Wednesday was quite an eventful day and possibly my favorite. We started it off by touring through Edith Wharton’s estate. Since she is the author of The House of Mirth, it was interesting to see the place in which she scribed the dramatic tale we are focusing on in this intensive. I found myself marveling over the garden and the beautiful interior design of the home, realizing that it was a clear testament to what wealth meant in the 19th century.
Next, we went to Mount Holyoke College, the all-women’s college Emily Dickinson attended. We met with an Emily Dickinson scholar named Christopher Benfey who told us about her life and answered any questions we had about her. Then we went down to the archives and were fortunate enough to see several artifacts from this time period, varying from Dickinson’s letter about her life at Mount Holyoke College to a zine from the 1990s created by a student there. It was so amazing to catch a glimpse from the past and imagine what life was like for Emily Dickinson whilst standing in the very same campus she spent a year in.
Finally, we ended our day with contra dancing! First we took a beginner’s class to learn how to contra dance step by step. In order to have fun, we had to step far outside our comfort zone because we were dancing with complete strangers, with the ages of all the dancers varying drastically. At first, we were all a little uncomfortable but as time went on we became more accustomed to our surroundings. It was such a unique experience that the “ballroom” almost felt like another world. However, it was incredibly fun despite this, and I’m sure none of us will ever forget it.
 |
| https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-1cPyJWm-g4/maxresdefault.jpg |
No comments:
Post a Comment