Monthly Archives: February 2012

A Glimpse from God’s Eyes

By Robin Bates | Published: February 19, 2012

In Kathy Coffey’s poem, a mountain hike reveals a sudden glimpse into the sublime that brings Jesus’s transfiguration to mind.

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In “The Artist,” Silence Is Golden

By Robin Bates | Published: February 17, 2012

“The Artist” is a feast of allusions for those who know and love Hollywood’s golden age.

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Death, Faustus, and a Search for Meaning

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2012

The Faustus story can aid one in an existential search for meaning.

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Reading: Like Bondage, Play, and Sex?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 15, 2012

In my Theories of the Reader course, we have been taking note of different analogies that theorists apply to reading literature. French phenomenologist George Poulet (“Criticism and the Experience of interiority”) describes reading as a forceful intrusion by the book: As soon as I replace my direct perception of reality by the words of a […]

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Once We Memorized Poetry

By Robin Bates | Published: February 14, 2012

Memorizing poetry used to be standard classroom practice and poetry was widely popular before the snobs came in.

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Imagine the Wife of Bath vs. Rick Santorum

By Robin Bates | Published: February 13, 2012

Candidate for the GOP presidential nominee Rick Santorum opposes birth control on the basis of natural law. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath would take his head off.

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Praise the Wet Snow

By Robin Bates | Published: February 12, 2012

In her poem about a gray October day, Denise Levertov senses “the invisible sun burning beyond.”

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We Can’t Be Knocked Out with One Punch

By Robin Bates | Published: February 10, 2012

Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl ad has stirred up a political storm but it reminds me of Tennyson’s “Ulysses.”

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Dickens Puts Lawyers on Trial

By Robin Bates | Published: February 9, 2012

Charles Dickens was especially severe on lawyers, who show up in 11 of his 15 novels.

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