white beard covered his burn marks, and he wrote "The Cross of Snow" almost twenty years later;

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face--the face of one long dead--
Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.
Here in this room she died; and soul more white
Never through martyrdom of fire was led
To its repose; nor can in books be read
The legend of a life more benedight.
There is a mountain in the distant West
That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines
Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.
Although Longfellow disapproved, his son Charles fought in the American Civil War. Longfellow continued to write poetry, collected under such titles as Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863), Household Poems (1865), and Flower-de-Luce (1867). The same year that The New England Tragedies (1868) was published, Longfellow made his last trip to Europe. He continued to write up until the year of his death. Works to follow include Three Books of Song (1872), Kéramos and Other Poems (1878), and In the Harbor (poems, 1882). Dedicated to his friend and historian George Washington Green, "Ultima Thule" was first published in 1880;

Ultima Thule! Utmost Isle!
Here in thy harbors for a while
We lower our sails; a while we rest
From the unending, endless quest.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died at home in Cambridge on 24 March 1882. He now rests in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In 1884 he was the first citizen of the United States to be honoured in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, England. His marble bust now stands among the monuments to other such world-renowned authors and poets as Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Browning.

Further works by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow include;

The Spanish Student. A Play in Three Acts (1843),
Poets and Poetry of Europe (translations, 1844),
The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems (1845),
Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (epic poem, 1847),
Kavanagh: A Tale (1849),
The Seaside and the Fireside (poetry, 1850),
The Golden Legend (dramatic poem, 1851),
"The Children's Hour" (1859),
The Divine Tragedy (1871),
Christus: A Mystery (1872),
"Aftermath" (1873), and
The Masque of Pandora and Other Poems (1875).

Idioms

ENGLISH PROVERBS

Ofrecemos aquí una lista de los proverbios o refranes más comunes en inglés. Se incluye la equivalencia al español (y no la traducción literal) de cada proverbio.


