My British Literature students recently studied two very disparate texts – Everyman, written in 1485, author unknown, and The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, written in 1594 by Christopher Marlowe (a contemporary of William Shakespeare). Everyman, the main character of the morality play, is summoned by Death and begins the…
Read moreEvery spring we are inundated with ants. They swarm into the kitchen and try to take over. This year they came early. I don’t like to spray, and the plastic bait traps don’t seem to work well, but when I saw dozens of them near the kitchen sink, I bought…
Read moreI lost my glasses one week ago. I looked everywhere — all over my house, in the classrooms where I had last taught, in the Lost and Found on campus… no glasses. Although I can see to drive, and see my students, I cannot read anything without my glasses. So…
Read moreDecember 31, 2002 — my heart was racing at over 150 beats a minute, and I was sitting down. For the previous three weeks I had symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, and sleepiness. My primary care doctor put me on a Holter monitor. I wondered why she was checking my heart.…
Read moreI’m teaching British Literature to 1650 for the first time. I have looked forward to teaching this course for years, and it is as fun and daunting as I thought it would be! We begin with Beowulf. Many of you are familiar with the first Old English epic poem, written…
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