"Ways to Make a Moth" was written before I became a Christian. This poem was an experiment, based on my observations of a moth on my living room wall heading towards a lamp. It now seems an apt metaphor for the state I was in - living in darkness, searching for light and life.
If you've ever played with anagram puzzles, then you're going to have fun with this poetry exercise.
By examining Lady Happy and the Prince(ss)’s relationship in 'The Convent of Pleasure,' I demonstrate how Cavendish removes parental figures in order to create a secular space where female libertinism re-conceptualizes "woman" in order to undermine patriarchal power.
"I Stung a Bee" is part of a series of secular poetry I wrote when I became a born-again Christian in the summer of 2016. It highlights the human tendency of pride, laziness, gluttony, and greed. This poem first appears in my chapbook 'At War With the Fireflies.'
For this exercise, you are not going to stress about writing the perfect poem, but rather enjoy and experiment with the haiku form, and learn to create concrete images in a few short lines.
"Insects Rejoice" is a part of a series of secular poetry I wrote when I became a born-again Christian in the summer of 2016. Sometimes it's all too easy to let your own light be snuffed out by those around you, and the insects serve as a metaphor for this tragedy.
This exercise is part of a series of prompts made to help get your creative juices flowing, and push you out of your comfort zone. This exercise focuses on creating a 26-word alphabet poem.
"Flutters" is a poem I wrote shortly before becoming a Christian, and serves as reminder of the nihilism I was experiencing before finding the freedom of Christ.
In homophonic poetry, your goal is to write either a homophonic translation or a phony translation of an existing poem written in another language. It's a fun way to get writing again if you're a bit rusty because you'll be working with material that already exists.
"At War With the Fireflies" is a part of a series of secular poetry I wrote when I became a born-again Christian in the summer of 2016. It uses the images of children and insects to demonstrate the frustrations between light and darkness.
Decluttering is not just an action, but rather a set of habits to be adopted. By having a system in place, you'll not only feel more ready to tackle the existing clutter in your house, but you'll feel more prepared to prevent clutter before it happens.
My goals in this article are to examine the role of laughter and silliness in Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting of Hill House,' to uncover Eleanor’s construction of self and identity, and expose the fear manifested in hesitation between the real and the imaginary.
In these films Hitchcock demonstrates the ease in which an ordinary person can become mad, in order to induce a level of horror onto the audience. Using the relationship between the audience and the mad characters, Hitchcock pushes the audience to be horrified by their own potential for madness.
August Strindberg’s 'Miss Julie' and Edward Albee’s 'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' are often criticized for their misogynistic portrayals of women. What such critics fail to recognize, however, is the complexity of these “misogynistic” portrayals.
Since Friedrich Nietzsche’s parable of “The Madman," through present day films such as the 'Saw' movies, madmen are portrayed in literature and film as truth-tellers, exposers, and symbols of society’s moral and religious dilemmas.
Through examination of a few episodes of The Walking Dead, and through a close-reading of the implications of the show’s fantastical elements, this horrifying doomsday scenario proves to be a projection of the individual’s unconscious desires and fears surrounding universalism in its various forms.
By looking at the film Cruel Intentions, and taking into account Clueless, and La Belle Personne, I propose that the love-hate relationship for the aristocracy exhibited by early modern European novels is apparent in teen films of the new millennium, and has continued to evolve.
There are “auteur” theories in which directors, actors, cinematographers, and film studios have been granted authorial status over a cinematic text due to stylistic similarities in a body of work. Here I propose that a viewer can also become an auteur.
A poem that serves loosely as a metaphor for becoming a Christian. I often use secular poetry to express my spiritual journey, and how it is earth-shattering and frustrating, while being the most beautiful thing in the world.
An analysis of Goethe's 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' that examines the value of emotion in the text.
A poem written while observing bees pollinating flowers. The scene was both peaceful and exciting, as if the bees felt this overwhelming joy in their work but kept themselves under control and on task. I felt an such a love for God and nature watching them.
An analysis of the role of the "double" in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 'The Double.'
An analysis of the relationship between Jane and her childhood friend, Helen Burns, in Charlotte Brontë's novel 'Jane Eyre.'
An analysis and examination of the similar manifestations of Expressionism in Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' and Munch's 'The Dead Mother and the Child.'
A poem inspired by the character Renfield from the novel "Dracula." This poem is a part of a series of secular poetry I wrote when I first converted to Christianity from atheism/agnosticism, back in the summer of 2016.
Raising your self-esteem doesn't happen overnight, but with daily practice, time, patience and love, you can raise your self-esteem to a healthy level. As someone who has personally battled with low self-esteem these are a few methods that have worked for me and for others.
A poem about restoring a person from under the weight of their life choices.
A poem about becoming a baby that serves as a play on the "born again" experience. Written during my conversion from atheism to Christianity.