A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.
A cat in gloves catches no mice.
Gato con guantes no caza ratones.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Más vale prevenir que curar.
A word is enough to the wise.
A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
La ausencia alimenta al corazón.
Actions speak louder than words.
Los hechos valen más que las palabras.
Del dicho al hecho hay un gran trecho.
All cats are grey in the dark.
Por la noche todos los gatos son pardos.
All roads lead to Rome.
Todos los caminos conducen a Roma.
All that glitters is not gold.
No es oro todo lo que reluce.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Hay que divertirse y dejar de lado el trabajo por un rato.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Más vale prevenir que curar.
Appearances are deceptive. / Looks are deceiving.
Las apariencias engañan.
Barking dogs never bite.
Perro ladrador, poco mordedor. / Perro que ladra no muerde.
Better late than never.
Más vale tarde que nunca.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.
Más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Dios los cría y ellos se juntan.
Blood is thicker than water.
Los lazos familiares son más fuertes.
Chip off the old block.
De tal palo, tal astilla.
Common sense is the least common of senses.
El sentido común es el menos común de los sentidos.
Do what is right, come what may.
Haz siempre lo correcto.
Don't cry before you are hurt.
No llores antes de tiempo.
Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth.
A caballo regalado no le mires los dientes.
Don't meet trouble halfway.
No te preocupes antes de tiempo.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
No te lo juegues todo a una sola carta.
Early to bed, early to rise,
makes the man healthy, wealthy and wise.
A quien madruga, Dios lo ayuda.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
No hay mal que por bien no venga.
Every law has its loophole.
Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa.
Every time the sheep bleats, it loses a mouthful.
Oveja que bala, bocado pierde.
Experience is the mother of knowledge.
La experiencia es la madre de la ciencia.
Finders, keepers; losers, weepers.
El que se fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla.
Give a dog a bad name and hang it.
Hazte fama y échate a dormir. /
Un perro maté y mataperros me llamaron.
God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
Dios aprieta pero no ahoga.
Half a loaf is better than none.
Algo es algo, peor es nada.
He that fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
Soldado que huye, sirve para otra guerra. /
Quien en tiempo huye, en tiempo acude.
Hunt with cats and you catch only rats.
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
De perdidos, al río.
It never rains, but it pours.
Las desgracias nunca vienen solas.
It's good fishing in troubled waters.
A río revuelto, ganancia de pescadores.
It's no good crying over spilt milk.
A lo hecho, pecho. / No hay que llorar sobre la leche derramada.
It's the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
Es la gota que colma el vaso.
Let bygones be bygones.
Lo pasado, pisado. / Borrón y cuenta nueva.
Many hands make light work.
Muchas manos hacen el trabajo ligero.
Money is the root of all evil.
El dinero es el camino de la perdición.
More haste, less speed.
Vísteme despacio que tengo prisa.
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
No te hagas problema hasta que los problemas te angustien.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Quien no arriesga, no gana. / Quien no se arriesga, no cruza la mar.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito. / Para gustos, los colores.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
No hagas a los demás lo que no quieres que te hagan a ti.
Politeness costs nothing.
Lo cortés no quita lo valiente.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Roma no se hizo en un día.
Take care of the pennies/pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves.
Ahorra la calderilla y tendrás dinero.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
De tal palo, tal astilla.
The die is cast.
La suerte está echada.
The early bird catches the worm.
A quien madruga, Dios lo ayuda.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Lo mejor siempre lo tiene el otro.
The shoemaker's son goes always barefoot.
En casa de herrero, cuchara de palo.
There's many a slip twixt cup and lip.
Entre mano y boca desaparece la sopa. / Del plato a la boca se pierde la sopa.
To call a spade, a spade.
Al pan, pan y al vino, vino.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Demasiados cocineros estropean el caldo. / Muchas manos en un plato hacen mucho garabato.
Two in distress makes sorrow less.
Las penas compartidas saben a menos.
Variety is the spice of life.
En la variedad está el gusto.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Donde fueres haz lo que vieres.
When one is hungry, everything tastes good.
Cuando hay hambre, no hay pan duro.
When there's a will, there's a way.
Querer es poder.
While the cat's away, the mice will play.
Cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
No se puede tener todo en la vida. / No puedes estar en misa y repicando.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
No se puede pedir peras al olmo. / Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.
You have to take the rough with the smooth.
Hay que tomar la vida como es. / Hay que estar a las duras y a las maduras.
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
Hoy por ti, mañana por mí.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs List
This is a list of about 200 common phrasal verbs, with meanings and examples. Phrasal verbs are usually two-word phrases consisting of verb + adverb or verb + preposition. Think of them as you would any other English vocabulary. Study them as you come across them, rather than trying to memorize many at once. Use the list below as a reference guide when you find an expression that you don't recognize. The examples will help you understand the meanings. If you think of each phrasal verb as a separate verb with a specific meaning, you will be able to remember it more easily. Like many other verbs, phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning. As well as learning their meanings, you need to learn how to use phrasal verbs properly. Some phrasal verbs require a direct object (someone/something), while others do not. Some phrasal verbs can be separated by the object, while others cannot. Review the grammar lesson on phrasal verbs from time to time so that you don't forget the rules!
