By Chandler Ryd When I was fourteen, the thought one day struck me that what I wanted most in life was to be a great writer. Since then, it’s been an ambition that I’ve never quite shaken. To be more specific, I’ve wanted to be the sort of writer that others read and revere by saying, “Yes, he really was a great writer.” I’ve wanted … Continue reading The Forgotten Author: On Vanity of Ambition and Fame
By Noah Diekemper People have clashed in controversy since the news broke that Disney’s live-action update of Beauty and the Beast would use Gaston’s lackey LeFou to feature an “exclusively gay moment.” Some decried Disney’s gay parade (“think of the children!”), while others failed to see the change as newsworthy at all (“Wait, he wasn’t gay before?”). I think that the latter view is more … Continue reading No One Says No To Gaston: How Lefou Models Typical Human Behavior
By Andrew Egger How do you brew an evolutionary culture war? Take one long-standing religious tradition, then add one serious scientific challenge. Season with cultural suspicion, and add a dash each of class prejudice, anti-intellectualism, and intellectual arrogance. Take outside and let curdle in the sun for a century. The age-old (for us) conflict of creation and evolution carries with it much of the same … Continue reading Intelligent Design: Neither Science nor Faith
By Leah Hickman “At least the awkward is over.” It was a nonchalant comment made by a 20-something-year-old dinner guest at my parents’ home last year, but my mom immediately picked up on it. “What’s with your generation and the obsession with ‘awkwardness’?” she asked. With three children now in their early twenties and a growing number of newlywed church friends, my parents have recently … Continue reading Embracing the Awkward: Why We Fear Awkwardness and What To Do About It
By Mark Naida 1 On an early April morning, lines of fog still hung over the corn stubble that lay in the fields waiting for a plow to turn it under. I saw the fog through a break in the young wall of thin birches and ash trees that divided the interstate from the field. This line of trees is a sliver of the Northern … Continue reading A Small Stand of Trees
By Emily Lehman “There would be just one right thing, without alternatives: he must do that.” -William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury “I took the road less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.” -Robert Frost, “The Road Less Traveled” “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, / The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” -John Greenleaf Whittier, … Continue reading There is No “Might Have Been”: The Multiplicity of Goods and Learning to Affirm Reality
By Chandler Ryd Take a walk down Broad Street in May. See the sky, blue after the winter grey, and feel the cool breeze, so pleasant after months of icy winds. Stop by the Coffee Cup for Thai around noon. Eat with your friends, off campus, away from the difficulty of the school year, anticipating the adventures of the summer. Spend an hour at Rough … Continue reading Letter From the Editor May 2017
By Chandler Ryd An essay is a room. In writing, the author chooses words with which to furnish it before inviting you all, the readers, to enter. Nouns are the chairs and couches where you can rest; verbs are the tables—hard surfaces—that allow you to lean forward and work; metaphors are well-placed lamps and windows, illuminating and casting contrast. The sum total, the atmosphere … Continue reading Letter From the Editor, March 2017
Though the Academy sometimes neglects great films, it usually selects good ones. Below are ten that are worth your time. Moonlight Oscars won: Best Picture, Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Actor in a Supporting Role Review By Kayla Stetzel Moonlight is a quiet film, but its subtlety and silences are thoughtful. Like a whisper from a friend in a roaring room, Moonlight – with its … Continue reading Best Pictures: A Guide to Good Films from 2016
Every Friday at 5:01 pm, I clocked out, grabbed my purse and rode the metro to the Sculpture Gardens. Jazz was calling. A free outdoor concert was held weekly during the summer on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. My friends and I would meet there after a long week at work and drink sangria while listening to jazz. We all pitched in for … Continue reading Can’t Buy Me Friends: A College Student’s Perspective on Money
Hillsdale Forum 