I survey my intellectual history, especially the evolution of my thinking about literature’s impact on human behavior.
Tag Archives: Beowulf
Why I Think the Way I Think
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Antonio Gramsci, Carl Jung, Carleton College, Hans Robert Jauss, Harper Lee, Huckleberry Finn, intellectual history, J. Paul Hunter, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jerome Beaty, Karl Marx, Literary Theory, Madame Bovary, Mark Twain, New Criticism, Norman Holland, Percy Bysshe Shelley, racism, Reader Response Theory, reception theory, Sigmund Freud, Terry Eagleton, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tobias Smollett Comments closed
WandaVision and Grendel’s Mother
In which I compare Wanda from WandaVision with Grendel’s Mother. Who knew?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, destructive grieving, WandaVision Comments closed
For Halloween, Read Headley’s Beowulf
For Halloween, reread Headley’s new translation of Beowulf, which uses the language of millennials and generation z.
In a Dark Time, Beowulf Was My Virgil
If Dante had his Virgil, I have Beowulf. Both poets helped up negotiate dark times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aeneid, Beowulf poet, Dante, Divine Comedy, grief and grieving, Virgil Comments closed
When Grief Turns Violent
In protesting police violence against communities of color, protesters must avoid grief-fueled violence, the archetype of which is Grendel’s Mother.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, George Floyd, Marat/Sade, Minneapolis riots, Peter Weiss, police racism Comments closed
Students as Beowulf vs. Covid
Through describing their essays on “Beowulf,” I recount how five students are responding to the Covid crisis.
Homer, Virgil & Dante Visit the Afterlife
In my Representative Masterpieces course, I conclude with Dante’s “Inferno,” where we see sinners creating their own hells.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aeneid, Dante, Divine Comedy, Homer, Inferno, John Bunyan, John Milton, monsters, Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Pilgrim's Progress, Sin, Virgil Comments closed
Teach Beowulf to Combat Violence
To teach students how to understand and respond to violence, Beowulf is a go-to work.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, John Milton, Paradise Lost, violence Comments closed
Beowulf Transcends Tolkien’s Racism
“Beowulf” and “Lord of the Rings” have blind spots but they are transcendent works for all that.
