Tuesday Given that a recession would doom Donald Trump’s already shaky reelection chances, how will he behave if the economy suddenly tanks? On Nicole Wallace’s NBC program last week, the Rev. Al Sharpton said that Democrats must be prepared to deal with a man who has no boundaries and will do anything to win. Of […]
Tag Archives: To Kill a Mockingbird
Why We Fear the Outsider
Spiritual Sunday My friend Sue Schmidt recently alerted me to a homily, by associate rector the Rev. David Henson at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville, North Carolina, that highlights a curious moment following one of Jesus’s exorcisms. Rev. Henson draws on To Kill a Mockingbird, Home Alone, and unspecified Harry Potter characters to explain the […]
Read to Resist: An Introduction
Thursday I share today the introduction to my upcoming book, which is still in draft form and whose title I keep changing. Latest title: Read to Resist: Classic Lit Provides Tools for Battling Trump and Trumpism. I’m still not entirely satisfied with that and so will keep tinkering. In any event, here’s my first attempt […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alexander Pope, Beowulf, Donald Trump, Dunciad, Go Set a Watchman, H. G. Wells, Harper Lee, Invisible Man, John Milton, Leo Tolstoy, Othello, Paradise Lost, Trump resistance, War and Peace, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Mockingbird Discomfits the Wrong People
If teachers should teach controversial lit to discomfit their students, is “To Kill a Mockingbird” a good choice? There’s a problem if those most discomfited are black students.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Book banning, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, racism Comments closed
Foes of Mockingbird Have a Point
I’m somewhat sympathetic with the Biloxi parents who want to ban “To Kill a Mockingbird” in an 8th grade classroom. At the very least, I want it supplemented with works by writers of color.
Toni Morrison: White Panic Led to Trump
As Toni Morrison sees it, William Faulkner’s observations about white panic go a long way toward explaining Trump’s victory.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Absolom Absolom, Donald Trump, Go Tell a Watchman, Harper Lee, racism, Toni Morrison, white privilege, William Faulkner Comments closed
Harper Lee’s Book Became Less Honest
“Gp Set a Watchman” is not as polished a book as “To Kill a Mockingbird” but it is more ambitious and more honest. Something important got lost in the editing process.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged American South, Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee, racism Comments closed
