By: Sammy Bredar The book series Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard follows some dystopian stereotypes but takes the concept of a dystopian society in an entirely new direction by incorporating LGBT characters Evangeline Samos and Maven Calore into her world. Red Queen introduces readers to Mare, the protagonist of the series. Mare is a Red girl in […]

By: Ben Sapet It might seem like a stretch to call Hell, the realm of eternal torment, a “perfect place” but, in his epic poem Inferno, Dante (the 13th-century Italian poet) writes it as just that. Dante writes of taking a highly allegorical journey through Hell in order to meet his courtly love in heaven. The […]

By: Allison Akers “Do you really have to babysit me?” Ben slammed the door to his fluorescent orange sports car, watching as Lark slicked back his hair in the sun visor mirror. He had hoped the location alone would get Lark off his back. A dingy place called “Sam’s Diner” in the middle of nowhere-Oregon […]

By: Troi Watts Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them introduces Harry Potter fans to a very different kind of magical world. Where the British magical community depicted in the Harry Potter series was living confidently, almost in harmony with the non-magical world, the American magical community lives in fear. They fear that if the American […]

By: Jacob Garrett My finger is twitching on the trigger as I struggle to hold my rifle steady. A rogue drop of sweat is rolling down my forehead, creeping across the bridge of my nose, trying to see how far it can get before driving me insane.  My fingers are itching to leap up and scratch it […]

By: Kylie Poling See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. Thought to originate during the 17th century, this proverb has evolved to encompass several meanings, including a warning for those who remain ignorant to evil and even as a code of silence among groups. The phrase can be used in sinister, mysterious ways […]

By: Marlee Jacocks The existence of a prison within a utopian society seems entirely contradictory, yet prisons become a source of fascination for Anarres’ children in Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1974 novel The Dispossessed. The utopian society is portrayed through the eyes of Shevek, a physicist who lives onthe planet Anarres. In a flashback scene, Shevek reveals the details of “the prison scene” found in Le Guin’s ambiguous utopia. While learning about the history of […]

By: Leah Heim  Everyone should do one or two things they do not think they can do. Me, I met my match in Ball State’s Digital Literature Review.  When I first heard about the journal, I had four more wisdom teeth, thirteen more inches of hair, and a curriculum vitae smaller than my peanut of self-confidence. […]

By: Filasha Finley Imagine a world where there are no wars; a world where everyone lives in peace and harmony; a world where you could walk into a store, grab what you want, and walk out without paying; a world where you have universal health care and get healed in minutes without going bankrupt or into […]

By: Stephanie Alana-Christie Disney’s 2016 animated film, Moana begins with the theft of the heart of the Polynesian goddess Te Fiti from the island of Motunui. The demigod Maui steals the heart of Te Fiti in order to bless the islanders with gifts. The gifts include fire from beneath the earth to keep them warm, […]