Weighing Words
Posted by Mr. Tanski on September 4, 2008
Our American Literature & Composition class is wrestling with deciding whether or not reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a worthwhile and meaningful academic endeavor.
As a recap, here’s what we’ve done so far.
We’ve read a summary of the book.
We’ve gathered some additional information about the book and why it was and remains popular.
Now we are considering multiple perspectives:
- A Washington Post opinion article ”We’re Teaching Books That Don’t Stack Up” by Nancy Schnog
- An English teacher’s blog post
- Amazon reviews
- Barnes & Noble reviews
Finally, here’s what the State of Colorado says in its Reading & Writing Standard 6
- Standard 6: Students read and recognize literature as a record of human experience. In order to meet this standard, students will
- know and use literary terminology;
- read literature to investigate common issues and interests;
- read literature to understand places, people, events, and vocabulary, both familiar and unfamiliar;
- read literature that reflects the uniqueness and integrity of the American experience;
- read classic and contemporary literature, representing various cultural and ethnic traditions from throughout the world; and
- read classic and contemporary literature of the United States about the experiences and traditions of diverse ethnic groups.
- Rationale
- Literature records human expression in such forms as speeches, poems, novels, stories, nonfiction, essays, plays, films, biographies, and autobiographies by male and female speakers and writers. The study of literary traditions offers a perspective on enduring questions, a glimpse into human motives and conflicts, and a sense of the beauty and power of spoken and written language. In addition, literature transmits and transforms culture; it also enables students to think, communicate, and participate in society. The study of literature and writers of the United States honors the heritage and cultures of all people who live or have lived in America, and it thus helps students develop an understanding of our national experience. A comprehensive literature program fosters habits of reading that carry over into adult life.
- GRADES 9-12 -As students in grades 9-12 extend their knowledge, what they know and are able to do includes
- reading, responding to, and discussing novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, content-area and technical material, plays, essays, and speeches;
- using literary terminology accurately, such as theme, mood, diction, idiom, perspective, style, and point of view;
- identifying recurrent themes in United States literature; and
- developing and supporting a thesis about the craft and significance of particular works of literature, both classic and contemporary, from a variety of ethnic writers. For students extending their English/Language Arts education beyond the standards, what they know and are able to do may include
- comparing and contrasting stories, novels, poems, and other forms of literature from different countries, time periods, or cultures;
- using novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, autobiographies, plays, essays, speeches, literary criticisms and analyses, and any other literature to explore academic, personal, or career issues; and
- understanding the common themes in the literature of the United States and in world literature.
Now here’s the challenge: Take into account your personal thoughts about the book from your last posting. Consider the messages of the Washington Post article and the blog entry from the Colorado teacher. Combine those with the reviews you read on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and factor in Standard 6 from the State of Colorado. Reply with a comment to this entry in answer to this question: Is reading The Scarlet Letter a a worthwhile and meaningful academic endeavor for this class?
In forming your initial response make sure you reference all the contributing perspectives as well as any you may have run across. Your responses are available to the world, so represent yourself well by using the proper writing conventions. You may get responses from others around Colorado or the world, but we’ll start with replying to the replies of at least two of your classmates.
Also, your answer here will form the kernel of your own blog post where you will address one of these statements (more on that in class later, though),
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Why we need to read The Scarlet Letter.
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Why we don’t need to read The Scarlet Letter.
Posted in American Lit & Comp | Tagged: American Lit & Comp, American Literature & Composition, Colorado Model Content Standards, The Scarlet Letter, The Washington Post | 7 Comments »
