Wednesday, October 28, 2009

the ebony clock chimed midnight

We studied Edgar Allan Poe in class yesterday. Scary man, scary life, scary writing. He does an amazing job of delving into the deepest, darkest places of the human psyche and playing on our greatest fears. I read “The Masque of the Red Death” to the class, and some were actually caught up in the story. Without my prompting, even, they started talking about the various symbols, mood, and theme. They identified the literary allusions and even drew parallels to contemporary society. The best part was when, after class, one woman said, “this isn’t something I ever would have read on my own, but I really enjoyed it. When are we going to read some more?”

Ah, I’m developing some great plans for these students.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Interview with a Mummy" is still one of my favorite stories of all time.