Teachin' Books
A podcast all about the ways people teach, learn, and work with literature -- aaaand all sorts of other cultural bits and bobs, like video games, theatrical performances, Dungeons and Dragons, and more! Host Jessica McDonald talks about teachin' books in undergraduate classrooms, and she interviews folks to learn more about what cool work is happening in other other teaching and learning contexts.
Teachin' Books
2.3 Emily Dickinson's "A narrow Fellow in the Grass"
If you enjoy thinking, learning, and hearing about the nuts and bolts of classroom practice, this one's for you!
In today's episode, I talk about three methods / exercises / approaches I've used to teach Emily Dickinson's poem "A narrow Fellow in the Grass." And I get downright detailed, y'all: close-reading, concept-mapping, riddle poems, assembling textual evidence, and practicing poem annotation. And: hear my breadmaker bangin' up a storm in the background -- whoops!
Listen in and let me know how *you* teach, or read, this poem. I'm curious to know!
- Emily Dickinson's "A narrow Fellow in the Grass"
- English 1G03: Emily Dickinson With Magda Zapędowska and Eugenia Zurowski
- Bill Bartley's faculty page
- Niigaan Sinclair's Twitter / faculty page
- I Pass the Talking Stick to You: Sharing, Reading, Teaching Residential School Stories conference
- For more on how the frames we bring into our teaching influence the learning that happens there, see Dissonant Methods: Undoing Discipline in the Humanities Classroom (eds. Ada Jaarsma and Kit Dobson), and especially the essay by soon-to-be podcast guest Namrata Mitra, whose contribution opens with a question similar to the point made by Niigaan Sinclair: "What is at stake in the first text you assign in an English literature course?" (103).
- Episode pic is of my own damn undergrad paper, in which I correctly spelled Dickinson's last name exactly 0 times. Growth!
If you didn't hear my announcement from the last episode: We have MERCH! If you're interested in getting your hands on a Teachin' Books tidbits zine as part of my ongoing fundraiser to ensure I can keep providing honoraria for students and precariously or under-employed folks who come chat on the podcast, e-transfer to teachinbookspod@gmail.com or paypal.me/jambermcd or just drop me a line wherever you can find me :) The zines are pay-what-you-can, and I'll need your mailing address to get the zine to you.
The podcast music is by Dyalla Swain and the graphics are by @muskrathands.
Follow the podcast on Twitter and Instagram @TeachinBooksPod. You can also get in touch at teachinbookspod@gmail.com. In this kick-off to Season Two, I'd so appreciate if you'd share the pod with a friend, rate it, review it, tell your folks tell your family tell your neighbours and anyone who will listen!
**The transcript for this episode, once available, will be here.**
