Beginning a Novel.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Beginning a Novel.Pdf BEGINNING A NOVEL by Hal E. Daniels A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The College of Liberal Arts in Partial FulfiJlment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August 2002 Copyright by Hal E. Daniels 2002 11 BEGINNING A NOVEL by Hal E. Daniels This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. John Childrey, College of Liberal Arts, and has been approved by the members ofhis supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of The College of Liberal Arts and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: T~ST J~C_ (~ Vice Provost Date lll ABSTRACT Author: Hal E. Daniels Title: Beginning a Novel Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. John Childrey Degree: Master of Arts in Teaching Year: 2002 Writing a novel is a formidable task. The average 300-page novel must contain a beginning, middle and end and is comparable to the structure of the movie screenplay. The latter comprises a first act in which characters and their situation are "set up;" a second act, which reveals the conflicts of the characters; and a third act, in which the situation and conflicts are resolved. The author, a community college writing teacher, recommends that his students create vivid characters and then write an outline. The outline will serve as a roadmap, guiding the students from the beginning of their novels (the set up) to the end. Several famous authors, including Stephen King and Elmore Leonard, insist they do not use outlines. Rather, they create their characters and project the novel to its logical conclusion, according to the parameters of character. However, screenwriting guru Syd Field disagrees. Field believes an outline, written on a paradigm diagram, will keep the storyline on course and result in a more satisfying ending. The author agrees with Field. lV TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1, Beginning a Novel .... ..... ... .. ... ............... ............ 1 Chapter 2, The Beginning ofT & T ................ ... ............. .. ... 13 Chapter 3, Problems, Problems .... ... .. .. ........... ... ... ........ ... .. .. 33 Chapter 4, Teaching the Beginning of an Original Novel ............. 40 Notes .. .. ... ............ .. .................... ... ........................ ... .. 54 Works Cited .................................................................. 55 v Chapter 1 Beginning a Novel You love to write. You've published a short story in some obscure on-line literary journal. You covered the police beat (or city hall) for the Podunk Times-Gazette when you were younger. You've studied creative writing. Now you want to tackle the Mount Everest of creative writing assignments. You want to write a novel. If you think writing a novel will be as simple as that story you wrote about the bank robbery or that short story you published, think again. The average screenplay comprises 90 pages for a comedy and 120 for a drama. A short fictional piece might contain 30 pages. The average novel keeps going and going and going ... until you've wiped out an entire rain forest for approximately 300 pages. Three hundred pages! Where on earth will you find 300 absorbing pages? Believe it or not, the words you need are in a good dictionary and the plan is in your head, if you know what you are doing. With a good plan, you can keep your characters in line and your readers committed to your novel. Getting that plan out of your head and onto a piece of paper is what this essay is about. Every effective piece of creative writing must contain a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning (or first act) of your story is the foundation of the entire novel. If the beginning, the first three or four chapters, does not set up the balance of the story, nothing will make sense to your readers. What's worse, you'll never sell the novel because agents and publishers are readers, too. If the readers don't like your characters, they won't get past page five (if you're 1 lucky). If you are unlucky, they won't get past page two. If the readers don't understand what your characters want to accomplish, they won't want to read your novel. If the readers don't understand how difficult and challenging it will be for your hero to accomplish his or her objective, they won't want to read your novel. So, how do you write the beginning of your novel? Many famous authors will tell you to begin with three-dimensional characters. Create two or more memorable characters, give them a situation, and the rest is history, they say. But is it really that simple? I don't think so. Let's suppose you want to drive your five-year old Ford or Toyota from South Florida to Los Angeles. You figure you've flown to Los Angeles once before and you've seen Rainman in the movies and those characters made it by car to Los Angeles, and one of them was autistic! If they can do it, so can you. And you don't need a roadmap. Or do you? So you're driving along, and you decide you want to take a side trip to Dallas. You follow the signs and you start driving north from Interstate 1O ... and you get lost. What's worse, your old clunker is starting to make strange noises. You break down in Nacodoches. Ifyou had a map, you would have known that Dallas is 224 miles from Houston, and not worth the time and expense. Your trip is over because you didn't know where you were going (and you forgot to fix your car). An outline of your novel is like a roadmap. If you have an outline, you will not get lost. You will not waste time. You will know where to start, where to go, where to finish. Sure, you will probably make a few short side trips along the way, but you 2 will know at all times where you are going. And that is why I teach beginning writers to create vivid characters and then write an outline. Novels are like screenplays in that both contain a first, second and third act. In the beginning (or first act), the author sets up his or her story. He or she introduces the protagonist(s) and the antagonist(s)- the hero and the villain. However, the writer must do more than merely describe the protagonist to us. It is not enough to know that Huck was twelve years old and had freckles. It is better to know that Huck "could sit up as late as he pleased; he was always the first boy that went barefoot in the spring and the last to resume leather in the fall; he never had to wash, nor put on clean clothes; he could swear wonderfully. In a word, everything that goes to make life precious, that boy had." Now that's descriptive writing, and that's how Mark Twain introduces Huck Finn to us in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. (Of course, we meet the rascal again in The Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn) In the beginning of the novel (or first act of the screenplay), the author must tell the readers what it is the protagonist wants more than anything else. We must learn that the old fisherman wants that giant marlin more than anything else. We must know that Atticus Finch wants to defend Tom Robinson from a false charge of rape because the old lawyer couldn't live with himself if he didn't. Stephen Crane puts his readers inside the mind of a young boy caught in the maelstrom of the Civil War. What does Henry Fleming want? He wants to be a war hero, but he has doubts. Will he skedaddle like a coward or fight like a hero? Will he survive the fury of war? 3 Finally, the author must let us know early on - in the beginning - what forces are conspiring to stop the hero from achieving his or her goals. A school of hungry sharks wants that marlin, too. Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson live in Depression- era Alabama, and Tom is black. All white juries in Alabama, circa 1935, didn't put too much stock in black defendants and their lawyers, regardless of the facts. Henry Fleming may have wanted a medal for valor, but early in the war those Rebels were a killing machine, and many a Yankee was mowed down. Advice from Authors Many authors instruct young writers to begin planning their novels by creating three-dimensional characters they feel they know. Often, these characters are composites of familiar people. Anne Lamott, author of Crooked Little Heart and Hard Laughter, says: "Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, I something is bound to happen." Stephen King, author of more than thirty novels, starts with a situation. In his book, On Writing, published in 2000, King notes: The situation comes first. The characters - always flat and unfeatured, to begin with- come next. Once these things are fixed in my mind, I begin to narrate. I often have an idea of what the outcome may be, but I have never demanded of a set of characters that they do things my way. On the contrary, I want them to do things their way. In some instances, the outcome is what I visualized. In most, however, it's something I never expected.
Recommended publications
  • Pumping up Masculinity: the Initial Intervention and Lasting Legacy of Hans and Franz
    Pumping Up Masculinity: The Initial Intervention and Lasting Legacy of Hans and Franz MASON ALLRED N 1988, WHEN ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER STEPPED ONTO THE STAGE of Saturday Night Live, appearing with the characters of Hans and I Franz, he brought a sense of reality and significance to the set. The normally absent butt of Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey’s ongo- ing joke of ranting Teutonic bodybuilders was present and the work of mocking became especially potent. How Arnold was able to serve as the catalyst for such a series of skits had everything do with his imposing embodiment of several cultural images. As he brought a history of conceptions concerning Germanic masculinity together with a new admiration for bodybuilding, his iconic image in Holly- wood films manufactured an international model for men to emulate. Nealon and Carvey were then able to mock the emerging chauvinistic ideal of big man masculinity through ironic performance in their sketch comedy. Hans and Franz first appeared on the night of October 17, 1987. This was the Season 13 premiere of SNL and Hans and Franz debuted by introducing themselves as fitness trainers and explicitly stating their association with “their cousin Arnold.” Between outrageous insults (directed at the audience’s physical inferiority) and gratuitous muscle flexing, Hans and Franz made it clear that their task was to “Arnoldize” the world and to “pump [us] up!” While Arnold is obvi- ously the root of “Pumping Up with Hans and Franz,” closer analysis uncovers a layered comic effect in these skits produced within a significant cultural moment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Creative Life of 'Saturday Night Live' Which Season Was the Most Original? and Does It Matter?
