From Patience to Payoffs

“Did you grade my essay yet, Ms. McCullough?” “When will the state send us our test results? Will we know our grades before school’s out?” “How many more days until our next break?” “When are we gonna finish this Shakespeare…

Reaping the Rewards of Reading

Ah, June! School is out, and it’s my time to read! These were my sentiments every year when I was teaching full-time. I couldn’t wait to begin the summer with a good book. As an English teacher I spent most…
Stories That Speak

Stories That Speak

I love symbolism and allegory in literature. I remember once explaining the symbolism in Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death” when a student asked, “How do you know Poe really intended to use symbolism here? How do…