Rightwing attacks on reproductive rights have their antecedents in the moralistic judgments of Mr. Collins and Mary Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice.”
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Mr. Collins and the Right’s War on Women
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Abortion, Birth control, Jane Austen, Planned Parenthood, Pride and Prejudice, religious right Comments closed
Sir Gawain & the ISIS Beheadings
“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” helps us understand the horror we feel at the ISIS beheadings.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged beheadings, ISIS, Middle East, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Terrorism Comments closed
Children Wrestling with Faith & Doubt
Alice Munro’s “Age of Faith” is a powerful portrait of how children turn to God–and also why they turn away.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Age of Faith", Alice Munro, Children, Doubt, religious faith, Suffering Comments closed
Longing for Grace in the Face of Chaos
Howard Nemerov’s 1975 ambivalence about televised football anticipates our own mixed feelings today.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Watching Football on TV", Football, Howard Nemerov, NFL, Sports Comments closed
Test Your Knowledge of Jane Austen
A quiz to test your knowledge of Jane Austen novels.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Emma, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility Comments closed
Happy Birthday, Phoebe Strehlow Bates
My mother’s birthday is today–and because 89 is the new 75, here’s a Robert Service poem on his 75th birthday.
Marc Antony for the Prosecution
Federal court judge Thomas Thrash, Jr., drawing on years of experience as a trial lawyer, explains why Marc Antony makes a better case than Brutus does.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged courtroom rhetoric, Julius Caesar, lawyers, legal profession, Rhetoric, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The Violins of Autumn
I still remember memorizing, as a child in a French school, Paul Verlaine’s deliciously sad “Chanson d’automne.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Chanson d'automne", Aging, Autumn, Depression, Fall, Paul Verlaine, Seasons Comments closed
Gillibrand & Montagu vs. Senate Sexism
How should Kirsten Gillibrand have responded to sexual harassment by fellow senators? Lady Mary Wortley Montagu provides a good model.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to Her Hustand", "Lover: A Ballad", Kirsten Gillibrand, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Sexism, sexual harassment, U. S. Congress Comments closed
