John Locke

John Locke was a 17th-century English philosopher whose ideas formed the foundation of liberal democracy and greatly influenced both the American and French revolutions. His birthday was yesterday, August 29.

Locke was the Liberal Classicist who also appeared in Lost, the TV show of some fame—at least it seemed that way to me. I thought the characters on Lost were a metaphor for others, John Locke being the most obvious. This worked for a while until it became too much to make the match ups. The connections between actions and philosophies of the characters. After all, I did have a job to go to.

Mary Shelley-Posted by Reading Addicts

When I was teaching I had the kids read Frankenstein. “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, at the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion.”

The thing they struggled with most was that a woman had written the story. It was the idea of such horrific thoughts coming from that beautiful woman. They were very young.

Mary’s birthday is today, August 30.