Monthly Archives: January 2018

Black vs. White Responses to “Raisin”

By Robin Bates | Published: January 11, 2018

“Raisin in the Sun” was a hit with both white and black audiences when it appeared in 1959 but for very different reasons.

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Murakami and Millennials’ Identity Quests

By Robin Bates | Published: January 10, 2018

Murakami’s novels appeal to millennials because they are existential parables, and young people are grappling with life’s big questions, especially identity and purpose.

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Pope Describes Triumph of Stupidity

By Robin Bates | Published: January 9, 2018

Book IV of Pope’s “Dunciad” captures the triumph of Trumpism. In Pope’s poem, the goddess dullness (stupidity) has conquered the world.

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A President Who Hates Books

By Robin Bates | Published: January 8, 2018

No president has been so adverse to reading as Donald Trump, whose contempt for books conjures up images of “Fahrenheit 451.”

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A Pause in Time and the Soul’s Awareness

By Robin Bates | Published: January 7, 2018

John Thorkild Ellison has two Epiphany poems in which the spirit enters when the poet has all but given up hope.

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How to Celebrate a Winter Storm

By Robin Bates | Published: January 5, 2018

Here’s a January poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti that will cheer you up if you’re being currently battered.

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A Herculean Task: Purging Old Files

By Robin Bates | Published: January 4, 2018

I’ve spent the last couple of days going through my father’s files (and throwing most of them away). I feel like Heracles cleaning out the Augean stables, as described by Seamus Heaney.

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Austen: Standing Up to Harassers

By Robin Bates | Published: January 3, 2018

Jane Austen has powerful lessons for those battling systemic sexism.

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Black Women as Saviors? Clifton Objects

By Robin Bates | Published: January 2, 2018

Some are sanctifying black women voters for saving America from itself after Democratic victories in Virginia and Alabama. Lucille Clifton points out that sanctification isn’t much better than demonization.

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