What is plot?
Plot is the arrangement of incidents and events in a chain of cause and effect that leads to an inevitable climax and satisfactory conclusion. Plot works simultaneously with developing characters who logically shape and by their words and action further the plot. A plot must have a beginning, middle, and ending...

In 1876 Americans had their first taste of a yellow exotic fruit called the banana. At a celebration commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, bananas were sold, for ten cents a piece. Now the ubiquitous fruit can be found in almost any kitchen or lunch bag.

The banana originated in Ma...

Long before Ocean Spray commercially produced the gelatinous cylinder familiar to many Thanksgiving tables, the cranberry already had a rich history. Legend has it that cranberries were served at the first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. Before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Native Americans were already using the berri...

Before the varicella vaccine was introduced, chickenpox was one of the most common childhood illnesses afflicting children under the age of twelve. Until 2006 there were four million reported cases a year in the United States. Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which in its latent stage can cause shingles (he...

Scabies is a highly contagious skin condition caused by the parasite sarcoptes scabiei (itch mite). It is classified as a sexually transmitted disease. An infestation begins when the itch mite burrows in the superficial layers of human skin. Adult mites can survive without a host for two to three days. Without treatment, mite...

Magical realism was formally regarded as a regional trend in Latin American literature, but it has become more popular in contemporary literature all over the world. Magical Realism is a narrative technique that blurs the distinction of fantasy and reality. It is characterized by either of these two ways: 1) an unexpected o...

Flash fiction is known by many names: short-short story, postcard fiction, sudden fiction, micro fiction, furious fiction, sudden fiction, and even smoke-long fiction (being short enough to read while smoking a cigarette).

There is some disagreement on what the length of flash fiction is. The average word count runs any...