Wealth and Words: Pope's "Epistle to Bathurst"

English and American Literature and LanguageLiterature and Comparative Literatur

Walt and Sir Walter or the Bard and the Bart.: Balladeers

Seeks to resolve the seeming contradiction between Whitman\u27s love of Sir Walter Scott and the great differences between their works by offering a detailed examination of the likely influences Scott had on Whitman; concludes that the "organic evolution and wholeness of (Leaves of Grass) both recreates and transforms Scott\u27s ballads.

The CFR Task Force Report on “U.S. Education Reform and National Security”: A Reply and a Response

English and American Literature and Languag

Johnson on Blackmore, Pope, Shakespeare—and Johnson

English and American Literature and Languag

Romantic Poetry and the Culture of Modernity

English and American Literature and Languag

Johnson on Novelty and Originality

English and American Literature and LanguageLiterature and Comparative Literatur

Johnson, Steady and Restless

English and American Literature and Languag

Widener Library Thirty Years Later

English and American Literature and Languag

Replacing Periods With Question Marks: A Study of the Role of Public Education in Kanawha County, West Virginia

In 1974 the proposal and adoption of new language arts textbooks, that sought to emphasize themes of multiculturalism and egalitarianism, sparked a violent year-long protest in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The opposition perceived the texts as overly sexual, anti-American, and intrusive while supporters celebrated the diversification of narratives and information. The ability of newly adopted language arts textbooks to spark an explosive controversy reflects the impact of textbooks and, more broadly, public education on creating a sense of identity and belonging. Through objecting or supporting the textbooks and the language they contained, the citizens of Kanawha County were bitterly fighting to protect their own definitions of what it meant to be a good student, parent, teacher, community member, and American. Furthermore, through protesting and ultimately reworking the process of textbook adoption and inclusion, the citizens redefined who and what was included in their notion of a good public school education. The research seeks to understand how a community’s perception of public education and the role it should play in a child’s life impacts the inclusion of the public in academic decision making as well as the insertion and definition of controversial matter in the classroom. In addition, the research seeks to better understand the triangulation of rights in public school between students, teachers, and parents