A strain of sorrow and pessimism underlies all of Vonnegut’s fiction, as well as his graduation speeches. But he also insisted that young people cherish those fleeting moments of joy.
Though Richard Avedon started his career as a fashion photographer, he later became known for his unflinching eye.
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In a 1959 essay, Capote noted how Avedon seemed to capture ‘every hard-earned crow’s foot’ in his subjects – perhaps not realizing that he would one day be photographed by that same unvarnished gaze.
High school students have studied many of the same books for generations. Is it time for a change?
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Andrew Newman, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
An English professor takes a critical look at why today’s students are assigned the same books that were assigned decades ago – and why American school curricula are so difficult to change.
It was fun for a while, but people quickly got sick of video calls during lockdown.
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