Questions After 3/31 Class

 

Above is Miss Wheatley's portrait by Scipio Moorhead, the artist she addressed in her poetry.

Good evening :)

It was good to see everyone at the library.  It looks like we may have another theme to try: sympathy in literature.  When you think about it, you have quite a few themes--and works to choose from.

Wednesday we will not have a presentation.  Instead, we will return to poetry with Phillis Wheatley and John Dickinson.  Note that this is a change in reading and a return to regular chronology.

-- What did you learn from Ms. Pandya's presentation?

-- Try out a search term at JSTOR, Project MUSE, or Academic Search Complete.  What did you find at the database?

-- Look up one of our authors at Biography in Context.  What did you find?

-- What would you like to write about for the stand-alone essay?  Why?

-- What would you like to present on?

-- What is it like for you to return to poetry?  (We won't count Douglass' "Parody.")

-- What is it like for you to return to the transition between the British empire/American colonies and US Independence?

-- How do Phillis Wheatley and John Dickinson embody American identity?

-- Compare these poets to earlier poets you've read in our class.

-- Discuss PW as an African-American poet, a slave poet, and a female poet.

-- How does PW draw our attention to slavery?  (Note that her life as a freedwoman was extremely difficult.)

-- Discuss PW's life as a slave.  How do her master and mistress treat her?

-- Discuss JD as a poet.

-- Which themes are developed in their poetry?

-- Compare PW & JD to other, more contemporary poets that you've read.

Good night!

Dr. Szlyk