Hoping to shake off a little of this feeling, I assigned a creative project in my ENGL 333: Nineteenth-Century Novels course this term. Students were prompted to respond to one or more of the literary texts we\u2019ve studied this term in the form of a drawing, painting, piece of creative writing, textile project, photograph, musical composition, research poster, or really anything else they could dream up.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Bhangu’s rendition of Isabella Thorpe<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Lappy Brar’s poems about relationships in Jane Eyre<\/p><\/div>\n
I saw it as a chance for students to engage with the material in a spirit of \u201cserious play.\u201d<\/a> Working as hard as we do on our scholarship, we might sometimes lose sight of the creativity, joy, and freedom that come with reading, thinking, and talking about literature; but isn\u2019t the love of literature really what lies at the heart of our discipline?<\/p>\n The projects not only display a dazzling array of creative talent, they also share valuable insights about the novels we\u2019ve studied.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s just a small sampling of the great work we were treated to:<\/p>\n Northanger Abbey<\/em><\/a> inspired paintings, a sculpture, short stories, a comic, and much more. Ashlyn Roos\u2019s piano score<\/a> captures protagonist Catherine\u2019s development; Joshua Balzer scripted a wordless theatrical adaptation of the novel, with stage design and cues for lighting and sound; Isabel Mcleod reconstructed and modelled a regency gown out of the same blue muslin Catherine and her love interest discuss in Chapter 3; Gurjot Bhangu\u2019s drawing represents Isabella Thorpe\u2019s deceptiveness as fiery mask.<\/p>\n Sketch for Balzer’s theatrical adaptation<\/p><\/div>\n Isabel McLeod’s dress design for Catherine<\/p><\/div>\n Among reactions to Jane Eyre<\/em><\/a> were collages, drawings, and stories that adapt the characters into the present day. Maryann Phan\u2019s adorable amigurumi Jane Eyre sports an outfit that combines the plain grey dress of her Lowood School days with a traveller\u2019s cloak to signify her restless spirit and a hint of lace to foreshadow the drama around her marriage; Steven Prosser had his wife, Natasha Prosser, photograph him as John Eyre, Jane\u2019s uncle and benefactor, reaching out to a child Jane, as portrayed by his daughter Hazel. Lappy Brar\u2019s poems imagine the inner dimensions of relationships between Mr. Rochester, Bertha Mason, and Jane; John Paul Ocon\u2019s musical composition<\/a> for Mr. Rochester\u2019s song in Chapter 24 captures that character\u2019s energy and melancholy.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>