A commonplace book, from george redgrave on flickr creative commons. Structuring a commonplace book jenny rallens method. Entries into a commonplace book are usually made with some forethoughta particular pen, an attention to neatnessunlike a writers notebook in. You can check out part 2 here and part 3 right here. How and why to keep a commonplace book thought catalog. Its a place to record favorite quotes from the books you read, ideas you have, and questions that arise from your studies. The modernist master fernando pessoas work remained largely unnoticed during his lifetime. Commonplace books, quotation and misquotation sources, researching quotes. Maybe you like a small journal with tiny entries, small sentences, small nuggets of joy and guidance you can reread over and over. But i am very encouraged to see that other people have their. As a result, readers habitually copied out passages they wished to remember in a personal journal or commonplace book. Whats most amazing is that the commonplace book has never really gone out of style, though these days its more of a nerds project.
Also known as topos koinos greek and locus communis latin. How to back up ones mind and to explore topics more holistically. As so many of us spend our work and personal lives online, its inevitable that we do most of our reading there thats why were making a digital commonplace book, and a lot of those words come to us on one website or another. My name is ginny and i am a wife, mom and i work 85 in my home among scattered toys, unwashed dishes, and piles of mail. A personal record of learning and selfdevelopment commonplace books are personal journals where a reader collects, classifies and organizes short, memorable pieces of learning and information regarding interests he or she may have. A notebook for capturing interesting quotes from reading, ideas, snippets of text for writings, diagrams, sketches, anything that comes to mind. Well, the idea of keeping a commonplace book has clearly struck a nerve. But the other kind of commonplace book was different. The commonplace book is notebook of 221 entries for characters and.
Lovecraft kindle edition by parsons, zack, cranor, jeffrey, bashwiner, meg, lottschwartz. Commonplace books, quotation and misquotation sources. The commonplace book is a seventeenth century innovation, and the idea is a simple one. Hes got a degree in just about every discipline under the sun speaking of the sun, he happens to be specialist on that too, and will tell you everything that there could be to know about our star, our planet, our solar system, our galaxy, and our universe. There are many different ways to structure a commonplace book, but here i will discuss one of the most popular methods. A commonplace book is a writers personal collection of quotations, observations, and topic ideas. Log in or sign up to leave a comment log in sign up. English enlightenment philosopher john locke wrote the 1706 book a new method of a common place book. The concept originated from commonplaces in ancient greece and rome, categories under which orators could place ideas, arguments, and rhetorical turn of phrases for later use. A modern commonplace bookcompanion for the workathome. As most concepts in antiquity have, commonplaces would be repurposed. Swift also had a commonplace book, though i dont think the entire things been edited. Professor astro cats frontiers of space suggested by.
Why and how you should be keeping a commonplace book. Written by jamie on may 15, 2009 in basics of self education, learning tips 11 comments. Inside this book waits horror, science fiction, comedy, memoir, experimental text art, and one extremely short novel. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a commonplace book of the weird. A commonplace book is a central resource or depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations and information you come across during your life and didactic pursuits. You get in a plane, it defies the gravity of an entire planet by exploiting a loophole with air pressure, and it flies across distances that would take months or years to cross by any means of travel that has been significant for more than a century or three. Recently learned about a collection of short stories inspired by unused entries from hpls commonplace book. I use tags in the commonplace book so i can find things later. In preparation, i was deeply inspired and instructed by jenny rallens series of posts on commonplacing, which, unfortunately, are no longer online. Lovecraft, the early twentiethcentury master of weird fiction, left behind descriptions of 221 unwritten stories.
This week i introduced commonplacing to my high school students at our local homeschool community. Sources for good quotations and for researching questionable quotes. Designed to be carried with you at all times, this journal is used to document the most important things you read, hear, or experience each day. Remember, your commonplace book is personal so keep it that way. Commonplace book of the weird quotes by joseph fink. The purpose of the book is to record and organize these gems for later use in your life, in your business, in your writing, speaking or whatever it is that you do. They can be words from a novel, from a poem, from a picture book, from the side of a cereal box. Review the commonplace book of the weird by joseph fink. Whenever i talk about this concept, people ask me for commonplace book examples or commonplace book ideas. Feb 5, 2020 commonplace books are not diaries nor travelogues.
