Recent Essays

 We've been writing essays lately, as is expected in a writing and language class. The essays have been quite enjoyable to write though, because the prompts have been so much more interesting. Here are the essays and their constituent prompts: 

“Prose [An author we recently read] is skeptical of the practice of using literary works to teach values. Write an essay in which you support or challenge her position. Be specific in your references to novels, plays, or poems."

 “And the Moral of the Story Is?”

I remember reading in my room, or playing Legos while listening to a book-on-tape (those were the best), my imagination locked into place with what I not only read and listened to, but tasted and felt and saw. I loved one particular animal fantasy series called Redwall by Brian Jacques, and would spend hours adventuring through Mossflower wood, attending feasts (the food was to die for), and of course defending Redwall Abbey against savage rats and ferrets who wanted to enslave peaceful mice, moles, and squirrels. I honestly couldn’t have cared what the author’s worldview was and what values or morals he hoped would percolate the reader’s mind. I loved the books for where they took me, not what they “taught”. Although now I have taken steps in learning literary analysis and pay respect to the moderated extraction of morals, in no way should the pure enjoyment of literature be forgotten or dismissed. In fact, American education, and more pointedly American educators, has lost their focus on what is central in reading literature. Instead of paying tribute to the art, educators have decided that teaching values from books is more important than the works themselves. Children are very perceptive, and though they often cannot explain in the clearest of terms, they are certain that some things just fit: That they are supposed to be transported to different worlds, that they are supposed to storm though the castle gates to rescue the princess, or fly with Peter Pan in the clouds, and liberate the enchanted frog-prince. Most importantly, they know what is more important and what should transcend using literature to teach values: The “aesthetic beauty – felicitous or accurate language, images, rhythm, wit, the satisfaction of recognizing something in fiction that seems fresh and true,” as Francine Prose descriptively writes.

Firstly, the reason for this turn of direction in literature is because the majority of students no longer have a solid and consistent influence of values in their personal lives. Parents should be the foremost instructors of values and morals, yet unfortunately, it is the exact opposite. Teen and college-age students turn to their young peers and society for wisdom, and they are told what they want to hear and to live the way they want. Even the majority of parents who do instruct their children in values at home have little more to offer than the modern “don’t have sex, don’t get pregnant, and don’t do drugs.” Parents, have your expectations for your children become so low that you can only tell what not to do with their lives instead of encouraging them how to live and what to do? Now, literary “moralizers” are forced to do the job of teaching kids about “important issues”. They have lost their satisfaction in admiring the “aesthetic beauty” in literature, and lower famous works such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” into mere “Aesop’s Fables”. By doing this, they have done more than blur their vision of the purpose of literature; they have stained the reputation of the books they teach by lowering their value. In the case of “Huckleberry Finn”, students leave with the mindset that Mark Twain was a racist and how belittling he was to Jim and black people in general. What about the unique and skillful narration and the richness of Huck’s character in comparison to the static Widow Douglas? These are the things at which students should be taught to marvel, learn from, and analyze.

Secondly, if literature’s only function were to teach its readers what values they should hold, and how they should live their lives, what should our expectations be for true literature being written again? Students learn to write from what they read and study. They will not learn to write and express and create and satisfy their own readers if they are not taught to effectively learn from a literary work. If that happened, and students only learned to evaluate the overall “morals” of works, there would be no masterpieces of words to follow the work of authors and poets such as Hemingway, Dickinson, Cummings, and Longfellow. For this reason, literature should be taught primarily to instruct readers how and why they love their books the way they do. They need to be taught, for instance, how skillful diction and syntax are used to manipulate the reader’s emotions and involvement in the story. This is essential for literature to survive.

Lastly, teaching values from literature ultimately won’t have a significant result on the student’s life. It is often quite easy to realize what message a book might have, but to actually impact a student’s life and change the way they live, moral education must be much stronger and pervade the student’s being. It comes from reality and learning what is truly worth treasuring in life.  

It is time for a change in education. It is time that “No Literature be Left Behind” and its true worth of creativity and genius let to rot while its “morals” take center stage. It is time for teachers to teach students how to love literature and understand why mere books can shake the core of a person.  It is time for parents to teach their children how to live upright and moral lives. It is time to realize what is the most important aspect of all literature: childlike amazement and being taken captive by a reality that is pretend.

