Destiny and Free Will: The Wicked Day of Chance
Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. — Lord Alfred Tennyson, “Ulysses” Fate’s threads entangle all in an infinite web, unbeknownst to the players of the tragedy. What happens when a character is aware of his...
Halloween Books to Kickoff Your Halloween Week
The origins of Halloween date back to a Celtic tradition marking the end of the harvest season. Later, this pagan celebration was given Christian connotations by the Church, and the term “Halloween” translates to “All Saints” (“History of Halloween” Radford, B.). The modern celebration of Halloween proves to be far more removed from its origins,...
Separating Art from Artist
Some of the most renowned authors have been horribly problematic people. Salinger was an adulterer and has been accused of pedophilia. Anne Perry murdered her mother. T.S. Eliot was a raging anti-Semite – as were Virginia Woolf, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway. So why is it that we study these author’s texts with such fervent...
A Novel In Verse: My Take on Eugene Onegin
As someone who is very interested in Russian History, culture, and literature, I love to explore different Russian texts in translation. One of my current favourites is the novel written in verse, Eugene Onegin. Written by Pushkin in 1825, this novel is short, witty, and engaging, with an unexpected twist at the end. It is...
Top 10 Places to Read on Campus
If you’re like me and enjoy reading above and beyond the requirements set by class, you have probably already scouted the campus for private and quiet places to enjoy a few chapters during the school day. So, without further ado, here is my definitive list of the best places to catch a few paragraphs before...
How I Chose My Pen Name: On Racialized Names and the English Literary Canon
Hello, my name is Charmaine Anne Li. That is my full legal name on all my documents, and everyone calls me “Charmaine.” However, I sign off on all my literary pieces as “Li Charmaine Anne.” Truth is, I’ve always been a little sensitive as to how “Asian-sounding” my name is. “Li,” after all, is the...
