Engl. 875-01

Seminar: Emily Dickinson


Spring 2010

MWF 10:00-10:50, Rm. 312

Instructor: Dr. K. Nichols

knichols11@cox.net



*


Reading Schedule


Abbreviations:

ED = Emily Dickinson;
F = Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Franklin, listed by poem number;
J = Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Johnson, listed by poem number;
L = Letters of Emily Dickinson, edited by Johnson, listed by letter number.




WEEK ONE. INTRODUCTION

Jan.15

  • Introduction


WEEK TWO: OVERVIEW: LIFE/POETRY/CRITICISM

Jan.18

  • DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR HOLIDAY (no class)

Jan.20

  • Chap 1 "Life," 1-24 and Chap. 4 "Reception," 110-121 (in Introduction). Note F 207 "I taste a liquor" and F 1096 "A Narrow Fellow."
  • The Dickinson Museum (online)--you may want to browse this excellent site for online images of Dickinson, her house and town and gardens, and related matters.
  • ED Writing a Poem (online images of F 124 "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers")--click on all the links and browse through the examples, particularly the "close-ups" and "transcriptions."

Jan. 22

  • Jerome McGann, "ED’s Visible Language," 248-59 (in Collection). Note F 14 "As if I asked."
  • Hand-out: Two versions of "Dare you see a Soul" (from Paul Crumbley's Inflections of a Pen: Dash and Voice in ED, 4-9). Compare with Johnson's version-- J 365 "Dare you see" (online)--and Franklin's version--F 401 "Dare you see," p. 185 in your copy of The Poems of ED.
  • Handout: Fascicle Lists


WEEK THREE: OVERVIEW: LIFE/POETRY/CRITICISM

Jan. 25

  • Chap 2 "Context," 24-39 (in Introduction)
  • Cristanne Miller, "D’s Experimental Grammar: Nouns and Verbs," 173-86 (in Collection). Note F 772 "Essential Oils," F 656 "I started Early," and F 778 "Four Trees."

Jan. 27

  • Kamilla Denman, "ED’s Volcanic Punctuation," 187-206 (in Collection). Note F 372 "After Great Pain."
  • Handout: Topic Selection (seminar paper)

Jan. 29

  • Chap 4 "Reception," 121-28 (in Introduction)
  • Judy Jo Small, "A Musical Aesthetic," 206-22 (in Collection)
  • ASSIGN PAPER #1--due Feb. 15. See paper directions (online).


WEEK FOUR: LOVES AND LETTERS

Feb. 01

  • Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Brief Biography and Emily Dickinson's Letters (online).
    See also L 260; L 261; L 256; L 268; L 271; L 316; L 319; L 330 (online).
  • Selected poems sent to Higginson: F 282 We play at Paste; F 124 Safe in Alabaster; F 304 The nearest dream; F 204 I'll tell you how; F 325 There came a Day; F 334 Of all the Sounds; F 98 South Winds; F 14 As if I asked; F 328 Of Tribulation; F 112 Success is counted; F 418 Your riches; F 236 Some keep the Sabbath; F 381 I cannot dance; F 399 Departed.

Feb. 03

Feb. 05

  • "Master" (in Introduction, 78-86)
  • Letters to "Master": About 1858; About 1861; About 1862 (online)
  • Selected letters sent to Samuel Bowles: L 193; L 219; L 223; L 250; L 251; L 277; L 489; L 515 (online).
  • Selected poems sent to Samuel Bowles: F 161 The Daisy follows; F 227 Two swimmers; F 205 Come slowly--Eden; F 251 If he dissolve; F 269 Wild Nights; F 325 There came a Day; F 185 A wife - at daybreak; F 697 Why make it doubt; F 356 If you were coming; F 703 To my small Hearth; F 706 I cannot live with you; F 736 You said that I was Great; F 1083 Sang from the Heart; F 194 Title divine.
  • ASSIGN TOPIC SELECTION/POEMS LIST (handout)--due Feb. 24.


WEEK FIVE: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Feb. 08

  • Joan Burdick, "ED and the Economics of Desire," 76-88 (in Collection)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 134 Bid the Harebell; F 205 Come slowly Eden; F 269 Wild Nights; F 271 Over the Fence; F 280 The world stands solemn; F 656 I started early; F 705 I am ashamed; F 782 Renunciation; F 1742 In Winter; F 1050 I am afraid to own a body.

