Day Three of Dickinson

2 April 2019: Today was our last full day of Dickinson discussion in ENGL 312. As always, she never disappoints, and (also as usual), neither did my students. Some selected insights:

1) A student sharing how she kept thinking about "A Bird came down the Walk" after seeing a bird in the middle of the road that would not move: "That bird was going through something" and "I thought, 'You just stand there if you need to.'" We had a great (and funny) discussion about anthropomorphism and projection--and how Dickinson's poem resists both urges. By the way, this is the same student who shared this gem a couple of years ago.

2) About "He fumbles at your Soul": "[It's about when] God goes to work on you. And how fun it's not." My response? "Write that in your notes--all of it" to the rest of the class.