God Bless,
Monday, January 30, 2012
Another Downton Abbey Banner
I've gotten on a bit of a "Downton Abbey banner roll" lately. I've made another banner, but this one is made with screenshots from Season 1. Click on it for the full size picture.
God Bless,
God Bless,
Labels:
Banners,
Downton Abbey
Letter Tip #3: Using Commonly Used Words or Phrases- Period Drama Advice Column
"To be sure..." or "...to be sure" - Various characters in Emma
"My one weakness" or "It's my one weakness" - Dorcas Lane in Lark Rise to Candleford)
"My sister, Mrs. Suckling in Maple Grove" - Mrs. Elton in Emma (she has plenty of common phrases)
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett O'hara in Gone with the Wind
"It's *proper name here*, madam!" - Deborah Jenkyns in Cranford
"...Lady Catherine de Bourgh..." (variations) - Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice
"...Lady Catherine de Bourgh..." (variations) - Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice
Interjections are a great source of commonly used words or phrases. Like I've shown above, Scarlett O'hara from Gone with the Wind says "Fiddle-dee-dee!" quite a bit. While reviewing a period drama or book, try to pin-point the different interjections that you spot: they can be quite useful.
How helpful was this tip? I am requesting some help for this tip: are there any interjections or common sayings that you can think of that would be a good example for writing responding letters?
Other than that, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I'll try my best to help out.
God Bless,
Labels:
Period Drama Advice Event,
Tips
Sunday, January 29, 2012
I've won the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!
Alyianna from Scribbles of a Catholic Teen awarded me the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! Thank you, Alyianna for awarding me this award! For this award, I have to:
1. Post 7 random facts about yourself.
2. Then pass it onto 10 other bloggers
So, first thing's first. 7 random facts!
1. I'm currently working on a big sewing project (It's a secret for now, though! I'll post about it when it's done!)
2. I'm currently watching the 2nd season of Downton Abbey (which is good, by the way, though the last episode was quite sad).
3. I have lately (and by lately, I mean last spring) taken to wearing hats.
4. Because I've started to wear hats, I enjoy hat pins!
5. I'm currently taking a class about HTML (though I know enough to use it on my blog)
6. I've finished watching The Duchess of Duke Street.
7. I've started to become interested in 1910s fashion.
There are my 7 random facts. Now I will award this to 10 bloggers:
1. Austenitis
7. Of Trims and Frills and Furbelows
God Bless,
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Award
Thursday, January 26, 2012
New Banner (Finally!)
I've created a new banner! I've been watching the new season of Downton Abbey recently (by the way, good! I'll have to review it soon!) Slight spoiler, but Mary and Matthew sing at a concert together, and for the past week, I've had the song stuck in my head. So I created a banner for it:
God Bless,
God Bless,
Labels:
Banners,
Downton Abbey
Letter Tip #2: On Dialect and Grammar - Period Drama Advice Event
What is useful when writing letters as other characters is using dialect. In some books, dialect is reflected in the way certain words are spelled. They won't be the correct spelling, but rather a phonetic spelling. Some modern day examples would be:
Gonna (Going to)
Wanna (Want to)
Shoulda (Should have)
Obviously, these words are not spelled the same way, but you get a feel of how someone is talking. There are examples of this in classic literature or (if you listen carefully) you might be able to pick up on dialect while watching period dramas and can formulate how to spell the words just by sound.
An example of dialect in classic literature is in Wuthering Heights*. There is a character named Joseph that is a servant (not sure if he's in any of the movies, but he is in the book) who talks with a very thick dialect. Here is a sample of his dialogue:"...Shame on ye! sit ye down, ill childer! there’s good books eneugh if ye’ll read ’em: sit ye down, and think o’ yer sowls!" (Chapter 3)
Because he is talking in a certain dialect that does not sound like, for instance, the Earnshaws that he works for, he would not sound like, "Shame on you! Sit down, ill children! There are good books enough for you if you will read them: sit down and think of your souls!" Writing it this way would not sound like the Joseph that is in Wuthering Heights.
It might help to form what you want to say in proper grammar and then add/replace dialect into your original sentence. For a sentence like:
"There are plenty of great books."
As Joseph, you might say:
"There's eneugh good books for ye to read."
There is more than one way to do this. Try experimenting with sentences and see what you come up with.
***
Right away, you notice that there was a grammatical error: it should be "I felt almost as if you were an old acquaintance". If you include these grammatical errors in your letter, they can really help your letter sound like it is coming from the character you are writing as. Be careful with this though. There are characters that use a lot of improper grammar, but there are also characters that only use enough to give the impression that they are not educated, but their bad grammar is not blatant. Take a look at your character's dialogue and see how their grammar is.
*Note: I am not fond of the book Wuthering Heights, but for our purposes here, it does a good job to show how to use dialect.
How helpful was this tip? If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I'll try my best to help out.
