Author Archives: ellakotsen

A Brief Story Review: “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin

This summer I read Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin. Baldwin’s style of writing immediately stood out to me as extremely personable and relevant to this current day. His relationship with words and stories and sentences really put me in awe as a reader. I found myself re reading pages as IContinue reading “A Brief Story Review: “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin”

The Little Girl and the Ever-Changing City

I wrote this for my Growth & Structure of Cities class called “Form of the City”. It resonated with a lot of my family members and I figured some of my readers here would appreciate it too. In a small city, smack dab in the middle of the Garden State, lies a community of manyContinue reading “The Little Girl and the Ever-Changing City”

A Great Revolutionary was Murdered: My Time Learning about the Great Malcolm X

Reading Malcolm X’s autobiography was one of the most life changing texts I’ve ever been able to experience. Malcolm X to me became more than just a historical figure, more than a man you read about in the classroom (if you’re lucky). I spent a good amount of time savoring his narrative, I brought itContinue reading “A Great Revolutionary was Murdered: My Time Learning about the Great Malcolm X”

How To Be a Good Writer

1. Imagine you’re standing in a wild blueberry-bush. Thorns that are prickly, barefeet that are dirty, flies and ants, sun and water.  2. Imagine you’re a spoon with garlic and honey, sliding down a semi- willing throat.  3. Imagine you’re the stars on a different side of the world being visited for the first timeContinue reading “How To Be a Good Writer”

The Brontë Sisters, a Whole Lot of Reading, and Bernie Sanders

So I’m taking a class called “Reading Childhood Through the Brontës”. I felt it necessary to make it aware to the seven followers on here that my wonderful short book reviews would therefore be temporarily ending. I’m not going to write a review on the nine books I have to read for that class becauseContinue reading “The Brontë Sisters, a Whole Lot of Reading, and Bernie Sanders”

A Brief Book Review: Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

CW: mentions of sexual assault What is great about this book is what most other pieces of leftist literature seem to lack: it is not pretentious. The language is approachable, the sentences don’t go on and on, and it covers advanced topics and ideas while not seeming overly complicated to get through. Make no mistake,Continue reading “A Brief Book Review: Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis”

A Brief Film Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

If you can actually believe it I only just watched Portrait of a Lady on Fire written and directed by Céline Sciamma. I have to admit the fast-paced, short-attention span needing culture of tik-tok has made it harder to watch movies. Although I was hesitant, scared of being interested but slightly bored, I was absolutelyContinue reading “A Brief Film Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

The Communist Manifesto and Me

So yeah, I read it. After two failed orders my copy finally came. Was it interesting? Definitely. Do I have more insight on class struggle, historical relevance in the proletariat fight, and vocabulary to express my own thoughts on systemic and oppressive structures? One hundred percent.  For me Marx and his manifesto is a dictionary,Continue reading “The Communist Manifesto and Me”

He Was A Journalist: Alfred Hopkins’ Story as Told by His Brother

This isn’t my story to tell. As much as I love to say that my great uncle was at Che Guevara’s trial, my favorite niche fact that I tell all of my historically-inclined friends, this story is for someone else to disclose. Thomas Sawyer Hopkins, otherwise known as “Hop”, “Hoppy”, “Grandpoppy”, or just “Poppy”, deservesContinue reading “He Was A Journalist: Alfred Hopkins’ Story as Told by His Brother”