Monthly Archives: January 2016

Thoughts on Classroom Attendance

By Robin Bates | Published: January 10, 2016

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.

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What in Me Is Dark Illumine

By Robin Bates | Published: January 9, 2016

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.

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Introducing a New Genre: Cli-Fi

By Robin Bates | Published: January 7, 2016

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.

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Rubio vs. Bush: The Unkindest Cut

By Robin Bates | Published: January 6, 2016

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.

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The V-Word: Casting Hillary as Duessa

By Robin Bates | Published: January 5, 2016

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.

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With Stories We Defeat Our Inner Moriarty

By Robin Bates | Published: January 4, 2016

In the most recent episode of “Sherlock,” Holmes is not only the world’s foremost detective but a skilled literary critic of Doyle’s stories about him.

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Harper Lee’s Book Became Less Honest

By Robin Bates | Published: January 3, 2016

“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.

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The Holy Family as Refugees

By Robin Bates | Published: January 2, 2016

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.

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