Today, as I dropped my daughter off at college, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her wearing her colonial attire.
Don’t you just love that red cloak flapping in the wind?
Doesn’t everyone wear colonial attire to college?
WHEN 1660-1860 AMERICAN LITERATURE CLASS GOES MODERN
Perhaps they do when they are taking an American Literature class, 1660-1860.
My daughter was quite excited to study this era which includes many of her favorites from literature.
What a grand opportunity to study literary works of the past.
However the class has oddly learned more modern, which defied the catalogue’s course description.
For the major end of semester project, the students were told to choose a post-modern classic (written after 1945), which had to be agreed upon within the small group they were working with.
When I picked my daughter up from college on the day it was assigned, she was quite distressed by it.
Indeed this is completely perplexing, since the post-modern world view is completely different from those from 1660-1860.
In fact, each century has variables in their world views, which drove literature.
SNEAKING IN 17TH CENTURY
As we drove home, I reminded her of the post-modern play, The Crucible, about the witch trials of the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts.
Relieved to hear that suggestion, my daughter recommended that idea to her group, which they loved…and the professor approved.
However, my daughter puzzled over what selections she could recommend to her other classmates in other groups, who were annoyed they didn’t think of that selection.
The students were not interested in modern works, they wanted older works, which had been pretty much denied in the course.
17TH CENTURY PROPS
For the project, her group created broadsides with 17th century style renderings and text detailing the play.
This was printed on special reproduction parchment paper purchased at Colonial Williamsburg.
18TH CENTURY GOWN GOES TO COLLEGE
The group recreated the play via class participation.
Portraying the judges, the guys in her group wore their graduation robes.
Since my daughter was to portray the infamous Abigail Williams, she needed a different costume.
Looking through her historical wardrobe, she decided to wear the nearest outfit she had to the late 17th century.
While she walked about on campus, she was stopped often and queried about her clothing.
Since I historically hand sewed all of her 18th century attire, she knows much about the history of this era of clothing, so she had fun answering the questions.
WHAT IF WE COULD MEET SOMEONE FROM THE PAST?
She said it was quite funny when she was walking behind a couple of students.
She overheard one who said, “Wouldn’t it be neat if we actually got to meet someone from the past?”
As my daughter passed by, their expressions were priceless!
Cleverly, my daughter carried everything she needed for class, including props for the play, in her colonial basket.
Obviously, the presentation was a hit!
RENAISSANCE GOWN ALSO WENT TO COLLEGE
Incidentally, this wasn’t the first time my daughter wore historic clothing to campus.
Last semester, she wore a 16th century gown to her Renaissance class to talk about Thomas Jeffersonian architecture which was influenced by the Renaissance.
For more photos, check my Flickr set.
COMMENTS FROM MY OLD BLOG
Wendy – March 10, 2015 at 5:43 PM – Ha! Would have loved to see the look on those students’ faces! I am sure C was loving it! 🙂