    THE PAGES A sampling of the obsessive pop-culture coverage you’ll find at vulture.com ost snl viewers have no doubt THE CREATIVE LIFE OF ‘SATURDAY experienced Repetitive-Sketch Syndrome—that uncanny feeling NIGHT LIVE’ WHICH Mthat you’re watching a character or setup you’ve seen a zillion times SEASON WAS THE MOST ORIGINAL? before. As each new season unfolds, the AND DOES IT MATTER? sense of déjà vu progresses from being by john sellers 73.9% most percentage of inspired (A) original sketches season! (D) 06 (B) (G) 62.0% (F) (E) (H) (C) 01 1980–81 55.8% SEASON OF: Rocket Report, Vicki the Valley 51.9% (I) Girl. ANALYSIS: Enter 12 51.3% new producer Jean Doumanian, exit every 08 Conehead, Nerd, and 16 1975–76 sign of humor. The least- 1986–87 SEASON OF: Samurai, repetitive season ever, it SEASON OF: Church Killer Bees. ANALYSIS: taught us that if the only Lady, The Liar. Groundbreaking? breakout recurring ANALYSIS: Michaels Absolutely. Hilarious? returned in season 11, 1990–91 character is an unfunny 1982–83 Quite often. But man-child named Paulie dumped Billy Crystal SEASON OF: Wayne’s SEASON OF: Mr. Robinson’s unbridled nostalgia for Herman, you’ve got and Martin Short, and Neighborhood, The World, Hans and Franz. SNL’s debut season— problems that can only rebuilt with SNL’s ANALYSIS: Even though Whiners. ANALYSIS: Using the second-least- be fixed by, well, more broadest ensemble yet. seasons 4 and 6 as this is one of the most repetitive ever—must 32.0% Eddie Murphy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Carroll News-Vol. 82, No. 6
    John Carroll University Carroll Collected The aC rroll News Student 2-20-1992 The aC rroll News-Vol. 82, No. 6 John Carroll University Follow this and additional works at: http://collected.jcu.edu/carrollnews Recommended Citation John Carroll University, "The aC rroll News-Vol. 82, No. 6" (1992). The Carroll News. 1032. http://collected.jcu.edu/carrollnews/1032 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student at Carroll Collected. It has been accepted for inclusion in The aC rroll News by an authorized administrator of Carroll Collected. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Serving the John Carroll University Community Vo l. 82, No. 6 John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio 44118 February 20, 1992 Students elect new officers Taro Schmidtke Union. tion procedure this year wem very "I still want to try to get the smoothly. changes I proposed during my "I was very impressed with this campaign," said Parks. "Maybe t year's election," said Ncmanich. don't need the office to accomplish "It was a clean election. Il was what I'd like to sec done." very nice." Vice president-elect Luke "It was an excellent election," Adams said "I'm glad the election said Dcllaftora. "The candidai.Cs procedure is over. I'm looking were fair and did a good job." forward to the upcoming year and According to Dcllafiora, over to working with everyone." 1000 students voted in the elec­ Additionally on Tuesday, the tions. SU senaLCelected Diana Hartman "We had a good voter turnout as ncxttenn' s executive secretary which was also nice to sec." said and Monica Corcman as next Dcllafiora.
    [Show full text]
  • Sponsor Brochure
    Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County presents R FO Featuring Emmy award winning actor and comedian, Dana Carvey! Join us as a Sponsor on April 6, 2019 at The Inn at Spanish Bay COMICS FOR KIDS JOIN US FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING April 6, 2019 marks the 26th annual Comics for Kids Auction, celebrating the youth of Monterey County with our community. The venue is the premier destination location of California’s Central Coast — Pebble Beach, held in the spectacular Inn at Spanish Bay. Guests will enjoy a cocktail reception, silent auction and benefi t drawing, followed by a dinner, live auction and fabulous entertainment from Dana Carvey! We invite you to join us as sponsor to entertain clients and friends while supporting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County. Individual and corporate investors, along with our event sponsors, provide fi nancial and in-kind support to impact the lives of over 4,000 local youth, shaping the future of our communities and the leaders of tomorrow. For 26 years, guests have experienced the best comedic entertainment by some of the nation’s most enjoyed and well known comedians. Past performers include James Corden, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, Howie Mandel, Rita Rudner and Martin Short. You won’t want to miss this! Emmy-award winning actor and comedian Dana Carvey is best known for his iconic and indelible SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE characters – most memorably Church Lady, Grumpy Old Man, Hans, of the Hans and Franz body building duo, and of course Garth – Mike Myer’s “excellent Co-Host” on the classis sketch turned feature fi lm, WAYNE’S WORLD.
