Literature

Charlotte Aldebron, 12, wrote this essay for a competition in her 6th grade English class. She attends Cunningham Middle School in Presque Isle, Maine.

By John Scalzi

Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.

Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree is something of a classic of modern children's literature. But it is also highly controversial. Its appropriateness for children recently became the subject of lively discussion among the members of the Symposium on "The Ethics of Everyday Life," which is sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Life with the support of the Lilly Endowment.

By Larry Niven

by Harry Chapin

No matter what Flash-blinded web monkeys would have us believe, the Internet is a text-based medium: especially its major discussion forums (IRC and Usenet) where people from all over the world can interact and share information. A popular misconception about text messages on the Internet is that, to be an effective communicator and earn the respect and admiration of your peers, you must be able to write lucid prose; that your messages, articles, posts and pages must be easy to understand and pleasant to read.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

To construct a Shakespearean insult, combine one word from each of the three columns below, and preface it with "Thou":

Let's face it -- English is a crazy language!