Tag Archives: Mark Twain

Superstition & Power Relations

By Robin Bates | Published: June 13, 2014

To honor Friday’s 13th, here’s how Mark Twain handles superstition in “Huck Finn.”

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#CancelColbert, #CancelMarkTwain

By Robin Bates | Published: April 2, 2014

Carl Rosin, a high school teacher I admire tremendously, shares below how he will be using a recent public dust-up about a Stephen Colbert tweet to help his students understand the power and danger of satire, especially as it applies to Huckleberry Finn. I love the tweet that Carl imagines could have emerged out of Huck […]

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Top 10 Parent-Child Classics (Positive)

By Robin Bates | Published: March 25, 2014

A top ten list of classics with positive depictions of parent-child relationships.

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Duck Dynasty Patriarch as Pap Finn

By Robin Bates | Published: December 23, 2013

Patriarch Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” shares certain characteristics with Pap Finn.

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GOP Whites Splitting? Huck Finn Says No

By Robin Bates | Published: December 3, 2013

If “Huck Finn” has predictive value, the class tensions within today’s GOP will be papered over by racism.

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Kid Fight in Congress

By Robin Bates | Published: September 25, 2013

At times, Congress looks like two kids squabbling in “Tom Sawyer”–only in this case, the stakes are much higher and one side refuses to act like an adult.

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Aristotle Wrong about Tragic Heroes

By Robin Bates | Published: February 6, 2013

Revealing his prejudices, Aristotle tries to limit those whose suffering can be labeled tragic.

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Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here

By Robin Bates | Published: October 31, 2012

“Sandy” conjures up for me a traumatic childhood reading experience along with a passage from “The Tempest.”

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Summertime and the Living Is Easy

By Robin Bates | Published: August 21, 2012

An afternoon spent in a friend’s boat brought to mind Huck and Jim watching the Mississippi River.

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