    [Show full text]
  • One of the 25 Projects of the Year (Page 76)
    AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION • JULY 2013 • www.apwa.net Lake Champlain Bridge Replacement: One of the 25 Projects of the Year (page 76) Also Inside: • Annual Transportation Issue • Snow Conference highlights • Core Competencies • Global Solutions Pumps You Can Trust For Over 75 Years Since 1934 Griffin Pump & Equipment, Inc. 5306 Clinton Drive • Houston, TX 77020 Call: (713) 671-7000 or Toll Free: (866) 770-8100 Email: [email protected] www.griffinpump.com July 2013 Vol. 80, No. 7 The APWA Reporter, the official magazine of the American Public Works Association, covers all facets of public works for APWA members including industry news, legislative actions, management issues and emerging technologies. TRANSPORTATION & PROJECTS OF THE YEAR 41 61 70 76 INSIDE APWA FEATURES 2 President’s Message 48 A traffic safety focus for local agencies 10 Candidates for the APWA Board of Directors named 51 Superstorm Sandy NYC MTA Bridges and Tunnels’ road to recovery 14 Technical Committee News 54 Transportation challenges demand a fundamental 16 Snow Conference focuses on emergencies cultural shift 18 National Public Works Week 2013 honors public works 56 The Transportation and Development Institute’s professionals’ contributions to quality of life Sustainability Mission 21 Get the Inside Track: Become your APWA Chapter’s 58 2013 transportation safety activities at the Transportation Transportation Liaison Research Board Annual Meeting and the latest in 22 Close the door on what you think you know about leadership transportation safety news 26 Chicago on the cheap: an opportunity for a Kodak Moment 60 Alternative intersection design delivers 28 Sneak peak at Chicago’s Congress transportation sessions 64 Partnering for success: an improved approach to Florida’s Local Agency Program 30 APWA’s Donald C.
    [Show full text]
  • April 2019 | Adar II-Nisan 5779 | Volume 66 Number 3 a Gift for the Generationslive! from BETH EL
    April 2019 | Adar II-Nisan 5779 | Volume 66 Number 3 A Gift for the GenerationsLIVE! FROM BETH EL NEW Special Performance by KEVIN NEALON “I would never have experienced the wonderful traditions and warmth of the Jewish community were it not for A Rabbi Loeb and Beth El.” for the Raised as a Roman Catholic, Joan Schultz never felt connected to the church. She was first exposed to Jewish Gift culture and tradition as a nurse working at Sinai Hospital. “Judaism fascinated me, so I began asking my Jewish LIVE! FROM BETH EL patients and colleagues about their faith,” she said. Generations Among those who answered Joan’s curiosity was a handsome doctor named Michael Schultz. JOAN AND DR. MICHAEL “As our relationship grew, we decided to make a Jewish SCHULTZ HONORED AT LIVE! home together,” Mrs. Schultz said. “I wanted to drink the FROM BETH EL ‘house wine’ so to speak.” By: Brandon Chiat, Digital Media Manager So, at 28-years-old, with the support of Michael and under the guidance of Rabbi Mark Loeb, Joan began A stainless steel cocoon hangs in Dr. Michael the formal conversion process at Beth El. Converting Schultz’s office. to Judaism as a young-adult gave Joan a unique The Michael Aram sculpture is a gift from perspective into the sensibilities of modern Jews. a former patient, inscribed with a message “[Judaism] must embrace change,” she said. “The fact of gratitude: “From all your butterflies past, that Beth El welcomes interfaith families and exposes present, and future, you cocooned us in your them to Jewish values and traditions ensures the future of kindness, caring, concern and wisdom and we our faith.” emerged as beautiful butterflies.” Not surprisingly, Michael and Joan Schultz were For over 35 years, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Student Foils Assault Near Purnell Hall Rapes Reported Per Year Faculty Protest Dean City Increases Parking Rates
    Sleeping, sneezing, G\ Looking toward snoring through classes,r~ D....;:U;....S_C_'S_a-fe_ty_w_a_lk_'_b_r-in_g_sproblems to light -= · basketball season page 9 zzz-~ V page 3 page 15 ~----.....1 L,;. • Student foils assault near Purnell Hall Rapes reported per year Year Number of rapes reported By Larry Dignan Orchard Road when the assailant white male in his early 20s, 5-foot- reported, compared to nine for 1990. Ciry News Ediror grabbed her arm and pulled her to a 10 with a chubby build, brown hair, Lt. Alex von Koch said although 1 13 A university student escaped a tree. a beard and a mustache. the number of reported rapes 991* t t t t t t t t t t I t .t . knife-wielding assailant in what He then put a knife under her chin At the time of the attack, he was increased from last year, the number Newark Police said was an attempted and told her to do as he said and she wearing a dark blue sweatshirt, a has nuctuated over the past five 1990 t t t t t t t t t 9 rape near Purnell Hall Monday night. jean jacket, jeans, and a maroon cap years and 1991 is still "in the Tile incident follows two rapes of with gold writing and a gold ball ballpark" of the average statistics. students in a two-week period. The • See editorial page 6 earring in his left ear. Of the 13 incidents, police 1989 t t t t t t t 7 previous crimes occurred at the Police said that although the arrested and charged one suspect, students' homes at the Christina would not be hun.
