Archive Project: Taking Students Out of the Classroom and Into History

by Matthew Teutsch

Note: You can view the projects at engl2250.wordpress.com. Over the past year, I have constructed various projects for my literature survey courses. Last fall, I had students define a term related to Early American literature and present what they learned. In the spring, I had students read a novel or play by an author we were looking at in the course and present information … Read More Archive Project: Taking Students Out of the Classroom and Into History

June 15, 2017 + louise erdrich, native american literature, the red convertible

The Cyclic Nature of Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible”

by Matthew Teutsch

This semester, I finally taught Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible.” As we talked about the story in class, I pointed the class towards the opening paragraph, and as I did, I began to ponder the first few lines and how they work to set up and foreshadow the action in the story. This, of course, is nothing unusual, but the way that Erdrich deploys … Read More The Cyclic Nature of Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible”

June 13, 2017 + african american literature, american literature, cherokee, daniel, early american literature, john marrant, john the baptist, Literature, native american literature, race, southern literature, Uncategorized

Preaching in the Wilderness: John Marrant and John the Baptist

by Matthew Teutsch

I enjoy teaching John Marrant’s A Narrative of the Lord’s Wonderful Dealing with John Marrant, A Black (1785) for various reasons, chief among them being that Marrant’s narrative destabilizes students’ perceptions about African Americans during the early years of the republic in similar ways that Sarah Kemble Knight does with women during the colonial period and William Apess does with Native Americans later in … Read More Preaching in the Wilderness: John Marrant and John the Baptist

May 10, 2017 + 10 bands i have seen (one is a lie), african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, early american literature, frank norris, gothic literature, identity, irish literature, john updike, Literature, louisiana literature, Maximillian Alvarez, mississippi literature, native american literature, Pedagogy, professor, shelia liming, southern literature, Uncategorized, writing

The Facade We Sometimes Wear

by Matthew Teutsch

As a student, I would always sit in class amazed when during a lecture professors would start to rattle off various authors and works that related in some way to the topic we were covering that particular day. I never thought I would be able to reach that same level of knowledge; however, I regularly catch myself in classes doing the same thing that … Read More The Facade We Sometimes Wear

May 2, 2017 + african american literature, american literature, caribbean literature, early american literature, elizabeth moss, gothic literature, irish literature, Literature, louise erdrich, louisiana literature, margaret atwood, mississippi literature, native american literature, recitiatif, richard spencer, southern literature, the haindmaiden's tale, the mary sue, the red convertible, toni morrison, Uncategorized

“Why can’t we read this story as a universal text?”: Questions from the Classroom

by Matthew Teutsch

Recently, I taught Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible.” The story focuses on two Chippewa brothers, Henry and Lyman, and their relationship after Henry returns from the Vietnam War. During our discussion of the story in class, someone asked a question about the text and some of our previous readings that caused me to think well past the end of our session. The student posed … Read More “Why can’t we read this story as a universal text?”: Questions from the Classroom

Interminable Rambling

Archive Project: Taking Students Out of the Classroom and Into History

Category: native american literature