Why “Star Trek” – and Mr. Spock – Matter
I think my earliest memory of Star Trek is of an episode I watched at my grandparents’ house, a rerun of “Arena” — the original series episode pitting William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk against…
Category: Literary & Media Analysis
Biographies of the Inklings
Jack Arthur Walter Bennett (1911 – 1981) was born in New Zealand. He studied at Auckland University before getting a scholarship to Oxford University. Apparently he was often forgetful and considered himself lucky to have…
When I Am Weak, I Am Strong: Frodo’s Providential Heroism
The tiny figure of a hobbit stands on the edge of a precipice, shrouded in a surreal haze. With an eerie glare flickering across his face, he clutches a chain in his grimy hand,…
Mirror, Mirror, in the Wood: A Review of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare interweaves several convoluted plots in which the human world and the ‘Green Wood,’ or fairy world, meet. Critics often interpret the human world, under the leadership of Theseus and…
Intelligent Design Exists: A Summary of the Argument in “Darwin’s Black Box”
Everyone knows the story of how life began as a simple cell that formed by chance and gradually evolved into more complex organisms (aka “Macroevolution*”). Everyone also knows the story of how God created life…
Tolkien's War: The History behind the Lord of the Rings
“One has indeed personally to come under the shadow of war to feel fully its oppression; but as the years go by it seems now often forgotten that to be caught in youth by…
Noah’s Ark and the Epic of Gilgamesh: A Comparison
One may wonder how a biblical narrative and an ancient Mesopotamian epic could have anything in common, as biblical narratives, such as Noah’s Ark, are written by divine inspiration and ancient Mesopotamian writings, such as…
For Eyes to See That Can: Frodo and the Acceptance of Vocation
“The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as…
Everyone Sings in Lord of the Rings: The Power of Song in Tolkien's Middle-Earth
Throughout my numerous readings of The Lord of the Rings over the years, I have never ceased to be amazed, astounded, and amused at the way the characters burst into song at the drop of…
Anyone: A Fan’s Review of the Classic Television Series “Emergency!”
It was a typical afternoon; pita pizzas in our oven, the sky outside growing dusky, and us four kids gathered in our den to soak up our week-daily episode of Emergency! Since the fateful…