This presentation is done for Advanced Experiential Russian in which students study selected works of representative émigré authors, discuss the Russian Émigré experience, the peculiarities of the exile experience for writers; the complexities of émigré identity. Now more than ever, a magical mirror of Joseph Brodsky’s poem Pilgrims (1960) reflects a moving experience of vulnerable souls; and reads as a “human document.”
The goal of students’ presentations is to tell the story that evoke common humanity; bring the narratives with which students can identify. A presenter’s goal is to find as much as one can in the story, even though the stories may be remote in time and space from their own. After the presentations, the presenters must come up with discussion questions, to create a dialogue about the cultural references. This task provides practice in refinement of speaking skills.