God Bless,
Labels:
Period Drama Advice Event,
Tips
Monday, January 23, 2012
Vote for me!
Yet Another Period Drama Blog is holding a Period Drama Button Contest and the finalists have been selected! One of my buttons was selected:
You can vote for my button in one of the polls at Yet Another Period Drama Blog. I ask that you vote for me, but vote for the one that you like ;-).
God Bless,
You can vote for my button in one of the polls at Yet Another Period Drama Blog. I ask that you vote for me, but vote for the one that you like ;-).
God Bless,
Letter Tip #1: Using Book/Movie Quotes - Period Drama Advice Event
Here is the first tip for writing responding letters for The Period Drama Advice Event. Keep an eye out for more tips!
Does your character say either in the book or adaptation something that they may say to the asking character? Maybe if you're writing as Dorcas Lane from Lark Rise to Candleford, you might say "Love rarely crosses the great divide of social class" (I will have other examples below). Direct quotes can really help you take a good guess to see what the character's position on a particular matter may be. They also can really make your letter sound like they're coming from the character you're writing as.
Some quotes you might use:
"Love rarely crosses the great divide of social class" - Dorcas Lane (Lark Rise to Candleford)"Pray, what is your age?" - Lady Catherine de Bough (Pride and Prejudice, 1995)
"So put that in your pipe and smoke it!" - Lady Violet Crawley (Downton Abbey)
"Well, I doubt I'd expect to curtsy to their majesties in June when I'd been arrested at a riot in May. But then I'm old. Things may be different now." - Lady Violet Crawley (Downton Abbey)
"What will people think of her? And worse: what will be said?" - Deborah Jenkyns (Cranford)
You may come across a quote that would go perfectly with the subject of the letter, but it doesn't quite fit into the flow of the letter (such as grammar or even nouns). You can change enough of the quote so the reader may understand what the original quote was and cleverly apply it to the current subject. For instance, let's use a Mrs. Bennet quote. The direct quote in Pride and Prejudice is:
That quote might be fine for a letter concerning marriage, but what about a business deal? Let's say that Mr. Bingley is writing an asking letter about whether to take possession of Netherfield Park? (Yes, I am aware that Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bingley are both from the same novel and that that would not be allowed, but this is just an example) What exactly could we change in the quote to fit our topic?
If you take it into your head to go on debating whether or not to take possession of Netherfield in this way, you will never get a wife...erm home at all.
See how we used a quote and fit it into the current topic? It just took a little bit of revising.
How helpful was this tip? If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I'll try my best to help out.
God Bless,
Labels:
Period Drama Advice Event,
Tips
Friday, January 20, 2012
Are These Songs the Same Song? (Little Dorrit, Downton Abbey)
Comments are very much appreciated! This has bothered me for months ever since I first watched Downton Abbey. I remembered when I first watched Downton Abbey: my mom and I were on the second episode and this song came on...
The first thing I thought was "Hey! That song is in Little Dorrit!" I could have sworn that it was the same song!
Watch from 0:00 to 0:44
I am asking for your opinion: are these two songs the same? They seem to have the same melody and the same musical instruments. Comments are welcome!
God Bless,
God Bless,
Labels:
Downton Abbey,
Little Dorrit,
Music,
Question
Tips on Writing Responding Letters Coming Soon! (Period Drama Advice Event)
Having trouble writing a letter as a period drama character? Having trouble starting your letter? Need some tips? Before the Period Drama Advice Event starts, I will have a series of posts about writing responding letters. Keep on the look out for tips on writing letters.
God Bless,
Labels:
Period Drama Advice Event,
Tips
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Announcing The Period Drama Advice Event!
Today, I am officially announcing the Period Drama Advice Event! Due to the success of both the Jane Austen Advice Column during Jane Austen Week and the Period Drama Advice Column during Period Drama Week, I am going to host an event for the Period Drama Advice Column. The event will kick off on February 13th. I hope you will participate and have fun!
Read about the event here!
God Bless,
Labels:
Period Drama Advice Event,
Update
Period Drama Advice Event
What would happen if characters from different period dramas could write to each other? Better yet, what would happen if characters from different period dramas could ask each other for advice? What sort of advice would they give? Good? Bad? Average? Maybe they would be of no help whatsoever!
Welcome to Period Drama Advice Event, a four part advice column event for period drama characters.
How it Works:
1) For each part of the event, there will be a letter from a period drama character asking for advice listed on Elegance of Fashion.
2) On your blogs, answer the letter as a character from a period drama character. Make sure to post a copy of the asking letter in your blog post.
3) Leave a comment at Elegance of Fashion in the post of the asking letter (It must be in that post!): the comment should contain the name of the character you're answering, the name of the character you are writing for and the URL of the answering letter post at your blog. For example, if you are responding to an asking letter from Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind) as Dorcas Lane (Lark Rise to Candleford), the comment should look something like this (note: the URL of the example is for my review of Lark Rise to Candleford, not of a letter post):
Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind)
Dorcas Lane (Lark Rise to Candleford)
http://elegance-of-fashion.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-lark-rise-to-candleford-series-1.html
It doesn't necessarily have to be exactly like this, but just as long as those pieces of information are in there.
