Dennis McCarthy

A great deal of Shakespeare theorizing revolves around the idea that someone of Shakespeare’s background - a man of unremarkable birth and without extensive formal schooling - should be unable to produce works of unquestioned genius The error here is assuming that Shakespeare - or any similarly gifted writer - needs to be particularly well-educated. Study the biographies of great writers and there is little to support this argument. Or go to the source material and read Shakespeare himself. He isn’t conveying any detailed insider information here, anything that would necessitate you being a close confidant at the royal court, or anything you couldn’t have gleaned simply by being open and curious to the world around you (society, especially in London, was well-informed about the comings and goings in court in much the way that many of us follow the various intrigues in DC) Moreover, Shakespeare’s education shouldn’t be underrated. He attended a grammar school in Stratford, where he would have read the major Latin authors and memorized passages daily until he could have repeated them verbatim. Ovid is a prominent influence, as is Plutarch and Seneca. He read Marlowe and Chaucer. Holinshed’s chronicles were are important influence for the history plays. Really, you don’t need that much to be a good writer. You need a certain background from reading to help structure your thoughts, but beyond that it’s a matter of practice and editing until you find your own individual idiom. Writing isn’t like physics; you don’t need specific technical skills to be able to do it

During the 1980s Satanic Panic, thousands of innocent people were accused of engaging in ritual satanic abuse, often based on the bankrupt theory that "repressed memories" are real. And we're just as gullible as we ever were, but now we have the Internet.

BREAKING: The Islamic Republic of Iran has been elected Vice-Chair of the U.N. Commission for Social Development. Its priority theme? Promoting democracy, gender equality, and tolerance. You truly can’t make this up.

Unbelievably disappointed in Mikaela Shiffrin. Had so much respect for her achievements. But after her sanctimonious, hollow, moral lecture, I'm done. If you can't appreciate all your were given & wear our flag proudly, I have no breath to cheer for you. Lindsey Vonn is the GOAT

Patrick Mahomes won a Super Bowl with these WRs