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Prompt: According to numerous reports, including Reading at Risk, reading is simply not the pastime of choice for many – especially not young people. One way to stimulate interest in books is through Community Reads programs, where a group – for example, an entire city or town – agree to read and discuss a particular book, usually a novel, in such contexts as libraries, PTA meetings, and classrooms. If you have not participated in one of these projects, write an essay explaining why you believe it would or would not be a worthwhile experience for your community.

In the last 20 years, with the birth of the personal computer and consequently the Internet, reading and the value of literature have been pushed aside for the immediate availability and fast-paced river of information channeled at the world. So many people today have forgotten the art of investing in literature. No longer do people sit down to read, and put aside time to get involved in a story. As a result, people have lost out on all the possibilities brought about from reading:  our emotions being drawn in and fed, understanding and relating to characters in a personal way, and the incredible satisfaction we get from reading. Instead, society has taken up a new and more “contemporary” literature: blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, etc. The list goes on and sadly these are the mass of what people eyes scroll across. Especially for students in high school or college, our tendency as 21^st Century humans to read quality material – true literature that makes them think and ponder over and delve inside of – outside of required texts in class, is steadily plummeting. In fact, according a Reading At Risk, a report from the National Endowment of the Arts, from 1982 to 2002, there was a 17% drop in 18-24 year olds who read literature. In this time, it is more important than ever to make sure that our passion for literature as a society, culture, and community is not lost. One way of accomplishing this would be to push for community reading programs, which would teach the value and importance of literature, bring people together, and encourage students to pursue reading literature outside of their schooling. Some of these types of reading communities have already been established and show much fruit.

            Firstly, participation in reading communally would encourage participants to love and value literature. It takes work to read, especially with busy schedules, taking care of children, and tiring work. If we are to reap the benefits of literature though, these steps to reading must be taken. And while the educational system as a whole has tried to show students literature’s value and birth a passion for it in them, more than often it fails in its attempt. Since our education system is designed for the masses instead of focused, personal attention to each student, it is no wonder that students come out of school without any drive to continue reading. Students are force-fed literature in time-crunched conditions, limiting how much of the material can soak in and speak to them, therefore limiting how much they can truly appreciate what they read. Community reading projects would help change this. They would enable people to take their time without the scramble of the next test or essay. Additionally, having support from the reading group would help people stay motivated. A value for literature would be a special fruit from a reading project. People involved would begin to cherish the arts in contrast to our technologically dominated culture – a balance needed for continued growth as a society.

            Secondly, reading projects would unite the community – parent and child, old and young, race to race – by creating an overarching identity for the community. When groups of people come together to accomplish something great, it puts side issues, such as race, generational gaps, and job description into perspective. Instead of judgmental prejudices acting as roadblocks to successfully blending and working together, they would only add to the uniqueness of the community. Also, reading and analyzing literature together would help people see how other’s different life situations, backgrounds, and personalities affect the meaning they find in the various works studied. Although people might seem to be more connected to others than ever before, it is precisely because of this that so many people today are isolated in today’s false cyber-reality. To combat this, reading projects would bring in isolated members of the community and give them real relationships and support. More than anything else, reading together as a community would strengthen people’s friendships, trust, and therefore their ability to work together for the common good.

            Lastly, reading literature as a community would show students the community’s support of what the educational system tries to birth in students: a love and passion for reading.  In her essay I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read, Francine Prose writes:

“Given the dreariness with which literature is taught in many American classrooms, it seems miraculous that any sentient teenager would view reading as a source of pleasure.”

Although Prose’s comment points towards the failings of the American educational system, a weighted part of the failings in the classroom are because of the lack of vision that students have in relation to the opportunities given them in school, especially in English and Literature. These misguided students need motivation and more than that, a great example to follow. If the community at large rallied around them to encourage them to read, students would more willingly rethink the importance of reading, and how much energy they give to it. If the community showed students that they value reading, more students would start to value it as well. The unfortunate problem today is that so many students’ perception is that the educational system doesn’t care about them as individuals; they are led to believe that their education is a jail to hold them back, instead of a highway to propel them on. Even generally, if parents, friends, and the community cared enough about young people’s futures to get actively involved in reading, students will notice and thrive in this positive encouragement.

Community reading projects would serve so many different people in different times of life. They would enhance students’ drive to pursue reading, they would unite communities and give them a sense of identity, and they would inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to read more. Today, many cities have adopted these sorts of programs through local libraries and after-school programs, yet there is a long way to go for the nation’s communities and students to grow in their love of reading.