October 28, 2007
· Filed under Books, Teaching
My 11th grade American Literature students just finished The Scarlet Letter. Overall, I would say that they didn’t enjoy it. The language obscured the meaning for them, and I would compensate for this with in-depth class discussions. They were slightly taken in by the scandalous love affair. I read it in high school, but as I approached the book 10 years later as a teacher, I had no expectations, no memories, and no real associations with the book. At the tail end of teaching it, I can say assuredly that I loved the book this time around. Reading it as an adult was a much more meaningful experience than when I had read it in high school. I’ve found this concept to be true many a time while teaching, and while it makes my job more fulfilling and exciting for me, it also leaves me with a somewhat defeatist attitude in terms of what I’m actually bestowing upon my students. Here’s my logic: I don’t remember much of what I learned in high school–I feel that it is only as a result of teaching that I’ve been forced to internalize the ideas and knowledge that I must have only committed to short term memory in high school. So if this is my case, I assume that this will be the case for my students, and this line of thinking is discouraging. I find some semblance of peace in the refuge of this thought: While they may not remember exactly what they learned or what a book was about, I’m involved in training their brains in how to learn, and how to think critically.
So if any of you read The Scarlet Letter in high school and hated it or don’t remember it, may I suggest revisiting it as an adult.
October 14, 2007
· Filed under God, Quotes, Social Justice, The Presidential Election
I work in the kind of Christian environment where Hillary is a bad word and if your main source of news isn’t Fox News, then you best stay out of a conversation because no one will listen to you. Beyond work though, I typically find myself surrounded by Christians who are more willing to think beyond the Christian Right agenda. I was thus encouraged today to find–in a Christian bookstore– a relatively well known Christan magazine that’s popular amongst teens and young adults that had a quote said by Barack Obama.
“But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian right, all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans are only about issues like abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, and intelligent design….There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.”
quoted from Relevant Magazine.
Just to clarify, this is not a political endorsement on my part for Obama– although I may end up voting for him. It was dignifying to have him acknowledge that Christians do have other concerns beyond the few we are often associated with. We’re concerned about the war and poverty and caring for the elderly and providing health care to the underprivileged and civil rights. I personally would like to move beyond the suffocating assumption that if you’re Christian, then you must be Republican. It’s not so black and white, and more importantly, we must be careful to not put an inappropriate amount of hope in a political party to bring about the change the church wants to see in the world.
P.S. It has been maddening to see all those tax cuts that Bush has made for the richest of the rich.
