Mad dogs and English teachers
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Well friends, whilst I was in upstate NY (you know, where Jimmy Hoffa went missing) I did a faculty workshop for the local high school, because as the teachers put it, “We’re trying to inspire kids to write.” To which my response was, “Then you need to be inspiring kids to read as well.”
Big Brother wants you to read 1984, Of Mice And Men, and The Scarlet LetterMy lecture was prefaced with a bully pulpit scolding of any educational system that thinks Of Mice And Men and The Scarlet Letter are great books for fifteen-year olds.
(This is the part where some of you might want to pause for a moment, walk to the kitchen and grab a brown paper bag to breath into if that statement makes you hyperventilate, as it did some of the teachers).
Back? Okay, here we go…
The teachers quickly fell into three camps:
1) The Oppressed. These are the teachers that pull me aside and say, “I hate such-and-such a book as much as the kids, but I’m force to teach it.” This group immediately lit up and applauded with their eyeballs.
2) The Bystanders. This group—and granted, there were only a few of them, yawned, because they weren’t paying attention anyway. Too bad, because like innocents at a drive-by shooting, suddenly they weren’t sure where the bullets were coming from.
3) The Palace Guard. These are the seasoned, often tenured teachers, the ones that have a hard time letting kids read books from contemporary authors. For this group, you might have thought I’d just said, “Hey, let’s set fire to the library and have a weenie-roast!”
What I actually said was, “These are not bad books, I’m not saying that, but these are terrible books for kids. They equate reading with drudgery, and while there are intrepid young readers who will enjoy these, most kids will be bored to tears. To them, The Scarlet Letter is impenetrable. If you want super-readers, stop giving kids kryptonite. These are hot pokers used to cauterize the parts of young, developing brains that might otherwise learn to love reading. Instead they learn to hate it.”
Keep in mind that I was speaking to a school with a whopping 65% graduation rate. That ol’ definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results comes to mind. Hey kids, the last thirty graduating classes hated Old Man and The Sea—but I’ve got a good feeling about you— yesseriee! School districts have been betting on these books like the last wagers of a degenerate gambler, desperately needing a win and hoping their luck will turn around.
In all fairness, the plural of anecdote is not evidence, but man; I have a lot of anecdotes. Whenever I meet with high school classes, I ask each student for one book they love and another they hate. What do I find? Let’s just say that even the most gifted kids aren’t exactly texting back and forth about the merits of Ayn Rand or George Orwell. And curiously, of all the books they’re forced to read, they do gravitate to certain titles. These books are usually: Catcher in the Rye (young protagonist), To Kill A Mockingbird (young protagonist), or perhaps The Lord of the Flies (are you noticing a pattern?)
It’s no surprise that high school students relate to young adults in fiction, with young adult problems. And depression-era fiction, or fiction from the 1850s can be a reach for young readers that have never even seen a rotary phone.
The reality is, thirty years ago kids had Judy Blume and not much else. I get that. But the generation raised on Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret is all grown up now, and writing—beautifully. A (YA) young adult renaissance is well underway. So why not let kids read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Wintergirls, or Hunger Games? Is that too much to ask?
“But I loved Of Mice And Men,” said the teacher who probably once rode to school on horseback. “It’s a great book—kids should NOT be spared the classics!”
Ah, the classic argument. Again, these are not bad books, folks. But for readers that hate to read, these books are aspirin. They’re good for you but they taste bitter going down. That’s not to say we should give kids gummy bears. But can’t we give ‘em Flinstones Chewables? They’re good for you, and they taste good.
I’m not talking about dumbing down curriculum. Anyone that thinks YA books like, Story of a Girl are somehow a step backward is missing the point (and a great read). These books are open doors, instead of rusty old gates that must be passed as a rite of passage. YA books foster a love of reading, and kids that love reading will read anything. They’ll read all summer long, without added incentive. But kids that hate reading need a warm literary embrace—or at least a chance to read a book written in this century.
Instead, they stuck reading books like 1984. (Oddly enough, I read 1984 in high school, in 1984. My teenage brain still thought it was boring, despite the TIME magazine articles. I much preferred Harlan Ellison's, "Repent, Harlequin!")
There is so much cultural inertia behind these books. And change is slow, especially in an accredited academic setting. And of course there’s probably a fair amount of sales pressure since these are sacred cows that can be milked year after year. If a publisher sells 250,000 copies of Moby Dick each school year, are they really going to risk that nickel on a book like Speak?
If they’re as smart as the amazing kids I met last week, they will.
Reader Comments (13)
I hope schools start listening to you -- and soon! It may be too late for my son but it won't be too late for future kids.
There are SO MANY phenomenal YA books out there, in addition to the ones you mentioned. Teenagers will read like crazy if they have books they like.
The Scarlet Letter was also assigned summer reading one year. It's as though they don't want to hear us complain while we're reading, only after, and then we move on.
I've never read 1984 though.
I finished almost every book I was assigned in English classes, but ones I could never seem to get through and had to fake my way through essays? Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein, and Heart of Darkness. I tried, I did, but I just couldn't do it. And I even happily read Pride and Prejudice during the summer.
Kids who hate to read likely have reading deficits (reading is difficult for them.) They quite possibly have some holes in their learning (phonics, common sight words, fluency, etc.) If kids are struggling just to get through the page, never mind comprehending (a higher level reading skill) and if they are not comprehending, forget the hope of them connecting with a character's "experience." Their gaps in learning need to be explicitly taught as well as trying to find material (that is written at their independent reading level) that is exciting for them to read. Practice, practice, practice.
Get them to eat the candy before shoveling in the broccoli.
Anyway, I'm climbing off my soapbox now. Good post.
A better way might be to divvy up the students by interest level—not merely challenging the varsity readers more, but stigmatizing the JV readers less. Don't call it remedial reading, for "Twilight's" sake! Call it "Sex and Violence in Literature" or "How Reading a Book Can Get You a Job." Then give those students literature that's at least entertaining.
I'm guessing the biggest factor in whether kids will read at all is an encouraging parent or two making sure they have a library card at a young age, enough free time to put it to use, and an occasional blank spot on the shelf where the XBox should be. I read "The Scarlet Letter" for school, and "Of Mice and Men' and "1984" on my own around the same time, and they're all dry, bleak reads. (My senior English teacher even admitted that "1984" is a great book that's poorly written!) I enjoyed the language in those books, and more or less grasped what they were getting at, but I was happily consuming a steady diet of sci-fi garbage at the same time. I think if we let the advanced kids run with the football and give the rest some practical and entertaining reasons to stay on the team, we'd do a lot better.
The hard part is that you do want to instill an appreciation for the classics. And usually kids ending up connecting with one or two of the required books. There must be a middle ground out there... all I know is that I thank God I wasn't required to read any Jane Austen in high school, or it might have cost me the joy of reading her books for the pure pleasure of it.