Literature

What We Can Learn From ‘Beowulf’ About Monsters, Gratitude, and Culture 7
- Culture, Literature
- November 28, 2023
In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, set around A.D. 500, King Hrothgar of the Danes builds an immense hall, Heorot, ornate yet sturdy, a bulwark against the fog and darkness and barbarism of the age. Under its beams, the King and his thanes and their families can gather, smoke great slabs of meat, and pour out
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A Case for Ancient Books: Recovering True Happiness 2
- Literature, Featured
- November 27, 2023
Something important is missing from contemporary fiction and non-fiction. Specifically, I think the majority of books today lack a sense of universality—ideas and perspectives that extend beyond the bounds of the society and culture in which they were written. Certainly, it is essential to read works that reflect our own society and culture, but isn’t
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Should We Stop Using the Term ‘Critical Thinking’?23
- Literature, Philosophy
- November 16, 2023
For a long time, when I saw the term critical thinking, I would nod approvingly. Who doesn’t want to sharpen their analytical thought, give their mind a keener edge? In fact, I would have said that our society suffers mainly from a lack of critical thinking, a lack of logical thought. Of course, logical thinking
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Reading as a Family to Give Your Children an Educational Boost 4
- Education, Family, Literature
- November 6, 2023
A friend of mine recently mentioned that her one-year-old daughter was finally starting to get interested in books, even to the point of interacting with them. She then imitated her daughter’s toddler voice as they delved into a Bible storybook the other day, her little girl scolding and admonishing Adam and Eve not to eat
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Seeing Ourselves in the Mystical Mirror 1
- Philosophy, Literature
- October 27, 2023
Those of us who love literature are puzzled by those who are indifferent to its goodness, truth and beauty. We are perplexed by those who won’t read fiction because they want the facts and nothing but the facts. We are bemused by those who won’t read poetry, preferring prose, because they want to remain grounded
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Under Pressure: Britney Spears, Ernest Hemingway, and Abortion 4
- Culture, Literature
- October 24, 2023
In her memoir The Woman in Me, Britney Spears reveals that when she and Justin Timberlake were a couple 20 years ago, she became pregnant, and he convinced her to have an abortion. “Justin wasn’t happy about the pregnancy,” writes Spears. “He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we
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