Tag Archives: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Literature in Time of War

Poetry has always been present in times of war but with mixed success at improving conditions.

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Tim Scott’s Self-Debasement

Sen. Tim Scott’s self-abasement before Donald Trump brings to mind various “Uncle Tom” poems written by Black authors.

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The Arbery Killers, Today’s Slave Catchers

The men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery are like the slave catchers in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin Changed History

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” changed history. But is it a great work of literature?

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The Lit That Inspired Van Gogh

Writers like Stowe, Dickens, Hugo and Maupassant played a pivotal role in the evolution of Van Gogh as an artist.

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Returning to the Misty Past

John Gatta’s “Spirits of Place” is helping me understand why I have chosen to retire in my home town. Wordsworth, Stowe, Homer, and Frost help out as well.

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Can Art Thwart Trump? A Debate

In which I argue with a writer who claims that art and artists have an inflated sense of their power and that they are irrelevant in the battle against Donald Trump.

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Child Heroines Who Die for Our Sins

The child heroine who dies, a common trope in the 19th century, continues to fascinate us, appearing in “Bridge to Tarabithia” and “The Fault Is in Our Stars.” One of my students has this as a senior project topic.

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Can Lit Also Be a Force for Evil? A Debate

The classics are capable to doing great good but can they also do harm? Even as they powerfully open up the mind to new possibilities, can they also close it down? A debate.

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