It’s best to eat chocolate, I think, when reading the strong poetry of Louise Glück, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature this week. She goes for the jugular. Glück is known for her clarity and her interest in the abandoned, the punished and the betrayed. To be successful – … Read More
Author: Kate Stover
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…who best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if fails, at least fails while daring greatly…”
After reading two biographies of Theodore Roosevelt this summer, I was interested in the author of a book that pays homage to him by drawing on his famous 1910 speech for its title and opening chapter. I’ve come to the conclusion that if he were alive today, Teddy Roosevelt and … Read More
“The course of history is unpredictable, as irregular as the weather, as errant as affection, nations rising and falling by whim and chance, battered by violence, corrupted by greed . . .”
“. . . seized by tyrants, raided by rogues, addled by demagogues.” What a wonderful opening sentence! I’m eager to make my way through this 900+ page history of America. At this moment – in the first hours of autumn, in the heat of a presidential election, in a torrent … Read More
“Accept your students with compassion while also holding to the evidence-based truth about race and racism.”
Controlling the tone of difficult conversations is never easy. And yet, it’s especially critical when helping students gain new perspectives on race. Cyndi Kernahan cites research that shows that making students feel blamed or guilty only leads to backlash, not learning or attitude change (5). Rather than being confrontational, … Read More
“It’s one thing to know a lot and to have experienced a lot, but it’s quite another to know how you feel about what you’ve observed and lived.”
We can’t assume that all novelists who create likable characters are likable themselves, but I imagine that Richard Russo is. In this collection of essays, he is warm, funny, and self-deprecating – traits that characterize many of the people in his novels. For example, he tells us about the classmate … Read More
“You have been cast into a race in which the wind is always at your face and the hounds are always at your heels.”
When this book was published five years ago, Toni Morrison famously predicted that Coates will fill the intellectual void created when James Baldwin died. Now, seeing this book back on bestseller lists made me wonder what Coates thinks of Baldwin’s legacy. In a May 2020 interview, he said that … Read More
“Beware the danger of what I call Feminism Lite.”
“Feminism Lite” is the idea of conditional female equality, where men believe they are superior but should be expected to “treat women well.” It can be disguised as real feminism when men behave in an equitable way – but believe it’s optional and provisional. You hear it in phrases … Read More
“Wasn’t memory, that bully and oppressor, supposed to become soft and spongy?”
“What my father wanted to cast from me wasn’t a demon: it was me.”
To say that Tara Westover’s dad demanded complete obedience to his rules and doctrine would be an understatement. When one of his children disobeyed, he assumed it could be due to one thing only: the work of the devil. He is a person most of us would dismiss … Read More
“And I know that I must go on doing this dance on hot bricks till I die.”
The brilliant novelist Virginia Woolf used this metaphor to describe her ongoing struggle with mental health in her diary on March 1, 1937, which was 42 years after her first nervous breakdown and four years before she drowned herself. What is most astonishing to me is how she was able … Read More
“The power of the mighty industrial overlords of the country had increased with giant strides, while the method of controlling them . . . remained archaic . . .”
Presidents Roosevelt and Taft – both Republicans – worked “as stewards of the public welfare” to check the power of huge corporations by supporting anti-trust legislation. These two men were both willing to argue with members of their own party about the role of government in controlling companies that abused … Read More
“This was when I was sailing close to the shore of my life. That boat capsized, thank my lucky stars…”
Poet Marjorie Saiser continues “…and since then I’ve been bobbing in the deep, splashing, coughing, water in my throat at times, learning to swim.” What would you pick for a title of a poem about that describes a wedding day and then the fact that everything changed when the “boat … Read More
“Sometimes when he was dealing with people, he felt like he was operating one of those claw machines . . . where you tried to scoop up a prize but the controls were too unwieldly…”
If you could ask one novelist to write a story about your life, who would you pick? For me, it would be Anne Tyler, whose power lies in her ability to capture both truth and humanity in profound metaphors. For example, the main character in this novel is a runner … Read More
“A better grading system would build in incentives for students to aim high, work hard, and do their best.”
Ever since I read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset five years ago, I have been looking for a new approach to grading. I wanted to find a way to give grades that supported a growth mindset. I was looking for a method of giving feedback that led directly to improvement … Read More
“A survey by Hulton in 1946 produced the stunning figure of an average of fourteen readers per copy, or over 1 million per month.”
When times are sad and difficult, what do people do for fun? According to Julie Summers’ new book Dressed for War, during WWII, many people turned to Vogue for relief. Of course, critics, such as Welsh Labour MP Jim Griffiths said that publishing luxury magazines was “pernicious and damaging” … Read More