Developing what John Keats described as negative capability can help students be more successful in college.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
It Sucks to Be Poor
Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” offers a response to those who want to blame the recession on the poor.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Charles Dickens, Hard Times, politics, poverty, Sherman Alexie Comments closed
Teaching Integrity in High School English
Describing a high school English class that he teaches, Carl Rosin draws on the American Transcendentalists as he insists that his students live lives of integrity. His final assignment requires them to put what they have thought and read into action.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer", High School, teaching, This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff, Transendalism, Walt Whitman Comments closed
Stretch Your Nets to Harvest the Fog
When one has been fasting for Ramadan, one becomes attuned to spiritual dimensions of the world that elude our full-bellied selves. Kazim Ali captures the experience in a number of his poems.
High Strung, Ready to Explode
Abraham Verghese uses the tightly strung rackets of Swedish tennis great Bjorn Borg as a metaphor for the state of his marriage, pushed to the breaking point by his workaholism.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Abraham Verghese, Bjorn Borg, Sports, tennis, Tennis Partner Comments closed
The Rise of the Planet of Anger
In the 1930’s, Americans’ rage over the Great Depression was reflected in the movies. In today’s economic meltdown, Hollywood is once again producing angry films.
