The Common Core State Standards deemphasize literature. In fact, we need more literature taught.
Tag Archives: C. S. Lewis
For Core Standards, More Lit, Not Less
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Common Core State Standards, Education, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, Prince Caspian Comments closed
Fantasy, Because Reality Is Unsatisfactory
Fantasy is nothing in and of itself but takes its character in opposition to an unsatisfactory reality.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Lady of Shalott", "Lotos Eaters", "Passing of Arthur", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Eve of St. Agnes, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lord of the Rings, Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare Comments closed
A John Bunyan Defense of Harry Potter
Given how for years we’ve been witnessing certain evangelical Christians criticizing, banning and occasionally burning the Harry Potter books, what are we to make of their inability to appreciate Harry’s Christ-like sacrifice as the end of “The Deathly Hallows”?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christian Right, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling, John Bunyan, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Pilgrim's Progress, Religion Comments closed
So You Screwed Up–No Big Deal
Ten members of the Scott Bates clan have gathered in my parents’ Tennessee house, and two more, along with two beagles (Kipling and Beckett), are on their way. While the Christmas festivities have for the most part been joyous, we have had one moment of friction. Luckily, literature came to our aid. I keep the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Family, Perfection, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Voyage of the Dawn Treader Comments closed
Fantasy Portals to Other Worlds
I have a special place in my heart for The Magician’s Nephew, chronologically the first of the Narnia series. When I was a child, I was especially fascinated by “the wood between the worlds.” This is a quiet forest in which can be found innumerable pools, each of which is the entrance to a world. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged fantasy, Laura Miller, Magician's Book, Magician's Nephew, reading Comments closed
Narnia, Much More than a Sermon
Jason Blake, my Ljubljana colleague, set off an interesting discussion two weeks ago when he wrote a post on on reading nonsense poetry to his daughter. Many readers wrote in about children’s literature, and at one point in the discussion Jason posted a poem by Robert Lewis Stevenson that made a number of us, with […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Foreign Children", Children's literature, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Religion, Robert Lewis Stevenson Comments closed