    [Show full text]
  • Youinspire Us
    PRE-SORT STANDARD December 2014 U.S. POSTAGE PAID INDIANAPOLIS, IN PERMIT NO.1122 Where MorganCountyBusinessComes First YOU Lead CommunityFoundationofMorgan County Martinsville native,EdKominowski,Returns to EVERY DAY INSPIRE US Visit FranciscanStFrancis.org/MooresvilleVisit learn to more. THE STRENGTH IT TAKES Pre-employment Trust in our strength and Drug & Alcohol Testing Physicals and Immunizations make your business stronger. DOT/CDL Exams Vision/Hearing Screenings Indiana University Health now offers area employers convenient and easily assessable Occupational Health services right here in Morgan County. We work On-the-Job Injury Prevention with employers of all types and sizes to develop cost-efficient and effective work- Injury Treatment/ Worker’s Comp related medical care: From pre-employment physicals to injury care to back to- Independent Medical Evaluations work solutions. Quality care is located right where your employees work and live. Job Specific Ergonomic Evaluations Call us today to learn how we can help you make a difference in the lives of your employees – and the health of your organization. Return to Work Physical and Occupational Therapy & Rehabilitation Contact 765.349.6777 to schedule a consultation. Fitness for Duty Testing Wellness Programs On-Site Mobile Health Coach IU Health Occupational Health | 789 E Morgan Street | Martinsville, IN 46151 © 2014 IU Health 3.14 IU HMH 13299 Morgn_Cty_Bus_Ldr_half_pg_ad_Dec_14.ai 1 11/20/2014 10:44:38 AM FROM THE PUBLISHER Insight from The Grinch We all observe traditions this time of year that question inevitably surfaces – “Maybe Christ- serve to make the season our own. One of mine mas, perhaps...means a little bit more.” is to gather my grandchildren together, huddle The Grinch was onto something.
