Literature
The Tale of Genji: Japan’s Greatest Novel
By Grant L. Voth, Ph.D., Monterey Peninsula College A pillar of the world literary canon, The Tale of Genji is considered to be the world’s […]
Literature
American Literature
Thoreau and Walden: American Nature Writing
By Ashton Nichols,PhD, Dickinson College Walden; Or, Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau, is the foundational text of American nature writing; the point from […]
Literature
Elegant Writing vs. Effective Writing—Famous Examples of Both
By Brooks Landon, Ph.D, University of Iowa The written word is a unique art form in its own right. Yet while “good art” is subjective, […]
Literature
Literary Fiction and Crime Fiction: The Case of Cormac McCarthy
What does it mean to look at the work of Cormac McCarthy from the perspective of crime fiction? […]
Ancient Literature
An Introduction to The Analects of Confucius
Imagination. That one word sums up Confucius, the Analects, and the influence of his teachings. Find out more in this lecture by Professor Robert André LaFleur, Ph.D […]
Ancient Literature
Odysseus, Master of Schemes
Odysseus was a legendary king of ancient Ithaca, an island in the Ionian Sea. Look at Odysseus as the awed Greek hero celebrated in Homer’s Odyssey and other poems related to the Trojan War. We’ll pay particular attention to the ways in which Odysseus’s scheming and lies lead to heroic triumphs—and nearly kill him. […]
British Literature
The Detective Is Born
Where the crime damages the social fabric, the detective makes the repair. […]
Ancient History
The Sack of Rome, 410 A.D
Almost as soon as it occurred, the Sack of Rome left the space of history and entered the realm of myth. […]
British Literature
Charlotte and Emily Brontë’s Taste in Heroes
By Timothy Spurgin, PhD, Lawrence University As one might expect, Charlotte and Emily have many things in common. Their novels challenge social values and also reveal […]
British Literature
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Dense Forest of Symbols
By Dorsey Armstrong, PhD, Purdue University An anonymous poem of 2,530 lines, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, survives in a single manuscript containing three other Middle […]