Tag Archives: Geoffrey Chaucer

The Most Commonly Taught Lit

The Open Syllabus project has come up with a list of the most commonly taught books in college–at least according to syllabi that are available on-line. “The Canterbury Tales” leads the list. Shakespeare, of course, is the most represented author.

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The V-Word: Casting Hillary as Duessa

The rightwing attacks on female sexuality have a long tradition, going back to Pliny the Elder, and include Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. Expect the tradition to continue if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

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Chaucer’s Squire Meets Tennyson’s May Queen

Love is in the May air. As I look at the College students hand in hand, I think of the men as Chaucerian squires, the women as Tennysonian May queens.

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Old Lit as a Transformational Experience

The power of a “King Lear” passage is a refutation of Scott Walker’s attempt to redirect higher education to “work force needs.”

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Warning Labels for the Classics

Suggestions that certain classics come with “trigger warnings” leads of the following reflection.

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Chaucer’s Riff on the Woman at the Well

Seen in the light of the Samaritan woman at the well, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath is one of Christ’s messengers.

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Fighting Lit’s Culture Wars Again?!

A recent Wall Street Journal column is attempting to revive the 1990s culture wars over literature.

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Lit’s 10 Most Painful Marriage Proposals

Literature 10 most painful marriage proposals.

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Lit’s 10 Strongest Female Characters

Who are literature’s ten strongest female characters? Here’s my list.

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