Tag Archives: Mark Twain

Lit that Features the N-Word: What to Do

Now to teach White literature that employs the n-word? Balance with Black literature.

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When News Resembles an Onion Headline

A recent case of an American man arrested for parodying a police department elicited a supportive brief from “The Onion.”

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Poems about Charles I and II

With the ascension of Charles III to the throne, I look back at poems that mention the two previous Charleses.

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Why I Think the Way I Think

I survey my intellectual history, especially the evolution of my thinking about literature’s impact on human behavior.

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Connecticut Yankee in Northern Syria

Trump empty threats in the middle East are anticipated by Mark Twain in “Connecticut Yankee.” In fact, the novel captures well our adventures in the Middle East.

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Which Literary Conman Is Trump?

To understand Trump as conman, I compare him to the King and the Duke, Mac the Knife, Melville’s Confidence Man, Satan & Iago.

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Fantasy Keeps Dreams Alive

Thursday In Monday’s and Tuesday’s posts (see here and here), I laid out the outlines of my first “Wizards and Enchantresses” class, which I’m currently teaching as part of Sewanee’s Lifelong Learning Program. The first class I devoted to Merlin, the second will focus on Morgan Le Fay, the third will take up Shakespeare’s Prospero, […]

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Trump Lying, Modern Day Shout-Boasting?

Mark Twain depicts the verbal art of shout boasting. Maybe Trump operates out of this tradition.

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The Novels that Shaped John McCain

McCain’s favorite novels included “Great Gatsby,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Huckleberry Finn,” and works by Somerset Maugham. One can understand why.

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