Bertolt Brecht captures the spirit of May Day in “A Worker Reads History.”
Tag Archives: Work
History from the Workers’ Perspective
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Muscles and Mind, Aching to Work
Celebrate May Day with this passage from “Grapes of Wrath,” which emphasizes how vital work is to our sense of self respect.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Grapes of Wrath, International Workers Day, John Steinbeck, May Day, Studs Terkel, Working Comments closed
A Poem for Those Feeling Dragged Down
In “The Fascination of What’s Difficult,” William Butler Yeats gives us a poem that will help get us through end-of-the-year workplace fatigue.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Fascination of What's Difficult", teaching, William Butler Yeats Comments closed
Dirty Work = Heart of Darkness
In “Heart of Darkness,” Joseph Conrad indirectly teaches us that doing work that contributes to human misery will take a toll, however much we try to focus just on the work.
Laureate Philip Levine, Working Class Poet
Raised in Michigan and once a factory worker, Philip Levine, our new poet laureate, often writes about rustbelt desolation, as he does in “An Abandoned Factory, Detroit.”
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Essay Grading and the Great Wall of China
At this time of year, I sometimes wonder why I signed up for this gig. Stacks of ungraded essays are strewn “far and wee” across my study, and only the knowledge that I have completed my student essays in the past assures me that I will make it through this batch. In my hour of […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged After Apple-Picking, Franz Kafka, Great Wall of China, Robert Frost, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, teaching, William Wordsworth Comments closed
A Tribute to the Workers of the World
Here’s a special Labor Day post for the workers of the world—those who have jobs and those who don’t, those who are overworked and those who are underemployed, those who are treated fairly and those who are exploited, those who are just starting out and those who have been working for a long time, those […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Working Girls", Carl Sandburg, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Comments closed
Up in the Air, Then Back to Earth
George Clooney, Up in the Air The wonderful opportunity I had last week to deliver a series of lectures in Ljubljana (Slovenia) has me thinking about why it seems to be more satisfying to teach elsewhere than at home. In Slovenia, everything was fresh and exciting. In America, I feel inundated by worries and obligations. What […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Brief Vacation, Flies, Jean Paul Sartre, Up in the Air, Up in the Air (film), Vacation Comments closed
