Work In Progress

In this paper, I will examine some of the mythic elements of “Noon Wine.” Specifically, I will look at how Porter uses psychic distance to illustrate Mr. Thompson as a flawed hero, undone by his own hubris.
In an interview with Barbara Thompson, Katherine Anne Porter stated that “any true work of art has got to [...]

In his book on animal intelligence, If a Lion Could Talk, Stephen Budiansky addresses the animal perspective by stating: “if a lion could talk we probably could understand him. He just would not be a lion anymore” (Budiansky).  During my brainstorming process of this piece, I researched the animal POV many times on the internet. [...]

In Adam Haslett’s story, Notes to My Biographer, the narrator tells us abouy “two things to get straight from the beginning: [he] hates doctors and [he has] never joined a support group in [his] life” (1).  As I read this story, there were two things that became clear: Notes to My Biographer is both funny [...]

The dramatic monologue is a term best known by poets and playwrights.  It refers to a moment in a poem or a play where a character speaks directly to another character, uninterrupted.  In some cases, an entire poem (or play) can employ this device: i.e. Robert Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess as an example.  This [...]

I just finished, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  This is for my “How to teach reading” course, a prereq. for the teaching licensure program at CSU.  It’s adolescent literature.  I started it last night and got about 44 pages in.  I just finished it tonight (224 pages in all).  [...]

Just finished the collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Interpreter of Maladies was such an intense read and it was a refreshing change from Hemingway, Joyce, James and Munro.  Lahiri is relentless yet very accessible as a writer.
The first story, A Temporary Matter, was gut-wrenching.  As a mother of a child, I was left [...]