Who Needs Shakespeare...?

The following is a rant spurred by an issue brought up in my class the other day.  I will concede that it's a little one sided and overly passionate while lacking in rational support for now. Maybe someday I'll write a full-fledged paper, but for now...feel free to skip this post if you don't want to read about my stubborn views about literature.

***You teachers out there...please don't judge me for having an idealized view of high school classrooms...I admit I haven't ever taught before, but I just want to hold on to my precious belief that students can still be motivated by literature.***

In my Young Adult Lit class (again) today, we discussed the idea of replacing teaching the classics with new, popular, young adult literature in the classroom.  My professor's argument is that kids can't relate to The Scarlet Letter or The Great Gatsby.  I can understand where he's coming from, but I'm dumbfounded.  I couldn't believe that this entire class of English Teaching majors agreed that we should stop teaching the classics in high school!  They're basically advocating that we dumb down our education system to make school more accessible.  What about trying to raise our students up?!  What about teaching them that the great things in life don't come without hard work and effort?  I think part of the argument is that the classics are really hard to teach because the kids just don't read.  I can't argue with that because I definitely spark-noted my fair share of novels in high school, but the writing wasn't lost on me.  Maybe kids won't read at home.  Then read it together with them in class!  Or if there isn't enough time in class, take  specific passages and pick them apart with the students to show them that really great writing is complicated and full of multiple meanings--which makes reading it time and time again worth it.

I, of course, was just coming off of reading my novel about Charles Dickens and remembering how great he is, so I was personally offended that anyone would suggest that Laurie Halse Anderson was anywhere near his level of greatness.  I'm not suggesting that all YA lit is trash, there are actually some really great YA novels out there, but for the most part, we have a literary canon because those are the texts worth studying--even hundreds of years later.

One girl went on and on about how Shakespeare is so dumb, overrated, and we all put way too much stock in his plays.  I could maybe understand what she was saying, except for the fact that I've studied Shakespeare--and lots of it.  Maybe he didn't mean to support feminism, religion, the traditional family, or all the other meanings we ascribe to his plays, but who cares?  If we can still derive new meaning from plays written 400 years ago, props to Shakespeare.  Yes, on your own, as a 9th grader, Shakespeare is almost inaccessible and has the potential to be meaningless, but with a teacher guiding you slowly through and explaining the difficult passages, it becomes the incredibly beautiful and inspiring text that it is!  Sure Romeo and Juliet was difficult, but my 9th grade class enjoyed it.  And we were able to grasp enough of it to know that it was worth picking up again later on in our lives.

I'm sorry, but I just don't think very much young adult lit is worth reading over and over again at different stages in your life.  The main argument for easier reading is that at least assigning young adult lit will get kids in high school to read at all.  I hate the concept of having to dumb down reading just because nowadays we're used to immediate gratification, at the cost of real learning and growing.  Maybe we can make the summer reading some YA books, but what's the point of reading simple, easy books, when we have teachers who are specifically there to help us understand the difficult novels and become better readers/thinkers?

K I'm done with my rant.  Congratulations if you made it all the way through!  I'm just completely shocked that the future teachers of English from BYU don't think the classics should be kept in the classroom.  Like, have we been taking different classes or something?  Because from where I stand, studying Shakespeare has the potential to make you a better person, and I'm pretty grateful my high school teachers had the gumption to trudge through these classics with me all 4 years. Their dedication helped inspire me to work hard to understand the meanings behind books like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and plays like "The Tempest", and I feel like I'm a better human being for it.

It was the best of times...It was the worst of times...

So for my Young Adult Literature class, we have to read 15 YA books outside of class.  We have specific genres we have to meet (Sci-Fi, historical fiction, graphic novels, specific authors, etc.), and I just finished my historical fiction book.  Oh, below are the last 9 young adult novels I plan to read in the next 2 weeks before they're due back at the library...(wish me luck!)

So I just finished my historical fiction book about Charles Dickens.  What a heart-wrencher!  I say that half-facetiously because Dickens' novels are all heart-wrenchers, and this was of course nothing close to Tiny Tim and Pip's pitiful lives, but it was still very moving.  Charles Dickens was an incredible person.    (What follows is the journal entry for my class "reader's journal", so feel free to stop reading here unless you're interested in Charles Dickens or really great people in general :)

Andrea Warren tells the story of Dickens' life starting from his childhood in this easy-to-read, illustrated, young adult novel.  Did you know that his parents forced him into workhouses where he lived and worked with the poor children who were being treated so horrifically in London during his time?  It makes sense, because his childhood experiences obviously shaped the way he would write for the rest of his life, but I never knew that about him before reading this.  

