Tom Wayman’s “Did I Miss Anything” is a sarcastic put down of students who have missed classes. It allows teachers to vent but there are better answers to the question available.
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Thoughts on Classroom Attendance
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Did I Miss Anything", attendance policies, teaching, Tom Wayman Comments closed
What in Me Is Dark Illumine
An epiphany is the moment when something divine enters the human realm. During the Epiphany season, Christians celebrate such moments. In the famous opening of “Paradise Lost,” Milton notes that the Holy Spirit is his muse and connects his own inspiration with a number of famous visitations of the Holy Spirit throughout Biblical history.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged epiphanies, Epiphany, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John Milton, John the Baptist, Moses, Paradise Lost Comments closed
Introducing a New Genre: Cli-Fi
Weather disappeared largely from literature when it was seen unrealted to the actions of humans. With climate change now upon us, however, a new literary genre has arisen.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged climate change, extreme weather, global warming, John Milton, Lost Children, Mary Oliver, Pjlds; Comments closed
Rubio vs. Bush: The Unkindest Cut
The struggle between Jeb Bush and his former protegé Marco Rubio has been described as Shakespearean. The Shakespeare duos that come to mind are Caesar-Brutus, Duncan-Macbeth, and Henry IV-Hal.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged GOP primaries, Henry IV Part II, Jeb Bush, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Marco Rubio, William Shakespeare Comments closed
The V-Word: Casting Hillary as Duessa
The rightwing attacks on female sexuality have a long tradition, going back to Pliny the Elder, and include Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. Expect the tradition to continue if Hillary Clinton is elected president.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Canterbury Tales, Faerie Queene, Geoffrey Chaucer, Hillary Clinton, Merchant's Tale, misogyny, Wife of Bath, Wife of Bath's Prologue Comments closed
Harper Lee’s Book Became Less Honest
“Gp Set a Watchman” is not as polished a book as “To Kill a Mockingbird” but it is more ambitious and more honest. Something important got lost in the editing process.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged American South, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, racism, To Kill a Mockingbird Comments closed
The Holy Family as Refugees
The story about the holy family’s flight into Egypt is particularly powerful at the moment given the Syrian refugee crisis. This Joseph Brodsky poem captures both the tension of the flight and the Christmas promise.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Flight into Egypt (2)", Flight into Egypt, Joseph Brodsky Comments closed
