Why Spidey Matters: How to Portray the Working Man’s Hero

By Summaiya Jafri Who would have thought a nerdy kid from Queens could reach such unfathomable “heights”? According to research conducted by British retailer Game, The Amazing Spider-Man is the most popular superhero in fifty-seven countries, making him the world’s favorite comic book character by a long shot. What makes Spider-Man so appealing to audiences…

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Who Am I? A Choose Your Own Adventure

By Kara Hildebrand A literary trope is something repeated so often it borders on cliché: the mad scientist, the forbidden romance, the antihero, the tragic backstory. Perhaps it’s just natural for certain repetitions to become cemented in our literary canon, or perhaps there’s something more to why we identify with tropes enough to reuse them.…

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On Grief and Where the Words Go

By Lana Haffar Odin’s ears never stood up like a German Shepherd’s should. His cartilage was weak, so they sprawled from either side of his head, like wings. The force of every heartbeat made them flutter. He bounded everywhere, tongue lolling, paws spread to cushion the impact. On a November Wednesday, I turned twenty years…

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