Terry Pratchett describes his ideal teacher in “Thief of Time.”
Tag Archives: COVID-19
Pratchett’s Ideal Teacher
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged school children, teaching, Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time Comments closed
Wanted: Teachers, Not Martyrs
Some say teachers should, like soldiers, should put their lives on the line. This A.E. Housman poem brings up the question of whether even soldiers should do so when there sacrifice will be meaningless.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Charge of the Light Brigade", "Here Dead We Lie", "I Have a Rendezvous with Death", "Soldier", "Strange Meeting", A. E. Housman, Alan Seeger, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Bertolt Brecht, Donald Trump, Galileo, Rupert Brooke, school reopening, teachers, Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien, Wilfred Owen Comments closed
Memo to Teachers: Put Lives on Line
Trumpian disrespect for school personnel–no special emphasis on safe reopening–brings to mind Kipling’s “Tommy.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Tommy", Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump, Rudyard Kipling, school reopening Comments closed
Vote for the Best Lizard
Using lizards, Douglas Adams makes a memorable case for voting for the lesser to two evils.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Douglas Adams, politics, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish Comments closed
Young People and Covid Spread
Dr. Birx has blamed the Covid-19 explosion in part on irresponsible young people. Reading the carpe diem poets would have helped her understand them better.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "To the Virgins to Make Much of Time", Andrew Marvell, carpe diem, coronavirus response, Robert Herrick Comments closed
Cather’s Handling of the 1918 Flu
In her Pulitzer-winning “One of Ours,” Cather shows the impact of the 1918 flu.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 1918 Influenza Epidemic, Ernest Hemingway, machismo, One of Ours, Willa Cather Comments closed
Le Guin on Differing Disaster Responses
An Ursula LeGuin sci-fi story captures how different cultures respond to catastrophes differently. It’s very relevant to a world confronting Covid.
Our Embattled Health Care Workers
In Kaye’s “Far Pavilions,” the hero sees the British botching an expedition but joins them anyway. This is how I see our healthcare workers.
