Monthly Archives: November 2017

The Assault on Rand Paul, a Theory

By Robin Bates | Published: November 20, 2017

Why did Sen. Rand Paul’s neighbor attack him. Novelist Thomas Berger’s “Neighbors” provides a possible explanation: “sinister banality.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Libertarianism, Neighbors, property rights, Rand Paul, Thomas Berger | Comments closed

The Evangelical Rose Is Sick

By Robin Bates | Published: November 19, 2017

Many rightwing evangelicals are selling their souls for Trumpism. William Blake would have something to say about that.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Holy Thursday", "Sick Rose", Donald Trump, London, rightwing Christianity, Roy Moore, William Blake | Comments closed

Brecht Quatrains for Challenging Times

By Robin Bates | Published: November 17, 2017

During World War II Bertolt Brecht wrote quatrains that speak powerfully to our own political times.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Adolph Hitler, Bertolt Brecht, Donald Trump, refugees, war, War Primer | Comments closed

A Teacher, Lit, & a Jailed Student

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2017

In “Reading with Patrick,” English teacher Michelle Kuo works with a student in 8th grade and then later after he has killed a man. The story brings up questions about lit’s impact.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Song of Myself", C. S. Lewis, Frederick Douglass, Gilead, Hansberry (Lorraine), Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lorraine Hansberry, Marilynne Robinson, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, poverty, Prison, Raisin in the Sun, Walt Whitman | Comments closed

Fall, Season for Beautiful Depression

By Robin Bates | Published: November 15, 2017

Those suffering from depression will find a kindred spirit in this gorgeous St. Vincent Millay poem about autumn.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Blue Heron", "To Autumn", Autumn, bi-polar illness, Depression, Edna St. Vincent Millay, John Keats, Mary Oliver, Seasons | Comments closed

Tess, More Relevant Than Ever

By Robin Bates | Published: November 14, 2017

Students find Hardy’s “Tess” to be only too relevant In the age of Trump, Weinstein, and Roy Moore.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Donald Trump, Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roy Moore, sexual assault, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy | Comments closed

Roy Moore’s Obsession with Lolitas

By Robin Bates | Published: November 13, 2017

To understand Judge Roy Moore’s predilection for teenage girls, read “Lolita.” Like Humbert Humbert, Moore is obsessed with purity.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Fundamentalism, Lolita, pedophilia, Roy Moore, Vladimir Nabokov, white Christian evangelicals | Comments closed

God’s Prayer to Us: Live Kindly, Live

By Robin Bates | Published: November 12, 2017

James Richardson’s poem “Evening Prayer” urges us not to narrowly constrain God within rules but to see God as something greater.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Evening Prayer", analysis, James Richardson, Prayer, Religion | Comments closed

Twitter: Shorter Is Sweeter

By Robin Bates | Published: November 10, 2017

Responses to Twitter increasing its character limit to 240 have often been quite humorous, including some limericks. And speaking of limericks and twitter…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged J. K. Rowling, limericks, Matsuo Basho, Stephen King, twitter | Comments closed