Someone just sent an e-mail to my office that I've been thinking about all day. It was a mom trying to get someone to back her up in her fight against her daughter's school district. Her daughter is going to be a senior this year and is dealing with her AP English summer reading project. The mother (not the daughter... although the daughter may feel the same way) thinks that the project requires too much work and has too much objectionable content. Granted, she has to read 8 books, which is more than I ever had to do for a summer project, but I highly doubt that she would be complaining if she had started on the project at the beginning of summer instead of 2-3 weeks before school starts. That's not the point though...
The point is this. The girl is a senior in high school. Obviously she's fairly mature for her age or she wouldn't be taking AP English. Do you think that at this point her mother should be that outraged at the situation? I don't, and I'll tell you why, but I'd like to hear your opinions too.
As a whole I'm against parents censoring what their child reads or watches once they get to high school. I think it's counterproductive. When kids are young they should obviously be guided to age appropriate material (because there are definitely some things I didn't need to read when I was in middle school that I'm reading now), but isn't it better to teach them as you guide them? Tell them why you don't want them to read this book or go see that movie. I'm a firm believer that if something is just point-blank vetoed then as soon as kids are out of the house they'll be exposed to it and binge on it (whether that something be smutty novels, violent movies, or even junk food). I'm not saying that parents should encourage their kids to participate in bad things while they live at home just so they won't go out of control when they leave the house, but rather teach them the principles behind your decisions.
I grew up in a very lenient household though. My mom never got involved in my schoolwork to the point where she would object to the assignments once I was in middle school. I'm sure that if I had told her I didn't like what I was reading due to content she would have helped me to find a solution, but I never thought of complaining about it. I'm grateful that my mom didn't step in unnecessarily because it allowed me to be the judge and learn for myself. When my teacher picked a rated R movie to show to the class, I told the teacher I wouldn't watch it even before he sent the permission slips home and then I had to go watch another movie while the class watched that one. I was fine with it. When my friends wanted to go see a movie, it was up to me to decide whether or not I saw it. Yes I saw some awful movies, but I learned from those situations which friends I could trust and what actors to avoid. While I'm not condemning people who put their foot down more than my parents did, I'm also grateful that my parents gave me enough freedom to make those choices for myself.
So what are your thoughts and opinions? Should this mom have gotten involved in the situation (obviously she shouldn't have e-mailed my office, the proper action would have been to talk to the English teacher) or should she have told her daughter to take care of it as she saw fit... whether that meant dropping out of the class, talking to the teacher, or sucking it up and plowing through?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Empire by Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is known for taking an actual story and shaping it into a work of fiction. He continues this trend with his latest book (and arguably his most chilling) Empire. It's a possible future for America... one that hits a little too close to home.
It's one thing to read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake. Sure, they're possible futures for America as well, but they're kind of ridiculous and set far out into the future. They're about what happens when one extremist group takes complete control of society and goes wild. You can read them and still feel safe in your home because you know that the situations presented won't ever happen.
Not so with Empire. It's the scariest book I've read in awhile. Why? Because it's so plausible. Set in a post- "Inconvenient Truth," post-9/11 America Empire tells the tale of an America with no middle ground in politics. In essence, it tells the story of just a few short years from now. It was absolutely terrifying how close to reality this book hit. As we look at the news everything is right-wing vs. left-wing. In reality, very few people are super conservative or super liberal. Sure everyone has their issue or two that they feel really strongly one way or the other about, but in all honesty most people just want the same things. The news stations are always being called out for being slanted one way or another (Fox is for Republicans and CNN is for Democrats), so no one is getting a fair shot with the people they need a fair shot the most with.
What does this all boil down to? What's the message we can take from this novel? More Americans need to get involved with politics. Here in Provo this is a very relevant issue right now as BYU students are demanding a better representation in the city government. The only problem is... most BYU students don't vote in Provo elections... they're registered in their home towns if they're registered at all. I'm not any better though... I'm still not registered to vote despite the fact that I could have registered when I got my new driver's license a month ago.
