The Midwest Quarterly; Vol. 31 No. 1

Authors

• Nancy D. Hargrove
• Phil Mullins
• Steven L. Schweizer
• James T. Moore
• Mark N. Wexler
• Sanford Pinsker
• Diane Averill
• Jared Carter
• Kip Knott
• Greg Kuzma
• Tim H. Law
• Verlena Orr
• Jacie Ragan
• Paul Ruffin
• Lawrence Rungren
• Biff Russ
• Janet Sadler
• Marilyn Shea
• Judith Skillman
• Julie Suk
• David Roediger
• Virginia J. Laas
• V. J. Emmett Jr.
• Midwest Quarterly Editors

Contents

ARTICLES

Christian Imagery in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath

Recovering the Veridical: Implications of Michael Polanyi' s Thought For Literary Studies

Liberal Education and Democracy

Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: A Summary and Reactions

Learning from Bhopal

Confessions of an Ex-Fellow Traveler and All-Around Liberal Dupe

POEMS

Leaf Tongues

The Soil Wants Us

Tuning

Unveiling the Stealth Bomber

Forty-three

Snow

Summer

Route 78

The Quiet Room

Mississippi Sundown

Midday Shadows

Autumnal Equinox

My Daughter Gathers Shells

Pentecost

Fossils

The Wind Has Been Up To Something

Time, That Old Bird

The Mist as Subject

In the Parlor of Elliptical Billiards

Family

REVIEWS

Gene DeGruson, editor; The Lost First Edition of Upton Sinclair's THE JUNGLE

Stephen R. Wise; Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running during the Civil War

Mary W. Schneider; Poetry in the Age of Democracy: The Literary Criticism of Matthew Arnold  

Abstract

in this issue. . .

Unable to accept Christianity, as NANCY D. HARGROVE points out, Sylvia Plath twisted its imagery to fashion a negative more comfortable to her troubled condition. Author of Landscape as Symbol in the Poetry of T. S. Eliot and articles on writers such as Yeats and

Welty, Hargrove is the recipient of several awards for teaching excellence at Mississippi State University where she is one of seven University Distinguished Professors.

What is interpretation? This and other concepts derived from the work of Michael Polanyi form the topic of PHIL MULLINS. Professor of Humanities at Missouri Western State College, Mullins here adds to an extensive list of publications on philosopher-scientist Polanyi. Mullins is an officer in The Polanyi Society.

DIANE AVERILL has published poems in Colorado Review, Poet & Critic, Room of One's Own, and other journals. She teaches at Lewis & Clark College and Portland Community College.

JARED CARTER is the author of a book of poems, Work, for the Night is Coming (Macmillan, 1981). His poems, "Head of the God of the Number Zero" and "Chert Quarry" will appear in the Midwest Quarterly' s special issue of poems on Native American themes and issues, Winter 1990.

KIP KNOTT is poetry editor for The And Review. His poems have appeared in The Journal, Mid-American Review, and South Dakota Review.

GREG KUZMA is the author of several books of poetry and has published poems and reviews in many well-known journals. He teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

TIM LAW is a law student at the University of Georgia. "Route 78" is his first published poem.

VERLENA ORR worked as a social worker for ten years before earning an MFA from the University of Montana. She currently teaches writing at Portland Community College and in the Talented and Gifted Program of the Portland Public Schools.

JACIE RAGAN began writing poetry about a year and a half ago. Since then her poems have appeared in Midwest Poetry Review, Calli’s Tales, and Treetop Panorama. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan and now lives in the woods near Hannibal, Missouri, where she quilts, paints, weaves, and writes.

PAUL RUFFIN has published three collections of poetry and has edited three anthologies. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Southern Review, Georgia Review, and Kansas Quarterly, as well as in several anthologies, such as X. J. Kennedy’s Introduction to Poetry.

LAWRENCE RUNGREN has published poetry in The Spoon River Quarterly, Abraxas, Poet Lore, and other journals. He also reviews poetry and fiction for Small Press and Library Journal.

BIFF RUSS has published poetry in Wisconsin Review Indiana Review, Mid-American Review, and various other journals. Her poem, “Pearl,” will appear in the Midwest Quarterly’s special issue of poems on Native American themes and issues, Winter 1990.

