Approaches to Teaching Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Editor(s): Robert F. Gleckner, Mark L. Greenberg
Pages: xvi & 162 pp.
Published: 1989
ISBN: 9780873525183 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780873525176 (hardcover)
"Amongst these riches then, there should be something for everyone who teaches Blake's lyric poetry, especially if readers are willing to share the editors' 'delight in imagining fruitful class discussions emanating from significant disagreements with approaches offered here.'"
Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly
Responses to a survey conducted for this volume indicate that most teachers of Blake begin with Songs of Innocence and of Experience; the work is included in the syllabi of courses on literature and poetry at all levels, as well as courses in religious studies, humanities, and composition. The book's continuing fascination can be attributed to the many intellectual, theoretical, and pedagogical challenges it presents for students and teachers alike, such as the particulars of Blake's language and punctuation, his use of illustrations, differences in the order of the poems among the various extant editions, and considerations of what--for Blake and for other poets--constitutes "writing" and "the book."
This Approaches volume, like other volumes in the MLA's Approaches to Teaching World Literature series, is divided into two parts. The first part, "Materials," reviews editions and anthologies, critical works (including a survey of available commentaries on each poem), background materials, and facsimile and microfiche reproductions. In the second part, "Approaches," distinguished teachers and scholars describe strategies for presenting the Songs in the classroom. The first four essays discuss how teachers can bring theoretical concerns, such as textual and feminist approaches, to bear on specific poems. The following four essays address the inclusion of Songs in particular classes, from a survey on English Romanticism to a literature course at a technological institute. The third set of essays examines the Songs from specific literary perspectives, such as an analysis of the variations among different editions and an investigation of the work's biblical foundations. The final four essays present approaches for teaching individual poems.
Table of Contents
Approaches to Teaching Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Introduction: Teaching Blake's Songs
PART 1: MATERIALS
Robert F. Gleckner and Mark L. Greenberg
Texts and Reference Works
Critical Works on Blake's Poetry and Art
- Critical Commentary on Songs
- Treatments of the Whole Work
- Treatments of Individual Songs
Background Materials and New Critical Approaches
Visual Resources for Teaching Songs
John E. Grant and Mary Lynn Johnson
Blake on Microfiche
Brian Wilkie
PART 2: APPROACHES
Introduction
Approaches Emphasizing Theory
Image and Text in Songs
W. J. T. Mitchell
Teaching Ideology in Songs
David Simpson
Feminist Approaches to Teaching Songs
Mary Lynn Johnson
Reading, Drawing, Seeing Illuminated Books
Joseph Viscomi
Approaches Addressing Specific Teaching Contexts
The Borderline of Innocence and Experience
Thomas R. Frosch
Blake at MIT
Irene Tayler
The Piper and the Physicist
Jenijoy La Belle
Taking Risks in Teaching Songs
Stephen Cox
Approaches and Emphasizing Literary Context and the Idea of Context
Teaching the Variations in Songs
Robert N. Essick
Teaching the Biblical Contexts of Songs
Leslie Tannenbaum
Songs and the Bible
Philip J. Gallagher
The Groundings of the Songs
Wallace Jackson
Approaches Emphasizing Individual Songs
The Point-of-View Approach to Songs: Classroom Implications
Brian Wilkie
Teacing Blake's Psychology of Redemption in Songs
Harold Pagliaro
Hearing the Songs
Thomas A. Vogler
Unreading "London"
Donald Ault
Works Cited
Index
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