turning to whitman...See that hint of pleasure? I sent off my Alcott chapter yesterday. The ending is still unclear and I'm a bit confused about how to tie it all up, but for now I'm putting it aside (that is until I get some feedback). So for the first time in 11 months, I get to turn to something other than that damned Little Woman.
It feels exciting, actually exciting to begin on the Whitman chapter. Part of this comes from my almost complete lack of experience with Whitman. Sure, I've taught him and read him, but unlike my lovely friend Maura, I did not have a picture of him taped to my locker in high school -- which, by the way, is a sure sign that she is doing the right thing in life. I don't know the field or the major criticism, but it feels so fantastic to have it ahead of me. For all you Am. Lit folks, what great Whitman work do I have to read? I'm delighted to report that I have yet to locate any work on Whitman and education -- which may suggest the failure of my search terms, the irrelevance of the topic, or luck for the first time.
p.s. working today in the converted asylum in my hometown... perhaps I'll post my writings about it at some point.
6 comments:
My vote is for you to read the parts of Whitman's diaries where he records his experiences learning from Emerson. It may not be specifically pedagogical, but it was the most significant instruction Whitman ever received, and gets you a little beyond "When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer" and the section in "Song of Myself" about the grass. Congratulations on finishing your chapter!
congrats, miss! i'm thinking of adding a whitman chapter eventually, too, after doing some research at aas, and i definitely want to read your work!
you should go to a cool site: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/pfaffs/
to get you psyched about whitman. ;)
and be glad you didn't have a pic of him in your locker. that means you are sane.
Possibly of interest:
1. Walt Whitman looks at the schools [edited by] Florence Bernstein Freedman. New York, King’s Crown Press, 1950.
Notes: "Articles on schools and the education of youth in the Brooklyn ’Evening star’ and the Brooklyn ’Daily eagle.’"
2. West Babylon Public Library (West Babylon, N.Y.): Local history collection, 1870-1990, 1930-1990(bulk)
From notes: "...articles about Walt Whitman who taught school in the West Babylon area, ca. 1836." For more info look up this collection at NUCMC
3. Booth, Bates. The education and educational views of Walt Whitman / 1927. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Southern California, 1927.
Also (maybe):
4. Walt Whitman and nineteenth century women reformers, by Sherry Ceniza. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, c1998.
So exciting that you're moving on to big gay Walt. He should be a great contrast to Alcott. Are you doing poetry or other writings? I can't offer too much about about him and education; if it's not on the exam list, i can't talk about it.
Maura, that is a fantastic site!
Hmmm. I don't think Empson had much to say about Whitman. I'm excited about a chapter on Whitman in Geoffrey Hill's forthcoming Collected Critical Writings (Oxford University Press, 2007).
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