Course Blog

The Maturity of Utilitarianism The Egg by Andy Weir is a short story presenting a vision of the afterlife through a second-person perspective. The main character has a conversation with God in a blank void and comes to realize that … Read more

After a long semester unlike any we have experienced before, the end is in sight. However, week fourteen proved to be perhaps the most difficult thus far for many students. This week was sandwiched between the anxiety regarding the presidential … Read more

  Washington Irving’s short story, “The Devil and Tom Walker” takes place around 1727 a couple miles outside of Boston. The story follows a “miserly fellow,” Tom Walker, and his wife, who live on a poor farm. The Devil meets … Read more

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “The Birthmark” in 1843; shortly before composing, he married his fiancé Sophia Peabody. His marriage and Puritan background influence the writing of his short story. During the 1800s, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings exhibit the expectation to conceal and … Read more

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” describes a woman trapped in her marriage until she is suddenly given the news of her husband’s untimely death. Written in 1894, this story is an expression of the contemporary feminist movements, as … Read more

Chris Hewgley Selfishness: The Root of Emptiness The “Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving is a short story about a poor man, Tom Walker, living outside of Boston. Tom is found by the devil and the devil bargains a … Read more

Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” highlights three different characters, a young waiter, an older waiter, and an old man who are all inside of a café. In the short story we learn about these three characters as the café prepares … Read more

“Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingwayepicts the homecoming of a soldier named Krebs from World War I. Although the fighting had ended, it took Krebs a whole year to return home, and in addition, this transition to a normal life was … Read more

People often feel that their own opinions and ideas are better than those around them. In “To Build a Fire”, Jack London illustrates a man who has a lot of pride in himself. Because of this elevated sense of pride, … Read more

  “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman highlights Jane, a woman struggling with a nervous mental illness. Living with her egotistical physician husband, John, she spends her days disgusted by the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. As Jane’s mental … Read more