A student attending a Donald Trump rally staged a silent protest by reading the poetry of Claudia Rankine. The collection of poems could not have been better chosen.
Monthly Archives: November 2015
And the Light Shineth in the Darkness…
Auden’s Advent section in “For the Time Being” captures the pessimism that many feel about the world today. Luckily, the poem moves on to the Christmas promise.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Advent, For the Time Being, refugee crisis, Terrorism, W. H. Auden Comments closed
To Strengthen Your Caring, Read Lit
When we become numb to the world’s horrors, the problem is not the numbness but the insufficient attention paid. Reading lit can help us overcome compassion fatigue
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged compassion fatigue, Emily Dickinson, Iris Murdoch, mass media, Plato, Simone Weil Comments closed
Milton: “A Good Book Is the Precious Life-Blood of a Master Spirit”
In “Areopagitica,” Milton puts forth powerful arguments against censorship. Milton says that we need to be exposed to scenes of temptation–say, Mammon’s Cave in “The Faerie Queene,” so that we will resist it.
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Unwanted Pregnancies, Desperate Women
As reproductive service centers are closed down by conservative state legislatures, attempted self abortions are on the rise. For a literary depiction of a desperate woman there is Hetty Sorrel from George Eliot’s “Adam Bede.”
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Abortion, Adam Bede, George Eliot, Planned Parenthood, TRAP laws Comments closed
Daniel’s Vision of Indestructible Kingship
The versions of the Prophet Daniel depicted by Richard Wilton and Lucille Clifton have a commonality despite their differences.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Book of Daniel, Daniel, Lucille Clifton, Prophet Daniel Comments closed
Lit, an Antidote to Dehumanizing Media
The mass media, Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard complains, creates a remoteness from reality. Literature overcomes this remoteness by dissolving the distance between author and reader.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Hannah Arendt, Karl Ove Knausgaard, mass media, refugee crisis Comments closed
