Tag Archives: College Teaching

Orwell Shot Down More Than an Elephant

By Robin Bates | Published: July 11, 2012

Essayist Dylan Nice describes how Orwell’s essay “Shooting the Elephant” pulled him out of kneejerk rightwing prejudices.

Posted in Orwell (George) | Also tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Bartleby and the Missing Professor

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2011

One of the strangest reading stories I have ever encountered involves an English professor who mysteriously disappeared and Melville’s novella Bartleby the Scrivener.

Posted in Melville (Herman) | Also tagged , | 3 Comments

Yes, Stanley, Lit Can Change Lives

By Robin Bates | Published: October 14, 2009

  George Herbert I’m trying to figure out why Stanley Fish bothers me so.  Maybe it’s because I’m already worried that our society doesn’t take poetry seriously enough.  Then an English professor with a national forum comes along and confirms that people should consider the study of literature as an arcane study yielding satisfactions only to [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Lit Is More than Just an End in Itself

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2009

Alan Paskow      Yesterday I talked about how Alan Paskow (in philosophy) and I violently disagreed with a series of columns that Stanley Fish wrote on his New York Time blog about the humanities.  Fish was going after those who use the humanities “instrumentally”—as good for something else rather than as ends in themselves.   Alan, [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

  • AVAILABLE NOW!

  • Literature is as vital to our lives as food and shelter. Stories and poems help us work through the challenges we face, from everyday irritations to loneliness, heartache, and death. Literature is meant to mix it up with life. This website explores how it does so.

    Please feel free to e-mail me [rrbates (at) smcm (dot) edu]. I would be honored to hear your thoughts and questions about literature.

  • Sign up for weekly newsletter

    Your email will not be shared or sold.
    * = required field

    powered by MailChimp!

  •  Subscribe in a reader

  • Twitter Authentication data is incomplete