Category Archives: education

“A Vendetta” by Guy de Maupassant: An Analysis with an Existentialist Twist

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Boz

Below is a translation from French into English of my May 8 post: Like other writers of the 19th century (e.g. Charles Dickens in England and Alexandre Dumas in France), Guy de Maupassant first published his story “A Vendetta” in … Continue reading →

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Prime Time

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Boz

Two years ago, in a post to commemorate my milestone of a 65th birthday, I wrote, “The numbers that would seem the most noteworthy are the primes, but we have opted to recognize the boring and uncreative numbers instead.” Today, … Continue reading →

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Measuring Life in Semesters: I Am a Teacher

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Boz

During what was probably the most important ten-plus years of my life, I was a member of a tiny parish in the Episcopal Church. Actually, it was so small that it was officially a mission, dependent upon the diocese for … Continue reading →

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Everything Calm on the Occidental Battlefield: Or, Plagiarism 101

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Boz

What follows is a literary analysis I received at the end of the spring semester in one of my English 112 classes. My first clue that something was amiss was the title in the first sentence–and the fact that it … Continue reading →

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Fruition: 2018

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Boz

As I began to ponder the year soon coming to a close, it seemed necessary and fitting that I end the longest hiatus of my blog-writing career with a brief narration of the project–now complete–that has consumed my life for … Continue reading →

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The English Major and Ford Madox Ford: A Tale of Passion

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Boz

                  The Chemistry Major At this late date, newly minted Medicare card tucked safely in my wallet, I suppose it’s time to admit, mostly to myself, that I have always been what … Continue reading →

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Yellow Fleas

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Boz

The end of Reconstruction in 1877 gave birth to the Solid South. In both Presidential and state politics, the South retained its essentially single-party identity until the passage of the Civil Right Act in 1964. During that time, Southerners would … Continue reading →

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Reconsidering the American Consensus–and Rehabilitating the 1950s

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Boz

The Mering thesis and the roots of consensus history At the University of Arizona in the mid-1970s, John V. Mering inculcated his disciples with a devotion to the consensus historiography whose bedrock was The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It … Continue reading →

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The Armistice: A Remembrance

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Boz

The 99th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I took center stage in my English 112 class on Friday, November 10. For more than a year, I have been preparing to guide my students on this journey through … Continue reading →

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The Classroom, the Headlines, and a Lesson in Perspective

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Boz

By  the time I was in the third grade, in thrall to the eccentric Mrs. Nina Williamson, who taught us our multiplication tables, read aloud to us from Thornton W. Burgess or The Jungle Book after lunch each day, and … Continue reading →

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