I remember when it first occurred to me that I wasn’t completely in control of my mind. I was sitting in an upper-level history class, and the professor was giving us examples of Cold War propaganda. I thought about my irrational childhood fear of Russian kids. As a boy, I imagined them in heavy coats, […]
Month: September 2013
Writing v. Reading: May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor
When I was deciding between PhD programs, I was interviewed by a composition program to determine whether or not I would receive a TA. The interview took place on the phone, not my best medium, and I was very aware of how much was riding on my success. “So, what have you taught before?” the […]
“…to see the object as in itself it really is.”
I read a lot of monographs over the last year for my Ph.D. exams, and there were a number of times where I wanted to find the author and shout, “But what are you saying about Thomas Hardy!? You’re just saying Tess of the D’Urbervilles is kinda like this other thing. I’d give my students a […]
Ovular Logic
In the opening scene of Orson Welles’ 1962 adaptation of The Trial, a suddenly awakened and apparently under arrest Mr. K. (Anthony Perkins) responds to the oblique requests of police inspectors. One inspector begins to document the evidence in the room by writing in a notebook. This writing, we learn in several ways, is a […]