The Scarlet Letter, I'd Rather Not

Greeting you lovlies you!  This book is so long!  So far I'm on page 350 of The Wise Man's Fear the second in The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss.  So far our young hero Kvothe has been attacked relentlessly by all kinds of interesting people who want to kill him, one of them was a girl named Devi, which all things considered was interesting, because I would never try to kill Kvothe, but alas, I suppose not all Devis can be so fond of him.  From early on we've known that Kvothe gets expelled from the University, but I'm only two-hundred pages shy of being halfway done, so I'm feeling that will happen fairly soon.  Though I think it'll be rather sad when he leaves the university because I love some of the professors so much (I mean really, Master Elodin's class is called "Introduction on How Not to Be a Stupid Jackass") but I think it'll ultimately be rather refreshing to finally see Kvothe in a different setting.

Now on to the topic at hand, books one is assigned in class, what a wonderful mess that is.  Though the answer is trite, I think it's honestly a mix of several different reasons that ultimately depend on the individual person and book and how the assignment is handled and how we treat the definition of what "literature" is, I could write a speech on this truly.

First of all let's talk about literature.  Though certainly not all, and not really any of the good ones or any I've had, but some teachers and people in general get wrapped up in the idea that the only books worth reading are those that we dub literature, and that if any reader occasionally, or regularly enjoys a book that's simply light and entertaining (yes I'm talking about Twilight) suddenly this reader is tasteless, uneducated, and thinks that their boyfriends should sneak into their bedrooms at night and then send them into a suicidal frenzy, when really one may read a book, see it as a fun read, and move on.  That's normal, and these books (let's call them snack books) have their place.  You can't only eat them, they won't fully satisfy you're appetite, but many of them are healthy, or at least harmless in moderation.  Now, what if one was only ever expected to read Tolstoy, Twain, and Tolkien, ( five star meal books) well, I think we would all be broke, over-stuffed, and eventually get rather sick of it all and really just wish we could have a simple sandwich.  Though the metaphor may be rather long, it really comes down to what books are defined as being "worth reading".

Freshman year, the theme we were asked to look at through the different stories, books, plays, etc. we were reading was whether man was inherently good or inherently evil, and while most of the other freshman lit classes had their students reading Lord of the Flies, my lovely English teacher had us reading The Hunger Games, a book that explores the same themes while not teaching us that left to their own devices children would brutally kill each other.  This all peaks at how books are presented to students.

When students are first being asked to read literature in class and do analysis of it, these books are expressed as the only good books, it becomes a matter of bitterness.  When taking young elementary and middle school aged students who love to read, and suddenly only giving them things they don't want to read, it becomes a matter of "my opinion  of valuable books is more valuable than yours" which can often lead to a lack of desire to read all together, let alone the same types of books they've been forced to read for years.  Now, this isn't a criticism of literature, I swallow Austen, Dumas, Twain, and Shakespeare like sweet tea in the summer time, but only when they've been presented to be as lovable stories that I should read because people who I value have recommended them to me, but I'd maintain that nothing has taught me more about the goodness of the flawed man than The Death Gate Cycle or even animes like Rurouni Kenshin, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Death Note, stories that explore man's nature and the totalitarian philosophy without being forced to choke down Hawthorne like medicine for my cancer that ironically only made it worse.

So here are my thoughts, three options I think would cure today's literary-phobia: one, if it is a necessity for students to read The Glass Menagerie (which I enjoyed, thank you very much) their junior year, then make sure the class is reading it in specific increments with carefully evaluated class discussions delving deep into the issues the book is suppose to be uncovering.  Two, present a potential reading list of fifty or so books that are considered great literature and give your students the option of picking the book that speaks true to them, if they'd rather read Jane Eyre than War and Peace, let them, if that's what they want they'll likely get more out of it anyway.  Or three if the situation allows, explain to the class that for said unit the idea of allegory (or you know, whatever else) is being considered, and let them choose between Animal Farm, The Chronicles of Narnia, A New Leaf, or anything they're aware of that would fall into this category and leave it to the teacher's discretion to decide whether the book would be suitable or not.  Reading should be a pleasure, and so should literature, but anything forced will only ever be a burden.  Use your words, converse with the students, because even The Scarlet Letter can be talked about and unwrapped if done so with a commutative teacher.