Feb. 10

  • Chap. 2 "Works," 40-58 (in Introduction)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 353 I'm ceded; F 318 She sweeps; F 740 On a Columnar Self; F 817 This Consciousness; F 411 Mine by the Right; F 675 What soft Cherubic; F 857 She rose to his requirements; F 1107 My Cocoon tightens.

Feb. 12

  • Suzanne Juhasz/Kristanne Miller, "Performances of Gender in D’s Poetry," 107-28 (in Companion)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 776 Drama's vitalist Expression; F 225 I'm Wife; F 348 I would not paint a picture.


WEEK SIX: POETS / WOMEN POETS

Feb. 15

  • PAPER 1 DUE: class discussion

Feb. 17

  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, selection from Book II (online).
  • Sandra M. Gilbert, "Wayward Nun Beneath the Hill," 20-30 (in Collection)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 627 I think I was enchanted; F 307 A Solemn Thing; F 267 Rearrange a wife's; F 445 They shut me up in Prose; F 745 Sweet Mountains; F 772 Essential Oils; F 1263 Tell all the Truth; F 613 The day that I was crowned; F 446 This was a Poet; F 1243 Shall I take thee; F 519 This is my letter; F 348 I would not paint; F 549 The One that could repeat; F 557 I send two sunsets.

Feb. 19

  • Paula Bernat Bennett, "ED and her American Women Poet Peers," 215-35 (in Companion)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 1163 A Spider sewed at night; F 930 Poets light but lamps; F 1373 The Spider as an Artist.


WEEK SEVEN: FASCICLES / GOTHIC

Feb. 22

  • Dickinson, Fascicle 15: (F 423 The first Day's Night; F 424 The Color of the Grave; F 425 Twas like a Maelstrom; F 426 I gave myself to Him; F 427 Sunset at Night is natural; F 428 We grow accustomed; F 429 You’ll know it; F 430 A Charm invests a face; F 431 If I may have it when its dead; F 432 I read my sentence steadily; F 433 A Murmur in the Trees; F 434 It is dead; F 435 Not in this World to see; F 436 I found the words; F 437 I never felt at Home Below; F 438 The Body grows without; F 439 I had been hungry all the Years).
  • Sharon Cameron, "D's Fascicles" (in ED Handbook, ed. Grabher, 138-60—on Library Reserve)

Feb. 24

  • TOPIC SELECTION/POEM LIST DUE.
  • Dickinson, Fascicle 15: (See list above.)
  • Sharon Cameron, "D's Fascicles" (in ED Handbook, ed. Grabher, 138-60—on Library Reserve)

Feb. 26

  • Edgar Allan Poe, House of Usher (online)
  • ASSIGN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND ORAL REPORTS: Each student signs up by Monday for a class report during Weeks 8-12. See Annotated Bib directions (online) for more information.


WEEK EIGHT: FASCICLES / GOTHIC (Complete 2 annotated articles this week)

Mar. 01

  • Dickinson, Fascicle 16 (F 336 Before I got my eye; F 337 Of nearness; F 338 Tie the Strings; F 339 I like a look; F 340 I felt a Funeral; F 341 'Tis so appalling; F 342 How noteless; F 343 When We stand; F 344 'Twas Just this time; F 345 Afraid! Of whom; F 346 He showed me Heights).
  • Daneen Wardrop, "ED and the Gothic in Fascicle 16," 142-62 (in Companion)
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 03

  • Cynthia Griffin Wolff, "Impertinent Constructions. . . : D's Use of the Romantic Grotesque," 119-29 (in Collection)
  • Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee and Ulalume (online)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 407 One need not be a Chamber; F 448 I died for Beauty; F 479 Because I could not stop
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 05

  • Harriet Prescott Spofford, Circumstance (online)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 955 I sing to use the waiting; F 270 I shall keep singing.
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)


WEEK NINE: PURITANISM / TRANSCENDENTALISM (Complete 2 annotated articles this week)

Mar. 08

  • Puritanism, 24-26; Blasphemous Devotion, 58-70; Death, 97-109 (in Introduction)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 39 I never lost as much; F 1577 The Bible is an antique; F 249 You're right--the way is narrow; F 544 Heaven has different signs; F 437 I never felt at Home; F 1072 A loss of something; F 320 There's a Certain Slant; F 591 I heard a Fly; F 373 This world is not conclusion; F 1668 Apparently with no surprise.
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 10

  • Jane Donahue Eberwein, "ED and the Calvinist Sacramental Tradition," 89-104 (in Collection)
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 12