JANET SADLER, who teaches art at the University of Missouri, has published poetry in the Georgia Review and Peregrine. Her first chapbook, A Case Against Old Habits, appeared last year. Her short story, “The Model,” was recently published in the Wisconsin Review.

MARILYN SHEA’s poems have appeared in or been accepted by Amelia, California Quarterly, Christian Science Monitor, and other journals. She lives in Castro Valley, California, and does volunteer work at nearby Sunol Regional Wilderness.

JUDITH SKILLMAN has published a book of poems, Worship of the Visible Spectrum (Breitenbush, 1987). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Northwest Review, Prairie Schooner, and other journals.

JULIE SUK is associate editor of Southern Poetry Review. Her poems have appeared most recently in Memphis State Review, Mississippi Review, West Branch, and other journals.

STEVEN L. SCHWEIZER argues that in the wake of many criticisms of higher education, a return to a traditional liberal education is necessary if we are to secure our democratic heritage and educate the next generation of teachers. Schweizer teaches political philosophy at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is currently writing a book on the relationship between education and democracy.

JAMES TICE MOORE summarizes and critiques the findings of Paul Kennedy’s controversial book, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Moore teaches courses in Southern history and U.S. diplomatic history at the institution, is the author of one book and co-editor of another, and has published many scholarly articles.

The multiple-perspective orientation MARK WEXLER uses in examining the Bhopal disaster calls to mind similarities with the recent Exxon oilspill in Alaska. Wexler suggests that learning from such incidents is well-nigh difficult because of the nature of the pre- and post-crisis situation. Teacher in Simon Fraser University’s program in “Business, Government, and Society," Wexler’s research focuses on organizational and industrial sociology, particularly the changing significance of work and the work setting in post-industrial society. He has three books and numerous articles on such subjects and is international editor of the Quarterly Journal of Ideology.

Like those who found they must look to the radical sixties’ group, the Weathermen, to be told the way the wind was blowing, SANFORD PINSKER used to have a good idea of both its

force and direction, but now he’s not so sure. Pinsker, no stranger to these pages, is Professor of English at Franklin and Marshall College.

DAVID ROEDIGER, who teaches labor history and Southern history at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is co-author, with Philip S. Foner, of Our Own Time: American Labor and the Working Day.

VIRGINIA J. LAAS teaches history at Missouri Southern State College, Joplin, and is co-author, with Dudley T. Cornish, of Lincoln’s Lee, a biography of the commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the Civil War.

V. J. EMMETT, JR., former editor in chief of this journal and current chairman of the Pittsburg State University Department of English, is a frequent contributor to our review pages.

Professor ROBERT R. PAVLIS of the Department of Chemistry at Pittsburg State University has agreed to join the Board of Editors. He replaces JAMES L. PAULEY who with this issue completes his twenty-sixth year on the Board. His comments will be missed, as will his presence on campus since he has determined to spend his retirement away from the pleasant confines of Pittsburg, Kansas.

The Poetry Editor is interested in receiving poems on Native American subjects by writers of any racial or ethnic origin for a special poetry section of the Midwest Quarterly.

Jo McDougall, guest Poetry Editor for the Summer 1990 issue, is interested in receiving poems on all aspects of small-town life.

Permissions to Use

In accordance with database agreements, the full text of the issue is not available for download. Pittsburg State Digital Commons has only provided the front matter for author and publication information.

Recommended Citation

Hargrove, Nancy D.; Mullins, Phil; Schweizer, Steven L.; Moore, James T.; Wexler, Mark N.; Pinsker, Sanford; Averill, Diane; Carter, Jared; Knott, Kip; Kuzma, Greg; Law, Tim H.; Orr, Verlena; Ragan, Jacie; Ruffin, Paul; Rungren, Lawrence; Russ, Biff; Sadler, Janet; Shea, Marilyn; Skillman, Judith; Suk, Julie; Roediger, David; Laas, Virginia J.; Emmett, V. J. Jr.; and Midwest Quarterly Editors (1989) "The Midwest Quarterly; Vol. 31 No. 1," The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought: Vol. 31: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mwq/vol31/iss1/1