4) I will accept responses for one week. When that week is up, I will open a poll for readers to vote in for their favorite response letter. I will have a post with all the links for that letter for people to read other letters. The poll will last for one week. The person with the most votes will be awarded a small banner or button to put on their blogs when the event ends.
5) If you win a part of the event, leave a comment here at Elegance of Fashion saying whether you would want a small banner or a button, which character you would want on the banner or button, and whether you would want your name/username or blog name on the button. All the winners will receive their buttons one week after the end of the event. If you do not comment by the end of the event, you will not receive a button.
Rules to Keep in Mind
1) As always, keep the letters clean. I won't accept letters that aren't.
2) You can't write as a character from the same period drama as the character in the asking letter. For example, if the letter is from Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, you cannot write as Marianne Dashwood.
3) You can enter up to five responding letters (they all must be from different characters, but those characters can be from the same period drama (so long as they're not from the same period drama as the character in the asking letter)). To even make it more interesting, you could have other characters reference other responding letters: for example, "As my dear father mentioned", "Unlike my dear Mrs. Elton", etc.
4) The character you are writing as could be real or fictional, but the character must come from a period drama.
5) You can also make regular comments on the asking letter posts. Those posts are not limited to entries. Feel free to comment!
6) Once a quarter of the event is finished (i.e. We've moved onto the next letter), you may write a responding letter as the character in any of the previous asking letters.
7) You can only win one button per event.
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HTML for Button
Small Buttons
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Welcome to Period Drama Advice Event, a four part advice column event for period drama characters.
How it Works:
1) For each part of the event, there will be a letter from a period drama character asking for advice listed on Elegance of Fashion.
2) On your blogs, answer the letter as a character from a period drama character. Make sure to post a copy of the asking letter in your blog post.
3) Leave a comment at Elegance of Fashion in the post of the asking letter (It must be in that post!): the comment should contain the name of the character you're answering, the name of the character you are writing for and the URL of the answering letter post at your blog. For example, if you are responding to an asking letter from Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind) as Dorcas Lane (Lark Rise to Candleford), the comment should look something like this (note: the URL of the example is for my review of Lark Rise to Candleford, not of a letter post):
Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind)
Dorcas Lane (Lark Rise to Candleford)
http://elegance-of-fashion.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-lark-rise-to-candleford-series-1.html
It doesn't necessarily have to be exactly like this, but just as long as those pieces of information are in there.
4) I will accept responses for one week. When that week is up, I will open a poll for readers to vote in for their favorite response letter. I will have a post with all the links for that letter for people to read other letters. The poll will last for one week. The person with the most votes will be awarded a small banner or button to put on their blogs when the event ends.
5) If you win a part of the event, leave a comment here at Elegance of Fashion saying whether you would want a small banner or a button, which character you would want on the banner or button, and whether you would want your name/username or blog name on the button. All the winners will receive their buttons one week after the end of the event. If you do not comment by the end of the event, you will not receive a button.
Rules to Keep in Mind
1) As always, keep the letters clean. I won't accept letters that aren't.
2) You can't write as a character from the same period drama as the character in the asking letter. For example, if the letter is from Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, you cannot write as Marianne Dashwood.
3) You can enter up to five responding letters (they all must be from different characters, but those characters can be from the same period drama (so long as they're not from the same period drama as the character in the asking letter)). To even make it more interesting, you could have other characters reference other responding letters: for example, "As my dear father mentioned", "Unlike my dear Mrs. Elton", etc.
4) The character you are writing as could be real or fictional, but the character must come from a period drama.
5) You can also make regular comments on the asking letter posts. Those posts are not limited to entries. Feel free to comment!
6) Once a quarter of the event is finished (i.e. We've moved onto the next letter), you may write a responding letter as the character in any of the previous asking letters.
7) You can only win one button per event.
Start Date of Event: February 13th, 2012
Posts
End of Period Drama Advice Event
Winner's Buttons
Want to add a button to your side bar or in your posts? Try one of these buttons!
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Period Drama Advice Event
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Yet Another Period Drama Blog's Period Drama Button Contest
Miss Dashwood from Yet Another Period Drama Blog has a new contest for creating a period drama button with a funny saying. I thought I'd take a try at it:
I am also going to slowly upload these onto my Tumblr page
God Bless,
Picture from Cranford, lyrics from Funky Town
Picture gotten from here
Picture from Emma, quote from Downton Abbey ("Well, so what? I have plenty of friend I don't like." - Lady Violet)
Picture from Pride and Prejudice, Quote from Northanger Abbey
Picture from Sense and Sensibility, Quote adapted from Lark Rise to Candleford
I am also going to slowly upload these onto my Tumblr page
God Bless,
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