He was never allowed to go to school except when he was almost 18 and only went for a month before he realized he had self-educated himself past what the schools had to offer him anymore.  His sister was allowed to receive her education, but Charles had to work to support his family who lived in a prison cell because their father was in so much debt.  It was while he worked in a shoe-polish factory that Dickens realized that his society needed to change.  

Warren follows Dickens' life through each of his 20 novels to explain what inspired him to write about specific social situations.  It's really incredible to realize that he wasn't writing just to show off his prowess.  He sincerely hurt for the poor and wanted the rich to be emotionally moved to offer their help.  Each of his novels were written for some specific purpose and each achieved the desired results.  By the time Dickens had passed on, his novels and speeches had brought about:

     -  Education being free for 5-13 year olds in London

     -  Children under the age of 5 no longer being forced to work in cramped, damp, dangerous tunnels

     -  Schools with headmasters who abused the young boys were shut down because boys were dying unnoticed at the hands of incompetent and cruel teachers.

    -  It was no longer legal for mothers to leave their newborn babies on the sidewalk for dead.  

    -  Philanthropists were alerted to the situation of the poor and homeless children in London and donated generously to good schools, boarding houses, and private adoptions to provide children with the prospect of getting out of poverty.  

There were others, as well, but one other interesting fact I learned was that Handel's Messiah?  It was written to support one of these boarding houses for abandoned babies.  He didn't even think it would be popular; he was just trying to be charitable in offering his music to a fundraiser.  Every year since that event, Handel's Messiah has been performed at a concert for the benefit of London's poor.  

I just loved reading about how innately good some people are.  I've always loved Dickens' novels anyway, but I feel like I just love the man even more now.  He was generous from the time he first published a story to the end of his life.  England mourned for two days solid after his death because he was such a beloved and kind-hearted man.  Talk about making an impact!

In Praise of Mentorship...

As my previous post suggested, I've been struggling with staying focused and engaged in my English classes this semester.  I hate this of course, because it means I'm not using my tuition money wisely, I feel like I'm wasting my time, I don't feel inspired by literature anymore, and I feel sort of bad about myself for turning in less-than-polished papers to my professors.  But I finally figured out why I have lost interest in school.

I miss my brilliant professors from last semester.  Two in particular--Hutch and Dr. Walker.

Both professors teach literature through the lens of the Bible which I have come to love.  I think Hutch has brainwashed me to read the way he reads.  Typically, I'd resist against a professor telling me how to read, but I've been fully converted to his style.  I took 3 classes from him about American Literature and how the Bible informs those texts.  Hutch was a hard professor.  Lots of C's on my papers.  Lots of harsh criticism.  Lots of frustration that first semester.  But when it comes down to it, I don't think I've ever had a professor take so much time individually with his students to improve their writing and thinking skills.  Not only was Hutch the type of professor who cared about his students, but his classes were inspiring.  The days were far and few between that I walked out not wanting to share what I'd just learned or thought about in his lecture.  Probably my favorite class he taught was all about autobiographies of early American people.  His discussions about the religious revival in America in the early 1800's clarified a lot about Joseph Smith and the beginning of our Mormon heritage for me.  Hutch had a way of challenging our previous notions, pushing us to think further, and bringing the Spirit to Literature.  

Dr. Walker teaches the Bible as Literature.  He's been teaching here for like 40 years or something insane, but he's the nicest man you've ever met.  He teaches the Bible as if it's a collection of short stories that we have the ability to unpack.  We talked about different ways of looking at Samson and Delilah, King David, Jonah, etc.  While his class sometimes bordered on sacrilegious, I really genuinely feel that his classes brought me closer to God.  I read the Bible with a vigor I've never had before.  I think in the LDS culture we are "biblically illiterate" (as Hutch says), and I'm grateful Dr. Walker gave me the skills to look at the bible differently than ever before, and embark on familiarizing myself with it.  

These two professors have helped me understand that if you're looking for Literature to blow your mind--Find the biblical allusions and think about the implications.  

Anyway, how does this relate to me losing motivation this semester?  None of my professors (with the exception of my Shakespeare Senior capstone course professor) challenge my thinking or help my mind expand and grow with every novel we read.  I don't think it's their fault, I just really miss the confidence I had that Hutch and Dr. Walker's classes would consistently have me exhilarated and motivated to go research on my own to find new applications for the literature to my life.  

