Experimental Writing in American Literature

American literature is mostly about social justice, voiceless people, and new literary forms that bring awareness. Historically, experimental writing does just that; it forces us to conceptualize new ways of thinking about text. This is necessary for literary progression or simply for the movement of writing in new directions. Exploring three significant kinds of literary […]

The Moral Factless Fabric of the Universe

I will attempt to answer the question of whether moral facts or properties are part of the fabric of our universe. In order to do this, I will provide accounts both for and against moral realism by focusing on the arguments of G.E. Moore and J.L. Mackie along with reactions to their positions. I will argue […]

Le Guin's Word For World

Background Ursula Le Guin’s novel The Word for World is Forest was published in 1972 and is the 6th book in her Hainish Cycle. The Hainish Cycle consists of a number of science fiction novels and stories by the author. It is set in an alternate future history in the Hainish Universe in which civilizations of human beings on […]

apple cores

We were road tripping to Colorado. I woke up in a cheap motel in Omaha. There is nothing particularly fascinating about the city, but its eclectic coffee and record shops made do. I was traveling with a friend, Yana, and she had just brought breakfast to our room. We tossed our heads back and smiled […]

NaNoWriMo Update

It’s been a week and a half since NaNoWriMo began! After figuring out what to sacrifice (sleep) I’m still mentally going strong: I do not hate my story yet, I’ve not run out of ideas (in fact, I have too many), and I’ve been to a Chicago write-in or two. Day 2: I went hard […]

Hay Ibn Yaqzan

In Ibn Tufayl’s philosophical tale Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, the main character Hayy realizes that in order to become his ideal self, he must complete a series of duties. These duties are imitations of assimilation. The journey of the three phases begins with the “inarticulate animal,” which then progresses to the “celestial body,” and then ends […]

NaNoWriMo '16

I had been telling myself all summer that I was going to write a novel this November during National Novel Writing Month. I was determined with no real plans – delusional, as usual. My novel was going to be lit. And then October 28th hit. I am a full-time student, teaching assistant, intern working with […]

Lucretius on Death

In Book Three (lines 38-86) of Lucretius’s Epicurean ode, On the Nature of Things, our author discusses death. The point of this section is to explain the fear of death and its affects to his audience. According to Lucretius, death and the afterlife are feared by all. He states that the soul is not immortal due […]

Character Analysis of Harrison Bergeron

The short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. takes place in the American futuristic, utopian society of 2081. There are three major characters. Harrison Bergeron, George Bergeron, and Hazel Bergeron. All three characters represent something different. They all fit together, making the tiers of the societal pyramid. Harrison Bergeron represents a part of American […]