[For my annual Fall semester reflections series, I wanted to share some of the new texts and ideas I encountered this semester. I’d love to hear things you discovered or rediscovered this Fall in comments!]
Unlike with
Tuesday’s subject Martín Espada, I unfortunately don’t think I’m likely to
discover poems by Langston Hughes that I’ve never read—I teach Hughes’ mammoth
and magisterial Collected
Poems in my Major American Authors of the 20th Century
course, and so have read every published poem of his at least once. But that
doesn’t mean that I can’t rediscover even his most familiar works in compelling
new ways, and as I’ve been saying throughout the week’s series a main way that
I can and will do so with any texts is through student perspectives and class
discussions. I had a wonderful example of that possibility this semester in my
online section of American Literature II, where students read and responded to three
Hughes poems including “The Weary
Blues.” I’ve taught “Weary” literally dozens of distinct times, but in one
of those responses this semester a student who is himself a Blues musician
analyzed the poem through that perspective, really getting inside layers of
Blues composition and songwriting to consider how the poem both parallels and
comments on the genre. (As a relevant aside, I also loved the chance to share a
Guest
Post on the Blues from another student this semester!) As long as I can
have such moments every semester, teaching will never get the slightest bit
stale for me!
Last Fall
find tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Other Fall finds you’d share?
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