Literary Quality

This is an interesting term to attempt to define and seems, at best, flexible. I mean sometimes the books that we expect to hold to certain standards surprise us in the way that they avoid and elude those standards. I love books that think outside of the box in terms of story and style; they take a plot that seems unlikely but entertains us through creativity. Much like my point about good fantasy being the proper escape from reality; sometimes good literature can be the proper escape from standard formats. I do think though, that a piece of literary quality has a compelling story that is told in a clear voice (another way is to have multiple voices that are so distinctintly interesting that just one clear voice would seem silly). There must be a setting that we can see, or feel, or want to see and feel. I also think that the literary quality often revolves around a character-driven story. Certainly, a lot of books get by on a clever or creative plot; but we resonate with the character and their experiences more than we do with a plot. Thus, I think a good book contains some of these things and always, always, always... a quality piece of literature transports me. To its time and place; or its line of thinking; or any number of other possibilities. If I am completely the same after reading it; why should I have read it at all?

Three is Me, Im three-- Bookhenge entry

I have to admit that my professional self has very limited experience. I am certainly engaging in many of the topics that are listed above here; curriculum, social justice, critical literacy, and creativity… However, I have no classroom and am only taking part in the theory side of this process up to date. The closest example of me as an actual “teacher” is the bible study I have led at Riverside High School for the last two years. I found this to be a useful example in my other graduate school classes when we talked about certain reading techniques that teachers employ; as I used many of them for teaching the bible to high school students. My goal is to continually prepare my “professional” self by every means available to me. I don’t just want to hit the classrooms as an enthusiastic teacher that has his positive attitude bubble burst because he wasn’t prepared for the many challenges that face teachers every day. I want to use these classes and all the technology and information outside of these classes to equip myself for the task that is ahead.

I know that the literate self requires one to responsibly immerse in literature, both that we like and that young adults of our age like. I feel like I have done just that with regularity in the past years. People talk about how graduate school can be stressful, and you’re working harder, but I feel as if I’ve never read more in my life. At every chance, I have been diving into novels. Most recently, I read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, and before that I re-read several Harry Potter books. Believe it or not, I even read the entire Twilight series. The lore behind it is strikingly rich in how it strays from typical vampire lore, and yet that isn’t exactly why most “young adults” are enjoying the series. My literate self is constantly trying to find new and intriguing reads (whether this is based off my own interests, the suggestions of friends, or the suggestions of the general public). In spite of these efforts, my literate self is also consistently surprised by what is out there and by how little I have actually been able to read! My goal in this class is to continue adapting my style to teaching the literature that I love. It is a simple task for me to read and soak in a great novel, but how do I share it with others? I certainly have friends that ask me about books and will bring out my opinions, and those are enriching experiences. However, it is my goal in this classroom to meet others who want the same kind of feedback and are willing to constantly challenge my literate self to not rest in stagnancy.

The virtual self is particularly interesting to me. While I feel particularly available in the virtual world, it became quite clear that I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the technology that teachers out there seem to be using! I use facebook for a number of things, have played MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft, and even enjoy tweeting. This is also a field that has been particularly aided by my love for video games growing up. My brothers and I were hooked on an MMORPG called Asheron’s Call when we were in middle school. We also ran a guild together in the much more modern World of Warcraft. These games teach a number of modern skills and require a large amount of preparation and organization when you reach end-game content. The result was that I learned valuable skills while simultaneously growing to love fantasy even more. Every dungeon has a new story behind it. However, I have done very little research or implementation with these worlds and education. I see them as avenues to network and enjoy myself, but it makes perfect sense that these convenient technologies could enhance the learning experience. I can’t wait to find out more about this.

Upon reflecting over what I’ve written, I noticed that it feels as if my life has been a long preparation for teaching English. I love to read and I love to write and a long time ago I did that without the knowledge that one day I would be teaching it to others. I think I want to continually have that initial sense of wonder, where I read and write for myself and as a means of enjoyment. But I also realize now how I have to mingle that initial approach with one that hones my ability to pass this sense of wonder to others. I have to find ways to share this and to inspire young adults to find the things that are worth seeing in what I already love. Sounds fun.

Alterations

Language_Today Language Today

by Writing_Today

A new edition of Huck Finn substitutes "slave" for the n-word -- NYTimes Room for Debaters are mostly appalled: http://nyti.ms/ekBe0L

 

This is the tweet, and coinciding article, that I chose to do a journal entry on. My first thought was this: What if I wrote a book? I wrote it meticulously, I combed through every sentence, I chose every word. Some of my best writing involves such a process. I get to a point where I have read and reread certain sentences so often that I have certain paragraphs committed to memory. If I am taking that time to pick out my words, how would I react if someone went in and change 219 of them. I think Twain, who knew a thing or two about society and about the craft of writing, chose the words he used with care. And he knew the art of getting a rise out of people through his writing. I can understand hopefully altering an old text so that people who might not have gotten anything out of it just might. People who might have been offended, will look at the text with new eyes and learn the lessons Twain intended them to learn. However, from a writer's standpoint I cannot help but feel undermined. I would hate to see my work changed in this way, but would Twain have hated it? I am not sure. I bet his tweet or blog entry would be far more capable of addressing this issue. For now, I'll leave the actual conclusion up in the air.