Diana Wynne Jones’s “Fire and Hemlock” draws on the Tam Lin story to give women a model for heroism that counters the role assigned to them in traditional fairy tales.
Monthly Archives: April 2016
Diana Wynne Jones’s Feminist Fantasy
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Diana Wynne Jones, fantasy, Fire and Hemlock, Relationships, Tam Lin Comments closed
To Save the World, Know Your Habitat
In his book “Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality,” Darcia Navaez talks about the importance of knowing our habitat if we are to develop an eco-morality. Poets like Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver help show us the way.
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Let Our Teachers Teach
Monday When I wrote last week about a Virginia legislator attacking teachers for assigning Toni Morrison’s Beloved, I didn’t realize that there was a mother in an adjoining county also going after the book. And unlike the Virginia legislator she gives reasons. Here’s from The Post’s article about Laura Murphy, a Fairfax County mother whose son […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beloved, censorship, High school teaching, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Toni Morrison Comments closed
Passover: Blood on the Door Posts
Norman Finkelstein’s powerful poem reflects on the mixed history commemorated by the Passover seder. The event that marked the beginning of the Israelites journey home was also a night of death.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "Passover", "Sound of Wind", Judaism, Norman Finkelstein Comments closed
The Tax Man Cometh
“People’s poet” Edgar Guest has a useful poem that, in light of current day heated rhetoric, seems particularly dated. He regards paying taxes as a social good.
A Virginia Legislator Attacks Beloved
A Virginia representative has attacked the teaching of Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” calling the novel “moral sewage.” Given the man’s views on spousal rape and abortion, i think I know what scene in the book set him off.
My New Granddaughter, Glorious Eden
I am a grandfather again. My latest granddaughter, Eden Rhys Wilson-Bates, brings to mind “Paradise Lost” and Lucille Clifton’s Garden of Eden poems.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged "story thus far", grandchildren, John Milton, Lucille Clifton, Paradise Lost Comments closed
Robinson Ran Against Walls, Never Broke
A Ken Burns documentary on Jackie Robinson gives me an excuse to run this short, powerful Lucille Clifton poem honoring the player who broke baseball’s color line.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Baseball, Jackie Robinson, Lucille Clifton, racism, segregation, Sports Comments closed
