{"id":986,"date":"2004-05-27T11:22:15","date_gmt":"2004-05-27T15:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=986"},"modified":"2024-10-27T18:42:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T22:42:35","slug":"great-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=986","title":{"rendered":"Literature Curriculum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thought-provoking post on Critical Mass<\/a> about the evolution (or de-volution) of the high-school literature curriculum.<\/p>\n

I always enjoyed the challenge of reading, and the challenge of meeting up with characters who had next to nothing to do with my life. Hester Prynne, and Madame Defarge and Huck Finn and Atticus Finch, etc. I read all of those books in between the age of 14 and 18. What does my life have in common with Madame Defarge? Nothing. We’re both chicks. Big deal.<\/p>\n

It was not assumed that I, a teenager in Rhode Island going to public school, needed to “identify” with the characters in order to be interested. It was just that these were the great books, and so we read them.<\/p>\n

Plain and simple.<\/p>\n

It is quite quite true, however, that my reading experience was significantly different when I read Billy Budd<\/i> (which I hated and dreaded) and Catcher in the Rye<\/i> – which I felt like came from out of the depths of my own psyche. (Join the club, Sheila. But whatever – everyone needs to experience that book for the first time, and discover it for themselves.) So yes: the power of IDENTIFICATION is immense, and very important. I devoured Catcher in the Rye<\/i>. I devoured Wuthering Heights<\/i> – it appealed to some wild tragic strain in my adolescent nature. I felt like: I could love a man like Heathcliff … and I identify with Cathy … I do! She’s a wild woman, like Kipling’s cat, walking in the “wild lone” and “waving her wild tail”. Tragic! Love it! That book captivated me.<\/p>\n

But that was just a byproduct of me being forced to read those books in the first place.<\/p>\n

“Identification” was not the primary reason to read.<\/p>\n

I was lucky, though. I grew up with literate parents in a house full of books. I was reading before I could walk, basically. I would rather read than do most anything else. I am very fortunate.<\/p>\n

Others – who did not grow up with such support, such reinforcement – perhaps need to “identify” first, and then discover: Wow! Reading is so cool!!! (This story of my friend Mitchell<\/a>, is, perhaps, a case in point. Not sure … he can speak to that himself.)<\/p>\n

I feel extremely fortunate that intellectual rigor was encouraged in my household. I read stuff before I was ready to really digest them. I could feel<\/i> when I read “Oliver Twist” at the age of 11: “Hmmm. I … am going to have to come back to this one …”<\/p>\n

I could tell<\/i> that it was great, I could tell<\/i> that it was a classic … but I couldn’t get it. It was too soon. But still – I read every word.<\/p>\n

I am not sure what I think about the theory that reading lesser works (yes. Lesser. Do not put Tuesdays with Morrie<\/i> on the same level as Scarlet Letter<\/i>. Do. Not. Do. It.) makes you want to read the great stuff, the challenging stuff.<\/p>\n

And maybe the point is – no matter what<\/i> it is, no matter what<\/i> book it is … if you are a discerning individual, and there is a message to be had, or some joy to be had from the printed word … then it is a worthwhile endeavor. But all of this assumes that you have already learned how to read<\/i>. (And I don’t mean knowing your ABCs, I mean – having some critical facility – having some way to interpret what you read, having some sense of context – in terms of literature … People who can barely make it through magazine articles do not know how to read, in the way that I mean)<\/p>\n

Reading challenging books which had nothing to do with my own life, and before I was ready to digest the messages (Tale of Two Cities<\/i> comes to mind) – taught me how to read.<\/p>\n

Charles Dickens (and my English teacher, I suppose) expected me, a 14 year old, to rise to the level of the material.<\/p>\n

And so – with much hemming and hawing – and support from the ‘rents – I did.<\/p>\n

Sometimes under great protest, I might add. And I still hate Billy Budd<\/i>, but I’m not sorry I read it.<\/p>\n

I have no idea what I just wrote, by the way. My high school composition teacher would be horrified. Where’s that thesis statement, Sheil-babe?<\/p>\n

Ah well. Food for thought. Still thinking about it myself.<\/p>\n

Just thought of something else<\/i>:<\/p>\n

I also enjoy a good trashy novel. I don’t think that gorging on Victorian erotica, or an Oprah book turns your mind to mush. I think that’s a stupid attitude.<\/p>\n

I read VC Andrews’ trash<\/a>, and I also read Charles Dickens.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you just need a little filth to clear the air!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thought-provoking post on Critical Mass about the evolution (or de-volution) of the high-school literature curriculum. I always enjoyed the challenge of reading, and the challenge of meeting up with characters who had next to nothing to do with my life. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177969,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986\/revisions\/177969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}