Genre: How We Know What We’re About to Read, Watch, Play, or Hear

Everyone has types of stories that they tend to like, and types that they do not. I myself will read or watch most things with even a hint of magic in them. These story types each have their own name like fantasy or romance, and they help us talk about and categorize the works that we like. This is genre, the literary device we're covering today! We won't be delving deep into any one genre to understand its features today, but if you have a genre you want to know more about, feel free to ask about it in the comments or connect with me on Twitter or Instagram...

Battlestar Galactica Pantoum: This Has All Happened Before

This has all happened before, and it will happen again. Fans of the 2004-2009 Battlestar Galactica reboot know this mantra well. What if I told you that there's a poetic form that fits this theme of inescapable repetition perfectly? Let's explore one of my favorite monstrous manifestation (it's a poetry blog post, I had to slip in some consonance) of poetic form: the pantoum.

Dramatic Irony: What They Don’t Know, But You Do

Recently, we took a look at verbal and situational irony in Futurama. Today, Futurama returns for another foray into a third type of irony: dramatic irony. Now that you're used to thinking of irony as the opposite of reality (kind of), stick a pin in that. Dramatic irony throws this rule out the window. Dramatic irony  creates the kinds of moments that cause you to start yelling at the characters on the screen to stop what they're doing right away...

Verbal and Situational Irony: Putting the Funny in Futurama

Comedy shows offer many great examples of irony because the comedy genre often takes advantage of irony in order to produce hilarious or unexpected outcomes. Futurama is especially good at using irony, and even talks about irony in the episode "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings"...

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina 8: Battlestar Galactica

Tonight is the last night of Chanukkah, meaning that it is just about time to break out the Santa hats in my household, and I'm pretty excited. In the meantime, welcome to the concluding night of the Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina holiday special. Tonight, spin up the FTL Drive for a few examples from Battlestar Galactica...

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deux ex Machina 6 & 7: Rick & Morty, and My Little Pony

Nearly every holiday has some sort of festival celebrating a miracle that saved its practitioners in some way. Miracles such as these are almost always worth celebrating, and people generally like to celebrate. In honor of the many December holidays (not all revolving around miracles), we're exploring eight examples of narrative miracles through the literary …

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deux ex Machina 5: Gravity Falls

Happy Chanukkah and happy holidays, everyone, and welcome back for the fifth night of Deus ex Machina. We're celebrating the eight nights of Chanukkah and other December holidays with this literary device. Tonight, let's take a look at Gravity Falls...

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina 3 & 4: Jurassic Park and Kingdom Hearts II

Happy holidays everyone, and welcome back for nights 3 and 4 of the Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina holiday special celebrating Chanukkah and other winter holidays. In case you missed them, we defined this miracle of a literary device on Night One, and talked about how it appears in Pokemon: The First Movie for Night Two. Let the festivities continue with Dinosaurs and hover bikes...

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina 2: Pokemon

Happy holidays, everyone, and welcome back to Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina, where we celebrate holiday miracles with pop culture and literary devices. It’s the second night of Chanukkah, and tonight we’re unpacking a childhood favorite— Pokemon: The First Movie...

Holiday Special: Eight Nights of Deus ex Machina

December is a festive time of year for many, with Kwanzaa, Chanukkah, Christmas, Yule, and New Years Eve as some of the holidays brightening homes around the globe. In honor of this festive time, and as a Chanukkah-themed holiday series, please enjoy eight nights of Deus ex Machina. First, we're taking a look at Clamp's Cardcaptor Sakura...