Most phrasal verbs consist of two words, but a few consist of three words, which always stay together. Verb Meaning Example
1-Ask someone out:Invite on a date Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.
2-Ask around:Ask many people the same question I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet.
3-Add up to something:Your purchases add up to $205.32.
4-Back something up:You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out.
5:Back someone up:My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job.
6-Blow up:The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence.
7-Blow something up:We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party.
8-Break down:(vehicle, machine) Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm.
9-Break down:(a person)The woman broke down when the police told her that her son had died.
10-Break something down:(Divide into smaller parts).Our teacher broke the final project down into three separate parts.
11-Break in force entry to a building Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo.
break into something enter forcibly The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the children.
break something in wear something a few times so that it doesn't look/feel new I need to break these shoes in before we run next week.
break in interrupt The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's death.
break up end a relationship My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America.
break up start laughing (informal) The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started talking.
break out escape The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking.
break out in something develop a skin condition I broke out in a rash after our camping trip.
bring someone down make unhappy This sad music is bringing me down.
bring someone up raise a child My grandparents brought me up after my parents died.
bring something up start talking about a subject My mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports.
bring something up vomit He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the toilet.
call around phone many different places/people We called around but we weren't able to find the car part we needed.
call someone back return a phone call I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend.
call something off cancel Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love with his fiancé.
call on someone ask for an answer or opinion The professor called on me for question 1.
call on someone visit someone We called on you last night but you weren't home.
call someone up phone Give me your phone number and I will call you up when we are in town.
calm down relax after being angry You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car.
not care for someone/something not like (formal) I don't care for his behaviour.
catch up get to the same point as someone else You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty.
check in arrive and register at a hotel or airport We will get the hotel keys when we check in.
check out leave a hotel You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM.
check someone/something out look at carefully, investigate The company checks out all new employees.
check out someone/something look at (informal) Check out the crazy hair on that guy!
cheer up become happier She cheered up when she heard the good news.
cheer someone up make happier I brought you some flowers to cheer you up.
chip in help If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by noon.
clean something up tidy, clean Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside.
come across something find unexpectedly I came across these old photos when I was tidying the closet.
come apart separate The top and bottom come apart if you pull hard enough.
come down with something become sick My nephew came down with chicken pox this weekend.
come forward volunteer for a task or to give evidence The woman came forward with her husband's finger prints.
come from somewhere originate in The art of origami comes from Asia.
count on someone/something rely on I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.
cross something out draw a line through Please cross out your old address and write your new one.
cut back on something consume less My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty foods.
cut something down make something fall to the ground We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the storm.
cut in interrupt Your father cut in while I was dancing with your uncle.
cut in pull in too closely in front of another vehicle The bus driver got angry when that car cut in.
cut in start operating (of an engine or electrical device) The air conditioner cuts in when the temperature gets to 22°C.
cut something off remove with something sharp The doctors cut off his leg because it was severely injured.
cut something off stop providing The phone company cut off our phone because we didn't pay the bill.
cut someone off take out of a will My grandparents cut my father off when he remarried.
cut something out remove part of something (usually with scissors and paper) I cut this ad out of the newspaper.
do someone/something over beat up, ransack (Br.E., informal) He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a street gang.
do something over do again (N.Amer.) My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she doesn't like my topic.
do away with something discard It's time to do away with all of these old tax records.
do something up fasten, close Do your coat up before you go outside. It's snowing!
dress up wear nice clothing It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.
drop back move back in a position/group Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off her bike.
drop in/by/over come without an appointment I might drop in/by/over for tea some time this week.
drop someone/something off take someone/something somewhere and leave them/it there I have to drop my sister off at work before I come over.
drop out quit a class, school etc I dropped out of Science because it was too difficult.
eat out eat at a restaurant I don't feel like cooking tonight. Let's eat out.
end up eventually reach/do/decide We ended up renting a movie instead of going to the theatre.
fall apart break into pieces My new dress fell apart in the washing machine.
fall down fall to the ground The picture that you hung up last night fell down this morning.
fall out separate from an interior The money must have fallen out of my pocket.