  • Transcendentalism 32-34; Nature 86-97 (in Introduction)
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Poet (online); from "Nature": Introduction and Chapter 1 (online); Snowstorm (online)
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)


WEEK TEN:

Mar. 15-19 SPRING BREAK



WEEK ELEVEN: NATURE AND SPIRIT (Complete 2 annotated articles this week)

Mar. 22

  • Barton Levi St. Armand, "The Art of Peace," 163-87 (in Collection)
  • William Cullen Bryant,To the Fringed Gentian and To Cole, the Painter Departing for Europe (online).
  • Browse through Hudson River Paintings (online).
  • Dickinson Poems: F 204 I'll tell you how the sun; F 319 Of Bronze and Blaze; F 321 Blazing in Gold; F 327 How the Old Mountains; F 468 Whole Gulfs of red; F 507 Like many footlights
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 24

  • Dickinson Poems: F 291 It sifts; F 207 I taste a liquor; F 533 I reckon when I count; F 236 Some keep the Sabbath; F 741 Nature the Gentlest; F 359 A Bird came down the walk; F 466 I dwell in possiblity; F 409 The soul selects; F 1020 There is a Zone; F 1489 A Route of Evanescence; F 122 These are the Days; F 935 As imperceptibly; F 895 Further in Summer; F 420 There are two Ripenings; F 457 Nature sometimes sears.
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 26

  • Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself, Cantos 1-24 and 51-52 (see numbers on right side of poem).
  • Shira Wolosky, "ED: Being in the Body," 129-39 (in Companion).
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)


WEEK TWELVE: MODERNISM / EXISTENTIALISM / POST-MODERNISM (Complete 2 annotated articles this week)

Mar. 29

  • Josef Raab, "Metapoetic Element in D," 273-94 (in ED Handbook--on Library Reserve)
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)

Mar. 31

  • David Porter, "ED and American Modernism," 219-44 (in The Modern Idiom--on Library Reserve).
  • 1-2 BIB REPORTS (15 min each; focus on 1 or 2 poems)
  • Sign up before Monday for individual conferences next week.

Apr. 02

  • Fred White, "ED’s Existential Dramas," 91-106 (in Companion)
  • Dickinson Poems: F 778 Four Trees; F 633 I saw no way; F 365 I know that he exists; F 484 From blank to blank


WEEK THIRTEEN: SEMINAR PAPER: RESEARCH

Apr. 05

  • 3-5 Conferences
  • DUE: Thesis Statement (1-2 pp)/Annotated Bibs (8 articles/bk chapters)
  • Continue researching 2-3 articles/bk chapters

Apr. 07

  • 3-5 Conferences
  • DUE: Thesis Statement (1-2 pp)/Annotated Bibs (8 articles/bk chapters)
  • Continue researching 2-3 articles/bk chapters
  • Sign up before Monday for presentations next week.

Apr. 09

  • 3-5 Conferences
  • DUE: Thesis Statement (1-2 pp)/Annotated Bibs (8 articles/bk chapters)
  • Continue researching 2-3 articles/bk chapters


WEEK FOURTEEN: SEMINAR PAPER: FIRST DRAFTS (complete 8-10 pp)

Apr. 12

  • Writing Strategies/Review MLA
  • DUE: first drafts (2 pages)—discuss in class

Apr. 14

  • Writing Strategies/Review MLA
  • DUE: first drafts (3-6 pages)—discuss in class

Apr. 16

  • Writing Strategies/Review MLA
  • DUE: first drafts (6-9 pages)—discuss in class


WEEK FIFTEEN: SEMINAR PAPER: FIRST DRAFTS (complete 8-10 pp)

Apr. 19

  • No class—work on first drafts (9-12 pages)

Apr. 21

  • No class—work on first drafts (13-16 pages)

Apr. 23

  • No class—work on first drafts (17-20 pages)


WEEK SIXTEEN: SEMINAR PAPER: REVISE / EDIT

Apr. 26

  • Bring completed first draft to class; discuss revision and editing plans and problems

Apr. 28

  • No class--revise/edit

Apr. 30

  • No class--revise/edit


WEEK SEVENTEEN: SEMINAR PAPER: Due

May 03

  • FINAL DRAFT OF SEMINAR PAPER DUE: 20+ pp, plus notes and bib.

May 05

May 07



FINAL EXAM WEEK: No final exam






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Updated: 12-10-12


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