WHAT WILL HAPPEN THIS WEEK IF A PUBLIC FIGURE GOES TO A GATHERING, GIVES UTTERANCE OF SOMETHING POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE OR MISLEADING, AND THEN MAKES HEADLINES
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Category Archives: Polity
On “Freedom” in Jonathan Franzen’s Novel, Freedom
Jonathan Franzen has said of fiction that if it “isn’t an author’s personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown” it “isn’t worth writing for anything but money.” The author’s passion we read in his the novel Freedom was hardly an adventure for money. This novel hurts to read. It makes you ache. It makes you depressed. I makes you yearn for the freedom of having finished it.
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Putting the Elf Shelf Away: A Reflection
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thegirlsny/8208193899/lightbox/
Despite a number of protests, my wife and I opted to do the Elf on the Shelf this year for our two-and-a-half-year-old. No, the protests weren’t from our child. I meant he protests in various blogs online, blogs that make very good points.
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Ten Compounding Ironies Surrounding Ferguson We Wish to Heal From
It’s been a week, including a Thanksgiving celebration, since the outrage of the Ferguson verdict. I refused to write until now. And because much has been said, I’ve decided to focus on the compounded ironies in retrospect:
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Refuse Avenue (new poem—an homage to Dylan)
[The following poem is a Dylanesque homage, and is most certainly a nod to “Desolation Row”. But it is also intended to stand on its own.]
Refuse Avenue
I hear they’re making it into a movie
From the book based off of the trial
The pearl stilettos auctioned off
The blood run down the aisle
Enter the captive jury
On the brink of a crucial vote
To whom our hearts belong this week
And who must jump the boat
The picketers collide in the cross-hairs
The gutters are starting to brew
As the boys and I spend a penny
Down on Refuse Avenue
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Book Review: Created Equal by Joshua Berman
“All men are created equal.”
It’s one of the foundational beliefs of our country, one that nobody dares question. But some things we sometimes can’t help but question: What does it mean to be equal? If we are born different, how are we still equal? Where did we get the idea that all men [and women] are created equal? This question becomes important when we consider that when this phrase was written into the US Constitution, “men” was defined as white, land-owning males. So how we define equality and how we put it into practice are important questions. And for some reason, we have this idea that the idea of everyone being equal is new. Like, within the past 200 years new.
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“Why the Founding Fathers’ Faith Doesn’t Matter” By Carl Jenkins
Carl Jenkins on Why the Founding Fathers’ Faith Doesn’t Matter
A Pledge; A Plea
Oh please, all ye gents
Lose the flag
Of the indicted state of America;
Eschew the republic
And wash ye hands
When nations and their gods
Indefensibly
Withhold liberty and justice for all
“Singing Praise to God, Not America” by Craig M. Watts
“Singing Praise to God, Not America” by Craig M. Watts
“Singing Praise to God, Not America” by Craig M. Watts
Tree Shaker: Nelson Mandela Biography Open Response for English Teachers
Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5 of this year. It was around this time of year a year ago that I read a biography of his, Tree Shaker, by Bill Keller. I read this book in order to create a sample assessment for students.
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CALEB COY 