Non-Fiction

How Finns Swear and What This Tells Us About Their Culture

By Emily Malone University of Wisconsin–Madison The first thing many people studying a foreign language for the first time want to learn is how to swear. To them, learning how to say “fuck you, asshole!” is much more important than being able to introduce themselves or have a basic conver­sation. The good thing for people that love to swear and curse is that these phe­nomena are universal. All cultures and languages have plentiful means for people to spew obscenities. Where…

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An Analysis of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness

By Mattias Schmidt University of Wisconsin–Madison What is Romanticism? This is a question that many people believe they are more than capable of answering. In truth, though, Romanticism is not an easily defined literary movement. It comprises layers upon layers of concepts and ideas, and some are even so complex that the human mind has difficulty encompassing them within an easily explicable framework. In Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Philoso­pher’s Stone,” the protagonist’s goal is to locate and unify the…

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The War of Laws: Hen-Thorir’s Saga

By Thomas Malcom University of Wisconsin–Madison At first glance Hen-Thorir’s Saga[1] appears to be a simple family saga presenting to the reader a blood feud along with the moral code of the Icelandic society, but in truth it pertains to much deeper societal matters. After peeling back the false front of the saga, it can be seen that the saga discusses the conflict between natural law and positive law, and also how this conflict affected the nation. The question then…

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Desirable or Disturbing? An Analysis of The Sandman

By Kayta Gruneberg University of Wisconsin–Madison The Sandman is a mythical character, popular in Central and Northern European folklore, who brings sleep by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of children. The tale of the “The Sandman” has been written numerous times from the perspective of many different cultures, and, as a result, each version of the story drastically differs. Some portray the Sandman as good and lovable while others focus on the morbidity of death. I will focus on…

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Trees are Like People, They Do Not Like To Be Alone: Jens Jensen

By Ryan Gesme University of Wisconsin–Madison Architecture is more than just designing buildings; it is also about the landscaping. One of the most influential landscape architects was Jens Jensen. Jensen was a unique American landscape architect because of his Danish identity and background which he showed by exhibiting a Danish style in the public parks and private homes he designed in the Midwestern region of the United States. In analyzing Jensen’s life, I will illustrate how his Danish upbringing influenced…

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Handshake That Made History

By Ellen Ahlness Minnesota State University, Mankato During the 2013 annual reciprocal troop exchange between Norway’s Heimevernet Home Guard and the Minnesota National Guard at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, Norwegian General Kristin Lund addressed her fellow officers with the adage, “If you stop visiting your friends, they stop being your friends.” In Scandinavian culture, maintaining connections with friends is a premier value, especially when there is a national attitude towards a “culture of closing off those outside your circle of connections.”((Biehtar…

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