Monthly Archives: February 2015

In Support of School Prayer (with a Twist)

A Florida bill allows prayers to be read at assemblies but can’t designate a particular religion, offering openings to various sects. Scott Bates provides the school children with some possibilities.

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King’s Vision of Environmental Devastation

Stephen King, drawing on William Carlos Williams’ “Paterson,” warns about the destructiveness brought on by America’s acquisitive side.

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Hoping against Hope in the Face of Death

Following philosopher Adrienne Martin, I meditate on what it means to “hope against hope” or to have “unimaginable hope.” The texts I use are “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” “Beowulf,” and “Wizard of Earthsea.”

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Unlike Oklahoma, King Wants Real History

The Oklahoma legislature wants to whitewash American history. Stephen King’s horror fiction is all about such whitewashing attempts.

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Motion Picture Industry, It’s You I Love!

Sixty years ago Frank O’Hara captured an ambivalence that we may have experienced during the Oscars last night: he both mocks Hollywood and is enthralled with it.

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Tracking Eliot’s Spiritual Journey for Lent

My Lenten discipline is to better understand T. S. Eliot’s religious poetry.

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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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Murphy: Something Funny in Everything

Eddie Murphy, who as a young comedian helped save Saturday Night, returned for the show’s 40th celebration. A Lucille Clifton poem draws an interesting distinction between him and Richard Pryor.

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Teaching Gender Sensitivity at West Point

Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale” is required reading for entering West Point cadets. Good things could happen.

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