Category Archives: Uncategorized

In a world filled with distractions, cynicism, and skepticism, it’s easy to forget the simple wisdom we learned as children. G.K. Chesterton reminds us of the truth we learned from fairy tales. The things I believed most then, the things I believe most now, are the things called fairy tales. They seem to me toContinue reading “The Covenant of Fairy Tales”

J.R.R. Tolkien, the brilliant mind behind The Lord of the Rings series, was an advocate for the subtlety and depth of literature. He believed in the power of stories to shape our understanding of the world around us, while also granting readers the freedom to draw their own conclusions. In the preface to The FellowshipContinue reading “The Power of Literature: Remembering Context”

The new covenant of communion established by Christ emphasizes the deep bond formed when people break bread together. In literature, authors often use meals to cement connections and explore the complexities of human relationships. Here are three examples from works I teach to my freshmen every semester. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: In The Road, aContinue reading “Breaking Bread: Biblical Covenants and Connections in Literature”

In The Content Trap, Bharat Anand reveals that innovation thrives not on the content itself but on the connections that content fosters between consumers, products, and spaces. For educators like myself, the book serves as a wake-up call. It challenges the belief that providing deeper insight into the subject matter is the key to enhancingContinue reading “Connections and Covenants: Emphasizing Relationships Over Content”

An entry in a new series that covers these covenantal categories… Today, The Great Gatsby (1925). AUTHOR: F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896. He published The Great Gatsby in 1925. It was his third novel. When he died in 1940, he had four published novels, a novella, and one unfinished novel (The Last Tycoon). HIERARCHY: FitzgeraldContinue reading “The Great Gatsby”

An entry in a new series that covers these covenantal categories… Today, The Brothers Karamazov (1880). AUTHOR: Fyodor Dostoevsky was born in 1821. He published The Brothers Karamazov in 1880, the year before his death. HIERARCHY: Dostoevsky was the son of a middle-class doctor who studied to be an engineer. His father was killed by serfs, andContinue reading “The Brothers Karamazov”

An entry in a new series that covers these covenantal categories… Today, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) AUTHOR: JK Rowling was born in 1965 in Southwest Britain. She published Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 1997 and the book’s two follow-ups in 1998 and 1999, respectively. HIERARCHY: Rowling was a divorcedContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban”

In the posts that follow over the next couple of months, I’ll post short entries on a host of authors and works. The information and analysis I provide will use the covenant model to cover the following topics. AUTHOR: When was the author alive, and when was the work written? HIERARCHY: Where did the authorContinue reading “Start Here”

You can learn a lot by reading how the editors of anthologies decide what to include or leave out. The editors of the Norton World Masterpieces Anthology argue that the Western World is founded on the texts from three peoples: the Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Romans. (Incidentally, they contend that St. Augustine is theContinue reading “An OT Throughline”

In The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton addresses the question of repeated myths in human culture. His metaphor is an interesting one. While the soil might be the same for the oak tree and the chrysanthemum, this does invalidate the unique qualities of each plant. I would undertake to find something like a bunch of flowersContinue reading “Chesterton on Literary Influence”