Monthly Archives: July 2021

Borges’s Deep Grasp of Memory

By Robin Bates | Published: July 18, 2021

In “Funes the Memorious,” Borges anticipated neurological breakthroughs into autism and the science of forgetting.

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i thank You God for most this amazing

By Robin Bates | Published: July 17, 2021

In his joyous poem “i thank You God for most this amazing,” e.e. cummings uses his distinctive style in service of expressing God.

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Better Living through Lit, the Book

By Robin Bates | Published: July 15, 2021

In which I share the table of contents to my current book project.

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Real Teaching Is Always Uncomfortable

By Robin Bates | Published: July 14, 2021

In the current debates over teaching race history, Lucille Clifton has important things to say.

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White Privilege Explained in Oral Poetry

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2021

Tennessee teacher Hawn was fired in part for showing a video of an oral poet reciting this poem about white privilege.

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Tennessee Returns to the Scopes Days

By Robin Bates | Published: July 12, 2021

With rightwing attacks on Tennessee teachers, the Scopes Monkey Trial seems relevant again. Time to revisit “Inherit the Wind.”

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Great Literature Shifts Expectations

By Robin Bates | Published: July 11, 2021

In which I sum up Reader Reader Response theory as formulated by Hans Robert Jauss, who believes that great lit expands horizon of expectations.

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Salomé, the Morning After

By Robin Bates | Published: July 10, 2021

In which I look at some literary versions of the story of Salomé, including an Carol Ann Duffy poem.

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More Concluding Remarks on Lit’s Impact

By Robin Bates | Published: July 8, 2021

While Literature may not command center stage as it once did, it will continue to pack a punch.

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