The nook book ebook of the a commonplace book of the weird. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. You will keep this book for the rest of your life, building up an everlarge repository of information and insights. The book of disquiet is the weirdest autobiography ever. A commonplace book is for collecting and organizing ideas. How to keep a digital commonplace startgainingmomentum. A commonplace book tends to be both less impulsive and less practical than a writers notebook. In the 18th and 19th centuries, though, bookstores and libraries were far smaller. It is where they copy great passages, quotes and poems from literature. A commonplace book, which is the literal translation of locus communis, is where you store all the most important information and ideas that you come across everyday, particularly when you are reading. Fans and wouldbe writers often ask published writers where they get their ideas. This is part 1 of a 3 part series on using our favorite mac tools for keeping a commonplace book. Commonplace book of the weird quotes showing 11 of 1 see, now, that it was wrong for me to curse your particular blood to a diseased eternity of suffering.
Let me give you a few examples of what you might want to compile in your commonplace book. The commonplace book as a thinkers journal critical margins. Need fantastic helpful hints regarding personal development. Called florilegia flowers of reading in the middle ages, commonplace books were especially popular during the. A commonplace book of the weird download ebook pdf, epub. I keep a commonplace book at home, which is the repository for the bestof scribble book entries and other bits of wisdom or information or life eventslessons.
A commonplace book helps you process, understand, and retain anything thats valuable to you. It was a short book on how to write weird fiction that included an extensive list of suggestions for stories. In this edition, scott esposito and bradley babendir discuss fernando pessoas the book of disquiet. Professor astro cat is the smartest cat in the alley. Sometimes the most remarkable things seem commonplace.
Commonplace books or commonplaces are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. Anyway, i was wondering, for those of you who have already been doing a commonplace book for some time, do you find that the notecard method is more effective for retaining information and connecting ideas, or the journal method. It motivates us to look for and keep only the things we can use. Writers from all over the country tackle the unused. Commonplace books are a place we find womens writing in an era where theres less than we might like. But miltons commonplace book, which most academic libraries have an edition of, is pretty cool too. The thomas jefferson papers at the library of congress. Now, the internet and its various keepsake websites serve as our modernday commonplace books. Not only did the article make the front page of reddit and blow up on facebook and twitter, but many people emailed in their own methods for keeping a commonplace book i understand my method is a little unique it was taught to me by a rather unique person.
They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the renaissance and in the nineteenth century. If youre feeling the distinctly sharp absence of cults, exorcisms, and unnameable discomfort in your life, look no further than a commonplace book of the weird. Anything i read that causes me to pause and read again to stop and savor the words or ponder the message it all belongs in my book. Commonplace books are a tradition spanning from the middle ages to today. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Very few are actually developed plotsfor the most part they are merely suggestions or random impressions designed to set the memory or imagination working. They keep their commonplace book beside them while reading from their literature selections. Lovecraft kindle edition by parsons, zack, cranor, jeffrey, bashwiner, meg, lottschwartz, hannah, marquis, justin, fink, joseph.
I no longer choose the passages for copywork but give them the freedom to choose. A commonplace book is a way to keep our learning priorities in order. Rather than something ordinary, a commonplace book is a journal or notebook in which a student, reader, or writer compiles quotations, poems, letters, and information, along with the compilers notes and reactions. In my commonplace book, i jot down snippets, quotes, stanzas. Commonplace book roger alexander math and more commonplace book the american scholar monthly. A brief guide to keeping a commonplace book notebook of. Its goal was to gather a collection of the wisest statements, usually of the ancients, for future meditation. One of the series in the thomas jefferson papers collection is commonplace books. Located in midtown oklahoma city, commonplace books is a gathering spot for people who want to lead meaningful, thoughtful lives. At the back of my commonplace books is a tagbased index. After you finish the book, put it down for a week or so. The beauty of the commonplace book is that its your personal.
Click download or read online button to get a commonplace book of the weird book now. What i keep in my commonplace book readaloud revival. A commonplace book is not what you might expect from the name. Double take is our literary criticism series wherein two readers tackle a highlyanticipated books innermost themes, successes, failures, trappings, and surprises. Such books are essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind. And a few will take you to another world, a world where weird fiction still lives, and the way home may prove difficult to find indeed. A commonplace book of the weird by joseph fink, editor. The most critical piece of our commonplace book will be the good quotes from the articles we read on the web. The commonplace journal is a daily selfimprovement guide based on the 600 year old tradition of the commonplace book and the latest in modern neuroscience and memory research. Lovecraft by joseph fink editor contributor, marcus goodyear contributor, will hartwell contributor. Take the parts you like, and leave out the parts you dont. How families can create and keep a commonplace book, with inspired education expert donna vail. Our collection of unique books and small goods are thoughtfully curated by a small, caring staff with great input from our community.
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