fall out (of hair, teeth) become loose and unattached His hair started to fall out when he was only 35.
figure something out understand, find the answer I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the bookshelf in this room.
fill something in to write information in blanks (Br.E.) Please fill in the form with your name, address, and phone number.
fill something out to write information in blanks (N.Amer.) The form must be filled out in capital letters.
fill something up fill to the top I always fill the water jug up when it is empty.
find out discover We don't know where he lives. How can we find out?
find something out discover We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but Samantha found it out.
get something across/over communicate, make understandable I tried to get my point across/over to the judge but she wouldn't listen.
get along/on like each other I was surprised how well my new girlfriend and my sister got along/on.
get around have mobility My grandfather can get around fine in his new wheelchair.
get away go on a vacation We worked so hard this year that we had to get away for a week.
get away with something do without being noticed or punished Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths tests.
get back return We got back from our vacation last week.
get something back receive something you had before Liz finally got her Science notes back from my room-mate.
get back at someone retaliate, take revenge My sister got back at me for stealing her shoes. She stole my favourite hat.
get back into something become interested in something again I finally got back into my novel and finished it.
get on something step onto a vehicle We're going to freeze out here if you don't let us get on the bus.
get over something recover from an illness, loss, difficulty I just got over the flu and now my sister has it.
get over something overcome a problem The company will have to close if it can't get over the new regulations.
get round to something finally find time to do (N.Amer.: get around to something) I don't know when I am going to get round to writing the thank you cards.
get together meet (usually for social reasons) Let's get together for a BBQ this weekend.
get up get out of bed I got up early today to study for my exam.
get up stand You should get up and give the elderly man your seat.
give someone away reveal hidden information about someone His wife gave him away to the police.
give someone away take the bride to the altar My father gave me away at my wedding.
give something away ruin a secret My little sister gave the surprise party away by accident.
give something away give something to someone for free The library was giving away old books on Friday.
give something back return a borrowed item I have to give these skates back to Franz before his hockey game.
give in reluctantly stop fighting or arguing My boyfriend didn't want to go to the ballet, but he finally gave in.
give something out give to many people (usually at no cost) They were giving out free perfume samples at the department store.
give something up quit a habit I am giving up smoking as of January 1st.
give up stop trying My maths homework was too difficult so I gave up.
go after someone follow someone My brother tried to go after the thief in his car.
go after something try to achieve something I went after my dream and now I am a published writer.
go against someone compete, oppose We are going against the best soccer team in the city tonight.
go ahead start, proceed Please go ahead and eat before the food gets cold.
go back return to a place I have to go back home and get my lunch.
go out leave home to go on a social event We're going out for dinner tonight.
go out with someone date Jesse has been going out with Luke since they met last winter.
go over something review Please go over your answers before you submit your test.
go over visit someone nearby I haven't seen Tina for a long time. I think I'll go over for an hour or two.
go without something suffer lack or deprivation When I was young, we went without winter boots.
grow apart stop being friends over time My best friend and I grew apart after she changed schools.
grow back regrow My roses grew back this summer.
grow up become an adult When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman.
grow out of something get too big for Elizabeth needs a new pair of shoes because she has grown out of her old ones.
grow into something grow big enough to fit This bike is too big for him now, but he should grow into it by next year.
hand something down give something used to someone else I handed my old comic books down to my little cousin.
hand something in submit I have to hand in my essay by Friday.
hand something out to distribute to a group of people We will hand out the invitations at the door.
hand something over give (usually unwillingly) The police asked the man to hand over his wallet and his weapons.
hang in stay positive (N.Amer., informal) Hang in there. I'm sure you'll find a job very soon.
hang on wait a short time (informal) Hang on while I grab my coat and shoes!
hang out spend time relaxing (informal) Instead of going to the party we are just going to hang out at my place.
hang up end a phone call He didn't say goodbye before he hung up.
hold someone/something back prevent from doing/going I had to hold my dog back because there was a cat in the park.
hold something back hide an emotion Jamie held back his tears at his grandfather's funeral.
hold on wait a short time Please hold on while I transfer you to the Sales Department.
hold onto someone/something hold firmly using your hands or arms Hold onto your hat because it's very windy outside.
hold someone/somethingup rob A man in a black mask held the bank up this morning.
keep on doing something continue doing Keep on stirring until the liquid comes to a boil.
keep something from someone not tell We kept our relationship from our parents for two years.
keep someone/something out stop from entering Try to keep the wet dog out of the living room.
keep something up continue at the same rate If you keep those results up you will get into a great college.
let someone down fail to support or help, disappoint I need you to be on time. Don't let me down this time.
let someone in allow to enter Can you let the cat in before you go to school?
look after someone/something take care of I have to look after my sick grandmother.
look down on someone think less of, consider inferior Ever since we stole that chocolate bar your dad has looked down on me.