I think the main difference is that both of these professors were mentors, not just teachers.  They obviously taught me well, but they also spent the time to personally get to know me, my writing, and my thinking.  They'e clearly in this profession to help influence people's lives--not just to be known as BYU professors.  

                                                       

15 Lessons Learned from Ben Franklin...

So I got the chance to read Benjamin Franklin's "The Autobiography" last week and I absolutely loved it! He is such a great writer--the perfect mix of great advice, sarcasm, comedy, and serious reflections on life. If you ever get the chance to take some time to read it, I highly recommend it. This is going to be a kind of lengthy blog, so if you are not in the mood to read the musings of Benjamin Franklin mixed with my own thoughts, I suggest you just skip this one and wait for another, shorter blog, but it you do happen to read this, I hope you enjoy it! These are just some of my favorite quotes from the book and what they made me think about.

"A man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty"--Why is that? I've found it's really true though, at least with myself. I find I'm more generous with my time when I don't even seem to have enough of it to handle my own life. Franklin suggests that poor people are generous to avoid the appearance of being poor, but I'm not sure I agree. It's just a weird phenomenon.

"He and I had made a serious agreement, that the one who happen'd first to die should, if possible, make a friendly visit to the other, and acquaint him how he found things in that separate state."--This is hilarious to me. But it makes perfect sense. People are supposed to have the best perspective on their lives when they're on their deathbeds. So, at the risk of sounding slightly insensitive/morbid, I have to agree with Franklin. If you have to die, might as well do something useful while you're at it.

"I grew convinced that truth , sincerity, and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life."--How great is that?! It all leads back to being honest--always. I just love this as a motto for life. By the way, "felicity" means "intense happiness".

"I entertained an opinion that, though certain actions might not be bad because they were forbidden, or good because they are commanded, probably these actions might be forbidden because they were bad for us, or commanded because they were beneficial to us, in their own natures, all the circumstances of things considered." --So basically, things are prohibited to keep us safe, and commanded to help us become better people. I think as a member of the LDS church I go through this train of thought once in a while because a lot of Heavenly Father's commandments are like this and it's easy to get caught up in the logistics and forget the reasoning behind it all.

"There are croakers in every country, always boding it's ruin."--Right?? There's always going to be nay-sayers and doubters in our lives. The story behind this quote was that this guy wouldn't buy property in Philadelphia because he said the city was going to fail soon. He kept discouraging Benjamin Franklin from starting up his business there because he was so sure the town would never survive. Several years later, he finally bought a house for 5 times as much as he would have paid in the first place. I think sometimes in life we may listen to the "croakers" a little too much when it'd be better for us to just have confidence in our ideas and dreams and have faith that it'll all work out.

"Will Coleman...who had the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of any man I have ever met."--Wouldn't you just love to be remembered like that?! A clear head, a good heart, and strong, good morals. That's pretty much my goal for who I want to be. I wish I knew how this Will Coleman guy did it.

"Small things appearing great to those in small circumstances."--He's talking about money here and how grateful he was when he was struggling and someone helped him out. I think he's right to an extent, but I don't think small things just "appear" great. I think any help really is great--just especially if you're in a humble situation.

"He that would thrive, must ask his wife."--enough said. ;)

"As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other."--CTR right? No big deal. This is when Franklin was working on perfecting himself. I thought that was funny. Wish it were that simple, right?

"I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined."--It's funny how when we really start trying to improve ourselves we start finding our faults...I can't decide if that's discouraging or inspiring?

"Tho' I never arrived at perfection, I had been so ambitious of obtaining it, I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man."--It's hard to accept that we will never be perfect simply because were mortal and prone to error, but I agree. It's worth a shot if only for what you learn along the journey, right?

"In reality, there is, perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself."--I'd imagine pride was hard to keep at bay when you were someone as brilliant, hard-working, and successful as Benjamin Franklin. But it's inspiring to me that someone so amazing realized that all pride ever got him was arguments and tension. He knew that humility was the only way to present yourself in life and I hope I can take a lesson from his book.

"He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged."--I can personally attest to the truth of this maxim. Isn't it funny how we develop such a deep love for those we serve? It makes no logical sense, but it's one of those weird truths of life.

"When men are employed, they are best content'd."--In other words, being lazy will never lead to happiness. I think this is so true. I am always happiest when I am being productive, or engaged in learning, or working hard.

"Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day."--This is exactly the title of my blog! It amazes me that Benjamin Franklin, who had his fair share of big things happen to him in his lifetime, swears that it's the little things that produce joy--not huge things.