Pytash: Chapter 3

At the beginning of this chapter I was reminded that when a rookie teacher joins a school's Language Arts department they usually have no say in the literature they will be teaching. There is limited time with students to get through the classics and prepare for standardized state tests in a year or semester. The list of the most assigned texts in high school didn't surprise me; I had read almost all of them at one point in my life. After looking at this list and thinking "what do all of these works have in common?", I concluded that these books stay on mandatory high school reading lists because their messages transcend time. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, and most of the other books on the list I have revisited since my initial reading of them in high school. Every time I go back I see something new, or figure out a way to apply the dilemma or theme of the book to my own life. This most recently happened in our class, when I reread Gatsby over winter break I a reflected on how some of my 'old sports' back home embodied the characteristics of 'old money', how they felt such an entitlement because of they way they were raised. I saw how I am like Nick in that I am not going to make lots of money relative to those I grew up with, and I am like Nick in that I don't worry about how much money I will make relative to those I know. I looked back on the women I have met in college and how there are still some out there that behave like Daisy, being wrapped up in material possessions and social status, and how there are women out there like Myrtle who are never satisfied with what they have and live a life of jealousy. I remember why I got into literature when I see how a classic can relate to the readers life and have a profound impact on them. The author gives us the reality of dealing with a mandated reading list and how to harness the power of the classics.

I admire the author's ambition, but I think that implementing all her theories on choosing literature and assigning it would not work for students who are not familiar with vigorous academic work. She says that teachers should be assigning 20 books a school year for their students, she says that the length of a book should never matter. For the latter criteria to work the students would have to be extremely dedicated, not be on athletic teams, and not have jobs. I hope that one day I am a veteran teacher like the author and can motivate my students to get through 20 works, she acknowledges that students will occasionally use spark notes and cliff's notes, and that it is hard to sell students the idea of giving up tv time for reading. In our education classes we learn to never use a 'one size fits all' approach, but the author sometimes thinks that all students have the same capabilities, like reading speed, she says that it will take a student 10-12 hours of vigorous reading to finish Black Boy, (430 pages small print), it took me twice that time to read it, I'm embarrassed to think that I wouldn't be able to keep up in one of her high school classes. A student must have some intellectual curiosity to be sold on the potentials of reading great literature, Jago makes a great stamen "I believe that teenagers want to have these experiences but have not realized that reading books can provide them" (47). She make a s very inspirational point that I will use one day to motivate my students, I will present a book not as an assignment, but as an experience.