    [Show full text]
  • Music 96676 Songs, 259:07:12:12 Total Time, 549.09 GB
    Music 96676 songs, 259:07:12:12 total time, 549.09 GB Artist Album # Items Total Time A.R. Rahman slumdog millionaire 13 51:30 ABBA the best of ABBA 11 43:42 ABBA Gold 9 36:57 Abbey Lincoln, Stan Getz you gotta pay the band 10 58:27 Abd al Malik Gibraltar 15 54:19 Dante 13 50:54 Abecedarians Smiling Monarchs 2 11:59 Eureka 6 35:21 Resin 8 38:26 Abel Ferreira Conjunto Chorando Baixinho 12 31:00 Ace of Base The Sign 12 45:49 Achim Reichel Volxlieder 15 47:57 Acid House Kings Sing Along With 12 35:40 The Acorn glory hope mountain 12 48:22 Acoustic Alchemy Early Alchemy 14 45:42 arcanum 12 54:00 the very best of (Acoustic Alchemy) 16 1:16:10 Active Force active force 9 42:17 Ad Vielle Que Pourra Ad Vielle Que Pourra 13 52:14 Adam Clayton Mission Impossible 1 3:27 Adam Green Gemstones 15 31:46 Adele 19 12 43:40 Adele Sebastan Desert Fairy Princess 6 38:19 Adem Homesongs 10 44:54 Adult. Entertainment 4 18:32 the Adventures Theodore And Friends 16 1:09:12 The Sea Of Love 9 41:14 trading secrets with the moon 11 48:40 Lions And Tigers And Bears 13 55:45 Aerosmith Aerosmith's Greatest Hits 10 37:30 The African Brothers Band Me Poma 5 37:32 Afro Celt Sound System Sound Magic 3 13:00 Release 8 45:52 Further In Time 12 1:10:44 Afro Celt Sound System, Sinéad O'Connor Stigmata 1 4:14 After Life 'Cauchemar' 11 45:41 Afterglow Afterglow 11 25:58 Agincourt Fly Away 13 40:17 The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir Saint Hubert 11 38:26 Ahmad El-Sherif Ben Ennas 9 37:02 Ahmed Abdul-Malik East Meets West 8 34:06 Aim Cold Water Music 12 50:03 Aimee Mann The Forgotten Arm 12 47:11 Air Moon Safari 10 43:47 Premiers Symptomes 7 33:51 Talkie Walkie 10 43:41 Air Bureau Fool My Heart 6 33:57 Air Supply Greatest Hits (Air Supply) 9 38:10 Airto Moreira Fingers 7 35:28 Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Joe Farrell Three-Way Mirror 8 52:52 Akira Ifukube Godzilla 26 45:33 Akosh S.
    [Show full text]
  • Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: the Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence
    University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 1995 Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: The Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence Mary Anne Case Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Mary Anne Case, "Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: The Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence," 105 Yale Law Journal 1 (1995). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Articles Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: The Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence Mary Anne C. Case CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 2 II. ON TERMINOLOGY: GENDER IS FOR ADJECTIVES, SEX IS FOR NOUNS .................................. 9 I. HISTORY AND THEORY OF GENDER BENDING: HEREIN OF HIC MULIER AND HAEC VIR ...................... 18 t Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law. Displaying a valuable combination of "feminine" nurturance and "masculine" incisiveness, countless people assisted me in developing the ideas set forth in this Article. A few deserve special thanks for providing extraordinary help at crucial times: They include Mary Becker, Martha Fineman, John Harrison, Pam Karlan,
    [Show full text]
  • Print Profile
    Emmy-award winning comedian Dana Carvey has maintained a tremendous career. Carvey was born June 2, 1955, in Missoula, Montana. Dana went on to college at Dana Carvey the San Francisco State University where he won the San Francisco Standup Comedy Competition. After his graduation (with a degree in communication arts), he played at numerous clubs in the Bay Area and then moved to Los Angeles to Speech Topics pursue his career. A repertory member of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE since the 1986-87 season, Carvey left in 1992 after seven seasons. Carvey is best known for his characters the Humor Church Lady Hans, of the Hans and Franz bodybuilding duo Garth, Wayne Celebrity Campbell's (Mike Myers) Excellent Cohost on the immensely popular sketch Wayne's World, and Weekend Update's Grumpy Old Man. In addition to these characters, Dana has received widespread praise for his uncanny and exaggerated comedic impersonations of such political figures as Ex- President George Bush, H. Ross Perot, Jerry Brown, David Duke and Bob Dole. He also does impersonations of George Burns, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Stewart, John McLaughlin, Mickey Rooney, Casey Casem and Regis Philbin. On television, he hosted the 1992 presentation of the MTV Music Awards, costarred in two pilots and was a member of the Showtime special SALUTE TO THE IMPROVISATION, with Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Robert Klein. In 1995, Dana performed standup in his own one-hour comedy special on HBO aptly named CRITICS' CHOICE. In 1992, Carvey appeared in the blockbuster film WAYNE'S WORLD, based on the hit SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch.
    [Show full text]
  • Week 3: Matthew 13:10-17 10 Then The
    Week 3: Matthew 13:10-17 10 Then the disciples came and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 He answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that 'seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.' 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: 'You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn-- and I would heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. Listen to Me Now and Hear Me Later Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Have you ever seen Hans and Franz? They were two big burly weight lifters on Saturday Night Live that were played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon and spoke with Austrian accents.
    [Show full text]