Category: poetry

+ american literature, ethiop, Ferdinand Freiligrath, john russwurm, philip freneau, poetry, slavery, william j wilson
Mediated Voices in Longfellow’s “Poems on Slavery”
Last semester, I added selections from Philip Freneau and Henry Wadsworth Longefellow to my syllabus. We only read about 3-4 poems from each author and explored them in relation to the trope of the “Vanishing American,” defining American, and the issue of slavery. As I do with most classes, I assign questions to small groups of students, 2-3 typically, give them time to answer … Read More Mediated Voices in Longfellow’s “Poems on Slavery”

+ american literature, captivity, captivity narrative, early american literature, king philip, Literature, louise erdrich, mary rowlandson, native american literature, poetry
Mary Rowlandson and Louise Erdrich’s “Captivity”
I always enjoy teaching Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative for a myriad of reasons. It presents students with an early example of that distinctly American genre the captivity narrative, it highlights the role of women in colonial America, it illuminates the colonists’ feelings towards Native Americans, and it serves as a text that showcases Puritan thought during the late 1600s. Today, I want to take the … Read More Mary Rowlandson and Louise Erdrich’s “Captivity”

+ a letter from phillis wheatley, london 1773, african american literature, american literature, early american literature, on being brought from africa to america, phillis wheatley, poetry, robert hayden, to maecenas
Robert Hayden’s “A Letter From Phillis Wheatley, London 1773”
As I got ready to teach Phillis Wheatley recently, I decided to incorporate Robert Hayden’s “A Letter from Phillis Wheatley London, 1773” which originally appeared in his 1978 collection American Journal. Of course, during our discussions, we related Hayden’s poem to Wheatley, but we also thought about other connections that could be made between “A Letter from Phillis Wheatley” and other texts we have … Read More Robert Hayden’s “A Letter From Phillis Wheatley, London 1773”