As I waited for the cop to write me a ticket, I glanced through Steinbeck’s “The Pearl.”
Monthly Archives: March 2013
It’s Spring and the Balloon Man Whistles
Here’s a delightful e.e. cummings poem to celebrate the first day of spring.
Novels: Training Ground for Citizenship
Novels have an inherently liberal dimension in that they get us to identify with people very different from us.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged conservatism, liberalism, Lolita, reading, Same Sex Marriage, Vladimir Nabokov Comments closed
Rugged Self Reliance w/Government Help
Often those most reliant on government help spend the most time talking about self reliance.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Catch 22, government aid, Joseph Heller, Libertarianism, self reliance, Tea Party Comments closed
Jane Austen: Feminine AND Feministy
In my student’s eyes, there’s no contradiction between Austen the satirist and Austen the romance writer.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Ann Radcliffe, Feminism, Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sanditon, Walter Scott Comments closed
Fleeing God (a.k.a. the Hound of Heaven)
Francis Thompson’s huanting “Hound of Heaven” captures the fears who of those who think of themselves as unworthy of love.
Poetic Excuses for Losing at Tennis
Between the motion and the act of my tennis game falls the shadow. Translation: too much thinking.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Hollow Men", "Minniver Cheevy", E. A. Robinson, Hamlet, Marshall McLuhan, Sports, T. S. Eliot, tennis, William Gladwell, William Shakespeare Comments closed
A 17th Century Comedy Addressing Rape
The Right Wing’s “war on women” is affecting the way my students read Aphra Behn.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Aphra Behn, Education, Feminism, politics, Rape, Rover Comments closed
Joy Recollected: High School English
Meeting up with an old high school English teacher brought memories flooding back.