Monthly Archives: May 2014

Libertarian Conmen Want Your Fatted Calf

By Robin Bates | Published: May 22, 2014

This Scott Bates poem captures the swagger of those who con their fellow Americans while trumpeting free enterprise and bootstrapism.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Return of the Prodigal Son", big government, Cliven Bundy, Libertarianism, Scott Bates, Tea Party, welfare | Comments closed

Class Warfare in Harry Potter

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2014

J. K. Rowling’s leftwing politics shape the Harry Potter series.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged class politics, class warfare, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling | Comments closed

Warning Labels for the Classics

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2014

Suggestions that certain classics come with “trigger warnings” leads of the following reflection.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged censorship, Geoffrey Chaucer, Homer, Iliad, Importance of Being Earnest, John Milton, Oscar Wilde, Paradise Lost, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Wife of Bath | Comments closed

No Calendar Except for this Bountiful Day

By Robin Bates | Published: May 19, 2014

Derek Walcott’s elegy to his mother unexpectedly doubles as a Commencement poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Bounty", commencement, Derek Walcott, elegies, graduations, Nature | Comments closed

Frodo’s Battle with Sin

By Robin Bates | Published: May 18, 2014

Students discover that “Lord of the Rings” is a story about their Christian journeys.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Christianity, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Satan, Sin | Comments closed

Rituals of Commencement

By Robin Bates | Published: May 17, 2014

Robert Creeley’s graduation poem captures both the predictability and the unpredictability of young people going forth into the world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "blessing the boats", "For the Graduation", College, commencement, Creeley (Robert), graduation, Lucille Clifton | Comments closed

Student Learns from Learn’d Astronomer

By Robin Bates | Published: May 16, 2014

One of my students took profound lessons from “When I Heard My Learn’d Astronomer.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer", Art, music theory, Science, Walt Whitman | Comments closed

This Is the Way the World Ends

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2014

Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” reflects upon how the world will end. Recent news of melting Antarctic glaciers says we can expect fire and ice to both play a role.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Fire and Ice", C. S. Lewis, climate change, global warming, Last Battle, melting Antarctic ice, melting glaciers, Robert Frost | Comments closed

Black Students Examine Uncle Tom

By Robin Bates | Published: May 14, 2014

Two African American male students find continued worth in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abolition, Christianity, Harriet Beecher Stowe, martyrdom, racialism, racism, Uncle Tom's Cabin | Comments closed