Word: thrall
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Snider is a man in thrall to the power of the first impression. He is quick with flattery and small gifts. He studies himself in the mirror, practicing smooth self-introductions to strangers. He advises Dorothy to remember the name of everyone she meets for future flattering reference. With his absurd faith in such niceties, Snider puts one in mind of Willy Loman and his need to be well liked, particularly since that modern archetype also practiced his wiles in similarly unpromising venues. Snider's equivalent of the New England territory is the wet-T-shirt contest, the dream...
...picture forms showing 60 years of hectic freedom leading to powerlessness, ennui and immobility. Yet the picture is exaggerated. It is convenient to think of a time in the thrall of science as absent of religious faith, but one look at the millions of Poles, Guatemalans, Irishmen, Americans and Englishmen drawn to the recent visits of Pope John Paul II suggests that all the mysteries of existence do not bubble up only in laboratories. One reason the martial-law government of Poland so fears the Pope's influence in that country is that he reaches feelings in the people...
Prosecutors in the most recent Warren case convinced the jury that they were dealing with a more subtle form of slavery than the whips and chains of 130 years ago. Testimony showed that the Warrens held their workers in thrall through intimidation and threats of beatings. When the fearful and credulous workers were told they could not leave the labor camps because they owed the Warrens money, most believed it and stayed. Some workers who tried to leave were brought back...
...dangerous endeavor. All too often the characters flatten out and the dialogue begins to resemble a philosophy text. If the play somehow falls to convey its message, nothing remains. But J.B. Priestley's Time and the Conways proves that a well-crafted, realistic drama can lose its philosophical thrall and still provide a thought-provoking and enjoyable evening...
...Harvard education is undeniably a thing of value, both for the quality of its academics and for the ineffable attraction of the Harvard name. Yet such value has its price, and academically adventurous students deserve their money's worth. The thrall of a name cannot last forever, and without a stronger philosophical commitment to individual academic needs. Harvard could lose its most valuable resource--a creative student body--through the flaw of its own hubris...