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Category Archives: history
Unity: Advent Word 7
Today we commemorate a day that has lived in infamy for 78 years–a day that also united our country as has no other event in history. I was not born for another 12 years, but as if from instant mutation … Continue reading
Posted in Advent, critical thinking, divisiveness, free speech, history, peace, unity
Tagged Advent, divisiveness, free speech, history, patriotism, Pearl Harbor, unity
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Misinterpreting Emerson: A Meditation on Consistency, the Constitution, and American Exceptionalism
When I first started working as a disability examiner for Social Security, we had no desktop computers, just Wang terminals; nor could we communicate via email, just intraoffice messaging whose default was “reply all.” Hence, I established a wide reputation … Continue reading
Fruition: 2018
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
Posted in art, books, education, history, literature, movies, music, poetry, World War I
Tagged art, history, literature, music, World War I
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The Mother of Beauty: World War I in Word, Image, and Song
Published below is the text of a talk I will give tomorrow to commemorate the Armistice centenary as part of a series of events entitled “FTCC Remembers World War I: 1914-1918.” “Death is the mother of beauty,” wrote Wallace Stevens, … Continue reading
Posted in art, history, literature, music, poetry, World War I
Tagged art, history, literature, music, poetry, World War I
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One Doomed Youth–and 17 Million More
From July to November 1917, Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was a shell-shocked second lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, under the care of W. H. R. Rivers at Craiglockhart War Hospital. There, he became close friends with Siegfried Sassoon, who became … Continue reading
Posted in history, literature, poem, poetry, World War I
Tagged Armistice, history, literature, poetry, Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, World War I
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My Brief Encounter with Erney Krongard
Despite the apparent obscurity of this World War I-era postcard, the charm of its rough sketch of doughboys at the front and the accompanying doggerel prompted me to buy it from eBay along with others more charming still–and of much … Continue reading
Posted in cemetery, family, history, World War I
Tagged cemetery, history, research, World War I
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Nothing’s Fair
For more than two years, I have been immersed in a project designed to commemorate the centenary of World War I in my freshman composition classes and–this November–across the campus of the community college where I teach. I have already … Continue reading
Posted in books, history, literature, love, World War I
Tagged history, literature, love, World War I
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The English Major and Ford Madox Ford: A Tale of Passion
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
Posted in education, history, language, literature, review, World War I, writing
Tagged books, education, history, language, literature, review, World War I, writing
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Bearing Witness: Reading and Telling the Great War
Midway through the World War I centenary, I decided that I would use that largely unacknowledged anniversary as the theme for my freshman composition class on writing across the curriculum. The students write a literature review about shell shock for … Continue reading
Posted in books, history, literature, review, World War I
Tagged books, history, literature, World War I
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