[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJn0ZPd6mYo&w=560&h=315] It's the end of the semester, and we've finally arrived at our poetry unit. After wrapping up Chopin's The Awakening, we spent two days on Dickinson, discussing death (in an unintentional transition from Chopin's controversial ending), the im/materiality of Dickinson's imagery, and, of course, the metaphorical meanings in Dickinson's punctuation, her masterful dashes. I introduced … Continue reading Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” & Star Trek
Digital Pedagogy
Teaching Students Close Reading Skills with Twitter
Moving on from teaching the general theme of women's oppression in my composition course, as I described in my last post, we've turned to a much more complex and darker play, John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. The most corrupt characters, Ferdinand and the Cardinal (also the Duchess's brothers), are motivated by many things: money, power, maintaining a … Continue reading Teaching Students Close Reading Skills with Twitter
Using BuzzFeed to Teach Melville
Teaching an American Literature survey course for the first time last semester, I wanted to take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick both for myself and for my students. My students were mostly English majors, and had followed Hope Leslie and Hawk-Eye through the American wilderness with me earlier in the semester. The magnetic pull to read Moby-Dick and give the potential spiritual journey … Continue reading Using BuzzFeed to Teach Melville
Showcase: Student Blog Posts
The semester has already been a productive one in and outside of the class. My students have completed three out of four blog posts assigned this semester, answering questions like "What is it to be 'American'?" and going on nature walks without cellphones to draw connections between the early American readings and the American wilderness. For … Continue reading Showcase: Student Blog Posts
American Survey: Getting Student Input
"...For his simple heart Might not resist the sacred influences, Which, from the stilly twilight of the place, And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound Of the invisible breath that swayed at once All their green tops, stole over him, and bowed His spirit … Continue reading American Survey: Getting Student Input