look for someone/something try to find I'm looking for a red dress for the wedding.
look forward to something be excited about the future I'm looking forward to the Christmas break.
look into something investigate We are going to look into the price of snowboards today.
look out be careful, vigilant, and take notice Look out! That car's going to hit you!
look out for someone/something be especially vigilant for Don't forget to look out for snakes on the hiking trail.
look something over check, examine Can you look over my essay for spelling mistakes?
look something up search and find information in a reference book or database We can look her phone number up on the Internet.
look up to someone have a lot of respect for My little sister has always looked up to me.
make something up invent, lie about something Josie made up a story about about why we were late.
make up forgive each other We were angry last night, but we made up at breakfast.
make someone up apply cosmetics to My sisters made me up for my graduation party.
mix something up confuse two or more things I mixed up the twins' names again!
pass away die His uncle passed away last night after a long illness.
pass out faint It was so hot in the church that an elderly lady passed out.
pass something out give the same thing to many people The professor passed the textbooks out before class.
pass something up decline (usually something good) I passed up the job because I am afraid of change.
pay someone back return owed money Thanks for buying my ticket. I'll pay you back on Friday.
pay for something be punished for doing something bad That bully will pay for being mean to my little brother.
pick something out choose I picked out three sweaters for you to try on.
point someone/something out indicate with your finger I'll point my boyfriend out when he runs by.
put something down put what you are holding on a surface or floor You can put the groceries down on the kitchen counter.
put someone down insult, make someone feel stupid The students put the substitute teacher down because his pants were too short.
put something off postpone We are putting off our trip until January because of the hurricane.
put something out extinguish The neighbours put the fire out before the firemen arrived.
put something together assemble I have to put the crib together before the baby arrives.
put up with someone/something tolerate I don't think I can put up with three small children in the car.
put something on put clothing/accessories on your body Don't forget to put on your new earrings for the party.
run into someone/something meet unexpectedly I ran into an old school-friend at the mall.
run over someone/something drive a vehicle over a person or thing I accidentally ran over your bicycle in the driveway.
run over/through something rehearse, review Let's run over/through these lines one more time before the show.
run away leave unexpectedly, escape The child ran away from home and has been missing for three days.
run out have none left We ran out of shampoo so I had to wash my hair with soap.
send something back return (usually by mail) My letter got sent back to me because I used the wrong stamp.
set something up arrange, organize Our boss set a meeting up with the president of the company.
set someone up trick, trap The police set up the car thief by using a hidden camera.
shop around compare prices I want to shop around a little before I decide on these boots.
show off act extra special for people watching (usually boastfully) He always shows off on his skateboard
sleep over stay somewhere for the night (informal) You should sleep over tonight if the weather is too bad to drive home.
sort something out organize, resolve a problem We need to sort the bills out before the first of the month.
stick to something continue doing something, limit yourself to one particular thing You will lose weight if you stick to the diet.
switch something off stop the energy flow, turn off The light's too bright. Could you switch it off.
switch something on start the energy flow, turn on We heard the news as soon as we switched on the car radio.
take after someone resemble a family member I take after my mother. We are both impatient.
take something apart purposely break into pieces He took the car brakes apart and found the problem.
take something back return an item I have to take our new TV back because it doesn't work.
take off start to fly My plane takes off in five minutes.
take something off remove something (usually clothing) Take off your socks and shoes and come in the lake!
take something out remove from a place or thing Can you take the garbage out to the street for me?
take someone out pay for someone to go somewhere with you My grandparents took us out for dinner and a movie.
tear something up rip into pieces I tore up my ex-boyfriend's letters and gave them back to him.
think back remember (often + to, sometimes + on) When I think back on my youth, I wish I had studied harder.
think something over consider I'll have to think this job offer over before I make my final decision.
throw something away dispose of We threw our old furniture away when we won the lottery.
turn something down decrease the volume or strength (heat, light etc) Please turn the TV down while the guests are here.
turn something down refuse I turned the job down because I don't want to move.
turn something off stop the energy flow, switch off Your mother wants you to turn the TV off and come for dinner.
turn something on start the energy, switch on It's too dark in here. Let's turn some lights on.
turn something up increase the volume or strength (heat, light etc) Can you turn the music up? This is my favourite song.
turn up appear suddenly Our cat turned up after we put posters up all over the neighbourhood.
try something on sample clothing I'm going to try these jeans on, but I don't think they will fit.
try something out test I am going to try this new brand of detergent out.
use something up finish the supply The kids used all of the toothpaste up so we need to buy some more.
wake up stop sleeping We have to wake up early for work on Monday.
warm someone/something up increase the temperature You can warm your feet up in front of the fireplace.
warm up prepare body for exercise I always warm up by doing sit-ups before I go for a run.
wear off fade away Most of my make-up wore off before I got to the party.
work out exercise I work out at the gym three times a week.
work out be successful Our plan worked out fine.
work something out make a calculation We have to work out the total cost before we buy the house.

