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How to Read Novels Like a Professor: Book Review
Title: How to Read Novels Like a Professor Author: Thomas C. Foster Published: New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008 About the Author[1] Thomas C. Foster grew up in rural Ohio. His early inspirations to literary works came from Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. He taught literature from 1975 until his retirement in 2014 with his last 27 years at the University of Michigan-Flint. He has written the following books published under HarperCollins: How to Read Literature Like a Professor (2003, revised 2014), How to Read Novels Like a Professor (2008), Twenty-five Books that Shaped America (2011), How to Read Literature Like a Professor—for Kids (2012), Reading the Silver Screen (2016), and How to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy and Sonorous Guide to Verse (2018). Less well-known works include Form and Society in Modern Literature (Northern Illinois University Press, 1988), Seamus Heaney (Twayne, 1989), and Understanding John Fowles (University of South Carolina Press, 1994). He is still active writing books and you can find his blog site at thomascfoster.com. My Perspective This book was an accidental find. Meaning I was not looking for it and it was not recommended by anybody I knew. As far as I was concerned…
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Applying the Dignity of Human Life
It is in the practical and concrete application of ethics and morals that we run in to trouble. For example, we may believe that we need to recognize the value of every human being, but how exactly to manifest this in our day to day activities is another matter altogether. How do we give value to the life of a pedophile, rapist, murderer, or specific people like Stalin, Mao, or Hitler? We must first recognize that we are having a problem reconciling the two opinions. What usually happens is that we can agree in the case of a general rule, i.e. that we are made in the image of God and that we need to respect human life. But when it comes to the specific, we have difficulties applying this rule. One needs first to clarify their belief in the original moral statement. Then we compare and rationally understand how this applies to the group or individual we feel compelled to exclude. This may need some soul searching and even a humble admittance that we too have the potential to become that which we most abhor. Let us look at the dignity of a human life. As we have advanced…
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Emile or On Education: Book Review
Title: Emile or On Education Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau Introduction, Translation, and Notes: Allan Bloom Published: New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1979 (Originally published in 1762) About the Author[1] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Genevan philosopher and music theorist, was born June 28, 1712 and died July 2, 1778. His father was a watchmaker and his mother was the niece of a Calvinist minister who died a few days after giving birth. In 1728 he converted to Catholicism and the next year joined a seminary. He dropped out of the seminary and taught music to girls of wealthy families. In 1745 he commenced a relationship with Thérèse Levasseur who was the chambermaid of the hotel where he was staying. They had five children together and all of them were sent immediately to the local foundling home. He married Thérèse in a civil ceremony in 1768. He worked with the Encyclopedists, Diderot and d’Alembert, writing all the articles pertaining to music for the Encyclopédie. In 1754 he reverted to Calvinism and again became a citizen of Geneva. His more famous literary works are Julie, or the New Heloise (1761), Emile, or On Education (1762), The Social Contract (1762), and The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau…
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Childish vs Childlike
At first it may appear that these two terms are very similar as they deal with children. But that is not really true, as we use them many times to describe adult behavior. To be childish has a very negative connotation whereas childlike has a positive connotation. When I think of childish, I think of regression, selfishness, immature, absorbed in one’s own interests in a harmful way. On the contrary, when I think of childlike, I think of curiosity, innocence, smiling faces, youth, energy, trust, amiability, playfulness with a sense of experiencing true leisure, exploration, honesty, and love. The former is more destructive and in opposition to growth and maturity. The latter is a good quality that we should attempt to nurture throughout our life. Let’s face it, there is more to this world and life than we will ever know. When we decide to stop looking at the world around us, exploring and discovering both our inner selves and those around us, we start regressing. It is all how we look at the world. When we give up on the world and think it owes us, or we have taken the measure and found it wanting, when we have…
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Right and Reason: Book Review
Title: Right and Reason: Ethics in Theory and Practice, Second Edition Author: Fr. Austin Fagothey, S.J. Published: Charlotte, North Carolina: TAN Books, 2000 About the Author[1] Austin J. Fagothey (1901-1975) was born in San Francisco, California. He entered the Society of Jesus after graduating from St. Ignatius High School in 1917. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1931. Over his long teaching career, he taught English, Greek, theology and philosophy. He chaired the Philosophy Department for thirty years at Santa Clara University and served on its Board of Trustees from 1943-1973. The university awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1974. My Perspective Right and Reason was a required book for my Morality and Justice class that I am finishing up the last week of. Only selected chapters were required reading, but I read the book in its entirety and I am glad I did. It is recommended in the Preface that the reader has some basic understanding of the Aristotelian-Thomistic system. It uses the problem method. “This consists in introducing one of the major problems of ethics, explaining how it arose and…
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Self-Reflection on a Previous Post
I am trying to understand why my post yesterday titled “Rerum Novarum” did not match the potential that I anticipated. I had high hopes for yesterdays blog. It was to be my first blog after of course my opening prayer. So, what happened? Why, when reading it back, do I feel so disappointed? When I read the encyclical for class, I used a printed copy. I made underlines and notations throughout the document. I ended up with several pages of notes and felt prepared to discuss it in class on Saturday morning. We spent part of the class discussing this document. Now, I was really fired up about this encyclical and I expected others to be too. They were, but for different reasons. I almost wondered if we had read the same work. How could someone see something different? Well, as we know, that happens all the time. We all have different life experiences and we come from different perspectives, or viewpoints, when we approach something. When I decided to write the blog, I sat down with my notes and started to write. It is so easy to suffer from indecision. Everything sounded so good in my head until I…
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Rerum Novarum
The encyclical defends the right to personal property, family, marriage, inheritance, and private societies within a state.
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The Beginning
Every journey begins with the first step and I believe the best way to start is with a prayer to God.
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Book Review: TBS Missionary Discipleship
Title: Threshold Bible Study: Missionary Discipleship Author: Stephen J. Binz Published: New London, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 2017. 130-pages. My Perspective My first introduction to the Threshold Bible Study series was at my parish when I joined a Sunday Bible study group. The books were designed to be used as a small group or for individual study. They are organized and presented so that a specific topic can be covered in six sessions (at least that has been my experience thus far). Each session has a number of quick sections followed by questions. The sections typically start with a Bible quotation, followed by commentary, then questions, and then a prayer. It is not meant to be read in one sitting, although one could. I have enjoyed going through several years of these small group sessions. There are many times we have drifted “off track,” but I believe these for the most part were guided by the Holy Spirit to allow the group to respond to issues that appeared to be outside the topic, but in reality they helped us gain a better understanding of our relationship with God. This particular book is about missionary discipleship. All Christians that have been baptized…
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Book Review: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Title: Ender’s Game Author: Orson Scott Card Published: New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1994. Pages-349. Preamble This book was recommended to me several years ago and has been sitting on my shelf perhaps longer. I grew up reading lots of science-fiction and fantasy books. So, on a recent camping trip, I grabbed this copy and brought it along. I devoured it. It was like the old days. I am an early riser, usually five AM every day. So, there I was, reading in my camp chair, as the litany of birds serenaded me in the early morning hours, reading all about Ender. This book originally came out in 1985 while I was serving in the Navy. At the time, I was an avid Dungeon’s and Dragon’s player. In 1985 I was reading Dragonlance Chronicles and in the science-fiction genre, Armor by John Steakley. After reading the book, I can understand the fascination accredited to it. As a side note, I have not watched the movie. My Perspective The story takes place in a futuristic earth setting in which mankind is threatened with a war against alien bugs. It is an us vs them mentality. Most of the book takes…
