By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘There Was a Man, There Was a Woman’ is a short story from Sandra Cisneros’ 1991 collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. In this brief vignette or piece of flash fiction, a narrator describes two people, a man and a woman, who lead similar lives despite never having met each other.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘A Hymn to the Evening’ is a poem written by Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-84) in praise of the evening. Wheatley was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral appeared in 1773 when she was probably still in her early twenties.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Visitor’ is a very short story by the American writer Lydia Davis (born 1947). The story is narrated by a parent expecting the arrival of their unborn child: the ‘visitor’ of the story’s title. Davis uses this premise to compare people at the beginning and end of life through having her narrator tell two brief anecdotes about old men they knew of.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Happiness’ is a poem by the American writer Raymond Carver (1938-88). Carver is probably best-known for his short stories, especially the anthology favourite ‘What We Talk about When We Talk about Love’, but he was also a gifted poet, and his poetry helps us to clarify our understanding of his work as a whole.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Reading’ is a chapter from Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden; or, Life in the Woods. The book details Thoreau’s decision to leave behind modern civilisation and live a simple life in the woods in Massachusetts.
In ‘Reading’, Thoreau laments the fact that his fellow citizens of Concord in Massachusetts seem uninterested in reading the great works of classical literature, instead settling for ‘easy reading’ which provides little in the way of intellectual improvement. You can read Thoreau’s essay here before proceeding to our summary and analysis of his argument below.