Traditions help form the structure and foundation of society, help define our past, shape us today, and provide ideas for our future. If we ignore traditions, America’s identity may be lost. Therefore, it’s worth exploring some recent books that highlight traditional American values. American Patriotism For some, American patriotism—a traditional idea—has been put on the…
What Good Is Poetry? ‘Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare’
Math is not often associated with poetry, but it should be. “Poetry,” from the Greek “poiesis,” meaning “to make,” is a language art that makes connections between the physical realities, while mathematics manipulates the metaphysical principles that govern them. Poetry helps us see that the quantitative functioning of matter is not all that matters, and…
The Goodness and Greatness of G.K. Chesterton
Though the England of his time was famous for its eccentrics, one man in particular captured the attention of satirists and the hearts and smiles of the men and women of that island nation. Writer G.K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was a giant of a man for his time, standing 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing…
American Treasures: ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’
You may know the story. President Lincoln, frustrated in his effort to end slavery while preserving the Union, stooped wearily from his great height to shake the lady’s proffered hand. “So you’re the little woman,” he said, “who wrote the book that made this great war.” The book was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Harriet Beecher Stowe…
Teaching Literature: A Guide for Homeschoolers
Homeschooling parents may find the prospect of teaching their children to read a straightforward endeavor. When it comes to teaching their children literature, however, many find themselves ill-equipped. One resource worth consulting is the CenterForLit, an organization that provides educators and reading enthusiasts tools and guides for exploring and enjoying literary classics. Adam Andrews and…
Good, True, Beautiful: Great Literature for Middle-School Students
Some readers may be homeschooling their children this year. Others may have enrolled them in private, public, or charter schools. But whatever means we have selected for our children’s education, the desired end results for all of us are pretty much the same. We want our kids to leave high school not only with a…
What Can Poe Teach Our Teenagers?
Edgar Allan Poe was “doomed to seethe down his soul in a great continuous convulsion of disintegration, and doomed to register the process.” So wrote English author D.H. Lawrence with a shudder, and this statement drives at the significance of Edgar Allan Poe’s influence and unique literary importance, though his writings are often dismissed as…
The Mr. Rogers of Children’s Poetry: Robert Louis Stevenson
Television’s Fred Rogers, the creator and chief actor of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” won accolades and fame for his ability to connect with small children. He spoke their language, understood their emotions, helped them understand the bigger world while also rendering it a place of enchantment, and acted as a gentle guide to life in general….
Milton and the Sublime, Part 2: The Power of ‘Paradise Lost’ to Astonish
In Part 1 of this article, we looked at how Keats in his poem “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer” established a moment of pure sublimity in its final line; we looked at how he did this. The poem’s structure is a movement: from mentioning something very small, a book, to something much bigger, a…
The Mind of a Writer
Commentary The late Kurt Vonnegut had a simple yet profound approach to writing. “When I write,” he said, “I simply become what I seemingly must become.” Stephen Hunter, another great American writer, has a similar approach to his craft today. His process isn’t so much about writing prose or creating plot or conducting research. What…
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