Instructors’ Teaching Experience

Because I emphasize the ongoing conversation between texts, I wanted to teach "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and Raleigh’s "The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd," along with modern responses to these poems.  I had my students read "The Passionate Freudian to His Love" by Dorothy Parker, "Raleigh Was Right" by William Carlos Williams, and "Love Under the Republicans (Or Democrats)" by Ogden Nash. I also asked students to think about what a response from 2011 might be like.  The discussion went surprisingly well; we talked about our notions of what poetic language is, economics and love, politics, Freud, pastoral poetry, parody, and Jersey Shore.  And really, who could ask for anything more? [Misty Woodford]