Br.E.: British English; N.Amer.: North American

ejercicios de inglés

EXERCISE A
Put the verb into the correct form.

ANSWER



Examples:
Please don't make so much noise. I am studying (study)
Let's go out now. It isn't raining (not rain) anymore.
Listen to those people. What language are they speaking (they/speak)?




1.
Please be quiet. I (try) to concentrate.

2.
Look! It (snow).

3.
Why (you / look) at me like that? Did I say something wrong?

4.
You (make) a lot of noise. Can you be a little bit quieter?

5.
Excuse me, I (look) for a phone booth. Is there one near here?

6.
(at the movies) It's a good movie, isn't it? (you / enjoy) it?

7.
Listen! Can you hear those people next door? They (yell) at each other again.

8.
Why (you / wear) your coat today? It's very warm.

9.
I (not / work) this week. I'm on vacation.

10.
I want to lose weight. I (not / eat) anything today.






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EXERCISE B
Complete these sentences using one of these verbs: GET - BECOME - CHANGE - RISE - IMPROVE - FALL - INCREASE. You don't have to use all the verbs and you can use some of them more than once.

ANSWER



Example: The population of the world is rising very fast.




1.
The number of people without jobs at the moment.

2.
He is still sick, but he better slowly.

3.
These days food more and more expensive.

4.
The world . Things never stay the same.

5.
The cost of living . Every year things are more expensive.

6.
George has gone to work in Spain. At first, his Spanish wasn't very good, but now it .

7.
The economic situation is already very bad, and it worse.






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EXERCISE C
Read this conversation between Brian and Steve. Put each verb in the correct form.

ANSWER





Brian and Steve meet in a restaurant.


Brian:
Hello, Steve. I haven't seen you for ages. What are you doing (you / do) these days?

Steve:
I (work) in a department store.

Brian:
Really? (you / enjoy) it?

Steve:
Yeah, it's OK. How about you?

Brian:
Well, I (not / work) at the moment, but I'm very busy. I (build) a house.

Steve:
Really? (you / do) it alone?

Brian:
No, some friends of mine (help) me.


EXERCISE A
Put the verb into the correct form.

ANSWER



Examples:
Water boils (boil) at 100 degrees Celsius.
George doesn't go (not/go) to the movies very often.
How many languages do you speak (you/speak)?




1.
The swimming pool (open) at 9:00 and (close) at 6:30 every day.

2.
What time (the banks/close) here?

3.
I have a car, but I (not/use) it very often.

4.
How many cigarettes (you/smoke) a day?

5.
"What (you/do)?" "I'm an electrical engineer".

6.
"Where (your father/come) from?" "He (come) from Mexico".

7.
It (take) me an hour to get to work, How long (it/take) you?

8.
I (play) the piano, but I (not/play) very well.

9.
I don't understand the word "deceive". What ("deceive"/mean)?






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EXERCISE B
Read these sentences and correct them. The English is correct but the information is WRONG. Write two correct sentences each time.

ANSWER



Example:
The sun goes around the earth. The sun doesn't go around the earth. The earth goes around the sun.




1.
The sun rises in the west.
.

2.
Mice catch cats. .

3.
Carpenters make things from metal. .

4.
The Amazon River flows into the Pacific Ocean.
.






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EXERCISE C
Use these sentences to make questions. Begin your questions with the word(s) in parentheses.

ANSWER



Examples:
Tom plays tennis. (How often?) How often does Tom play tennis?
I jog in the morning. (What time/usually?) What time do you usually jog?




1.
Ann watches television. (How often?) How often ?

2.
I write to my parents. (How often?) ?

3.
I have dinner in the evening. (What time/usually?) ?

4.
Tom works. (Where?) ?

5.
I go to the movies. (How often?) ?

6.
People do stupid things. (Why?) ?

7.
The car breaks down. (How often?) ?

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Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by the stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. She began performing in the rock music scene of New York City's Lower East Side in 2003 and enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She soon signed with Streamline Records, an imprint of Interscope Records. During her early time at Interscope, she worked as a songwriter for fellow label artists and captured the attention of Akon, who recognized her vocal abilities, and signed her to his own label, Kon Live Distribution.

Released on August 19, 2008, her debut album, The Fame, reached number one in the UK, Canada, Austria, Germany and Ireland, and reached the top-ten in numerous countries worldwide; in the United States, it peaked at two on the Billboard 200 chart and topped Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Its first two singles, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face", co-written and co-produced with RedOne, became international number-one hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well as the charts of other countries. The album later earned a total of six Grammy Award nominations and won awards for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording. In early 2009 she embarked on her first headlining tour, The Fame Ball Tour. By the fourth quarter of the year, she had released her second studio album The Fame Monster, with the global chart-topping lead single "Bad Romance", as well as having embarked on her second headlining tour of the year, The Monster Ball Tour.

Lady Gaga is inspired by glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. She has also stated fashion is a source of inspiration for her songwriting and performances. Gaga was ranked the 73rd Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard. As of August 2010, Gaga has sold more than 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide. In May 2010, Time magazine included Gaga in its annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In June 2010, Forbes listed Gaga fourth on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world; she is also ranked as the second most powerful musician in the world.
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