Learning From Jane Austen

Let's face it - readers in the twenty-first century have some fascination with the novels of Jane Austen that goes beyond a common sense (and sensibility) understanding.  There's just something about Jane that resonates with readers and consumers in an age markedly different than the world of Elizabeth, Emma, and the like.  Then again, perhaps we're not so different.  For, at their heart the stories of the Bennet sisters and Emma are really the stories of what it means to be human.  That is the essence of a great new critical look from writer Adelle Waldmen in her piece "I Read Everything Jane Austen Wrote, Several Times" for Slate Magazine.  Waldmen has actually written several interesting commentaries about the works of Austen, and her insight may be of use to the contemporary English teacher who seeks to connect the students of today with the lives and loves of those past.

Novels That Capture the 2000s

A history teacher at my school was recently looking for a book that "defines or represents the 2000s" the way that Gatsby does the 1920s.  In thinking about it, I considered a few that have been considered indicative of the times.  Notably the work of Jonathan Franzen has "bookended" the decade with The Corrections in 2000 and Freedom on 2012.  He would probably be the one most often credited with capturing the decade.

We could also mention the work of Tom Wolfe who captured the 1980s with Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990s with A Man in Full, and the 2000s with I am Charlotte Simmons in 2006 andBack to Blood in 2012.  Back to Blood is about immigration and Charlotte is about a college freshman whose eyes are opened by her experience at a college and world far more liberal than she.

From my own view, I think TC Boyle is a great contemporary writer, but I don't know if he captures the 2000s exactly.  One interesting work recently is a satire by Jess Walter called The Financial Lives of Poets, published in 2010.  It is considered to be the first book written about the effects of the crash of 2008.  And, of course, Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the first to directly take on the 9/11 tragedy.

New Common App Essay Prompts

The Common App has new guidelines and essay questions/options for the 2013-14 school year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/08/common-application-changes-college-essays-for-2013-14/

The new questions are:

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

More Vocabulary Instruction

Prior knowledge and a broad vocabulary are the keys to effective reading and English skills.  As a result, the role of vocabulary acquisition cannot be underestimated in the English classroom, from kindergarten to graduate school.  Some studies estimate that lower income children enter school with a word recognition vocabulary that can be as much as 10,000 fewer words than middle and upper income kids.  Realistically, on a usage level middle and upper income kids use know and use 3000-5000 more words than others.  And that is a huge part of the story of the achievement gap.

Now, as the Common Core approaches, and literacy moves to the top of the agenda with its added - and necessary - emphasis in the content areas like social studies, science, and the arts, the role of vocabulary instruction is of paramount importance.  A new round of studies indicate "Students Must Learn More Words" in order to be successful in school.  This is certainly not news to people like E.D. Hirsch or Dan Willingham of the Core Knowledge movement.  They know - and can support with decades of research - that "the more you know, the more you can learn."  From word walls to word games to sophisticated literary offerings, lessons designed around vocabulary acquisition are integral to a successful education and any intent to close the achievement gap.

A plethora of vocabulary instruction manuals are out there these days, but Word Nerds, a new offering from Stenhouse Publishing might be worth looking at.  Any new ideas on improving vocabulary for an increasingly dys-fluent population are to be appreciated and developed.

Ayn Rand's Anthem - Middle or High School?

Rigor is defined by some teachers as the amount of homework or the expectation of daily quizzes.  Others believe it is related to the quality of the materials studied and the level of sophistication in the text.  As I deal with discussions of appropriate - and appropriately rigorous - texts for high school students, I am struggling with my feelings toward Ayn Rand's Anthem.  While this dystopian novel has been taught at both the middle and high school level, I feel the simplicity of the text and the overly transparent nature of the theme and message make it far more appropriate for a early middle school.  It's more like Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 or Lois Lowry's The Giver, than it is Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World.  Of course, the Ayn Rand Foundation offers Anthem as the freshman and sophomore book choice for its essay contest each year, but I don't think I'll base my ideas about pedagogy on their recommendations.  Obviously, Rand wrote this book geared toward children as a way of contributing to the dystopian genre - and offering her own indoctrination.  The book is, after all, roughly one hundred pages.  And, it begins with sentences like "It is a sin to write this.  It is a sin to think words no other think ..."  That just doesn't sound like a high school text to me - and if it is, that may be part of the problem in public education.

Humorous Newspaper Headlines for Classroom Use

Over the years, late night hosts like David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Jimmy Kimmel have made light of silly or absurd signs and newspaper headlines.  Often, these mistakes in use of language have great lessons on syntax, punctuation, and word choice for students.  Occasionally, I will pull out a list of these humorous headlines as a fun class activity to begin or end the day.  Some of my favorites are:

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case

Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

Teachers Strike Idle Kids

Clinton Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead

Miners Refuse to Work After Death

Stolen Painting Found By Tree

2 Sisters Reunited After 18 Years in Checkout Line

Killer Sentenced to Die for 2nd Time in 10 Years

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

Arson Suspect Held in Fire

Hospitals Sued by Seven Foot Doctors

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

Creepiness Factor in Brave New World

Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World is one of the most significant and alluded to literary works of the contemporary era.  Huxley's satire of a technology and consumerism is a powerful reminder of the fragile nature of individuality in a world of increasing control by both business and government.  As such it is commonly taught in many high schools, and it remains a popular work with teachers and with students.  However, it is a creepy novel to say the least, and teachers should make certain to handle it delicately and professionally with an eye for potentially uncomfortable situations in the classroom.

The most obvious and potentially creepiest component of the novel is the hyper-sexualized nature of the World State. With a society containing such standards as "erotic play" for young children and an "Orgy-Porgy" of sexual hysteria at the culmination of the society's "religious" service, teachers must prepare students for these potentially awkward and confusing references.  Arguably, this book is more well suited for the high school level, and most aptly at the upper levels.  However, my school has taught this work at the honors freshman level for years with little conflict.  The key is preparation.

Contemporary teens are not aloof to the hypersexualized nature of their own world, and thus can most likely handle Huxley's satirizing of it.  But it doesn't hurt to prepare them for it.  In doing so, I spend the  introductory day telling the kids "this is a creepy novel."  In referencing it as satire, I introduce the terms horation and juvenalian to prepare them for the dark sinister side of satire.  It's helpful to give them some examples of a dark satire - I like explaining some elements of the movie Fight Club.  The scene where Tyler Durden explains making soap from the fat in a liposuction clinic is a pretty vidid one, and they get it.  Students should also know the terms "erotic play" and "Orgy-Porgy" before they encounter them in the text.

Brave New World is undoubtedly a great piece of literature and a significant one for any study of literature.  But it is creepy, and students need to be prepared for that.