Novel conversations

By Sophie Stephens A recent rise in minority authors has kickstarted a literary movement that tackles issues like racism and police brutality through young adult fiction. Books like “Dear Martin” provide a way to bring students together through understanding each other’s backgrounds. The 2017-18 climate survey revealed that minority students at West felt unsafe, unwelcome or targeted …

A Queen in a Play of Kings

By Sophie Stephens Feminist icons have been a part of culture for centuries. Susan B. Anthony and the suffragettes made history in the 19th and 20th century, and just recently women in the #MeToo movement have created a new norm for powerful women in society. Feminist icons in literature like Mary Wollstonecraft and her “A …

Bacon: Of Studies

By Sophie Stephens Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies” essay written at the beginning of the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment era confronts the topic of studies, their purpose, and their effects on those who partake. Bacon states that there are three main purposes for studying: the pleasure of learning, the effect it can have on …

Excerpt: Just Before the Dawn (Sicut Ante Lucem)

An excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel, page one. By Sophie Stephens. 1 December 2017. I have a strange love of words. Any words will do, really: nouns or adverbs or adjectives. When I feel something or think something I can’t express on my own, words are always there to help me out. If there aren’t …

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales

Informal essay and analysis of the Wife of Bath and the Franklin's tale from the Canterbury Tales. By Sophie Stephens In the Wife of Bath’s tale, a knight forcibly takes a girl’s maidenhood and is sentenced to death, only to be saved by the queen if he were to correctly answer her question: what do …