The number one thing I learned from both the last election and this book is the need to get involved in politics and not just on Nov. 2 every four years. Find out about possible candidates in upcoming elections and vote for your favorite in the primaries. If you don't find a candidate you can really support, nominate someone you will support. Even if you're the only person that votes for that person, you're sending a better message than if you don't vote. If you don't vote people won't ask for your opinion. If you vote for someone other than the names on the ballot then you're sending the message that you care, but you're not seeing the representative you want. Vote in the general election. Demand that your voice be heard among the din of voices. Write to your representatives. This is something that I'm really wanting to become better about. There are a lot of issues that I don't agree with going through Congress right now, so I'm determined to write to my representatives and tell them what kind of behavior I expect from them if I'm going to vote for them in the future.
Long story short. America is headed towards a dangerous future if we don't fight for the things we believe in. You can say all you want about how if we just changed a few laws (such as making election days holidays or always on a Saturday so people aren't working) you'd go vote, but before you can have any say in that, you need to demonstrate that you'll vote in the first place. Let's not let the future Card wrote about happen. I don't want to see our country torn apart by politics like so many other countries have been.
It's one thing to read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake. Sure, they're possible futures for America as well, but they're kind of ridiculous and set far out into the future. They're about what happens when one extremist group takes complete control of society and goes wild. You can read them and still feel safe in your home because you know that the situations presented won't ever happen.
Not so with Empire. It's the scariest book I've read in awhile. Why? Because it's so plausible. Set in a post- "Inconvenient Truth," post-9/11 America Empire tells the tale of an America with no middle ground in politics. In essence, it tells the story of just a few short years from now. It was absolutely terrifying how close to reality this book hit. As we look at the news everything is right-wing vs. left-wing. In reality, very few people are super conservative or super liberal. Sure everyone has their issue or two that they feel really strongly one way or the other about, but in all honesty most people just want the same things. The news stations are always being called out for being slanted one way or another (Fox is for Republicans and CNN is for Democrats), so no one is getting a fair shot with the people they need a fair shot the most with.
What does this all boil down to? What's the message we can take from this novel? More Americans need to get involved with politics. Here in Provo this is a very relevant issue right now as BYU students are demanding a better representation in the city government. The only problem is... most BYU students don't vote in Provo elections... they're registered in their home towns if they're registered at all. I'm not any better though... I'm still not registered to vote despite the fact that I could have registered when I got my new driver's license a month ago.
The number one thing I learned from both the last election and this book is the need to get involved in politics and not just on Nov. 2 every four years. Find out about possible candidates in upcoming elections and vote for your favorite in the primaries. If you don't find a candidate you can really support, nominate someone you will support. Even if you're the only person that votes for that person, you're sending a better message than if you don't vote. If you don't vote people won't ask for your opinion. If you vote for someone other than the names on the ballot then you're sending the message that you care, but you're not seeing the representative you want. Vote in the general election. Demand that your voice be heard among the din of voices. Write to your representatives. This is something that I'm really wanting to become better about. There are a lot of issues that I don't agree with going through Congress right now, so I'm determined to write to my representatives and tell them what kind of behavior I expect from them if I'm going to vote for them in the future.
Long story short. America is headed towards a dangerous future if we don't fight for the things we believe in. You can say all you want about how if we just changed a few laws (such as making election days holidays or always on a Saturday so people aren't working) you'd go vote, but before you can have any say in that, you need to demonstrate that you'll vote in the first place. Let's not let the future Card wrote about happen. I don't want to see our country torn apart by politics like so many other countries have been.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
So this may be hard for some people to believe, but I just read my first Steinbeck novel ever. I know, I know, I know... I'm an English major. Unfortunately, I'm an English major who has yet to have a Steinbeck-fan as a professor. And in high school, the honors classes didn't read him. But considering how many absolute classics he's written, I had to read some of his stuff. And I must tell you, I loved it!
I love the way he writes. He incorporates so much description into the plot line. Instead of introducing the setting and the backgrounds of the characters before setting up the plot, he incorporates it all together. Which is beautiful if you ask me. As much as I love Jane Austen, I must admit that at times her novels are a bit verbose when it comes to descriptions. Not that it's a bad thing, but you can definitely tell a difference in the intended audience between the two time periods.
In Jane Austen's time period, the people reading books were the wealthy who could A) afford a book and B) had the leisure time to read a book. The authors were catering to a class of people who would really savor a book and had plenty of time to read. John Steinbeck on the other hand, was writing for a much more current time period. The average reader was anyone between the people who could afford to buy books during the Great Depression and the people who would borrow books from the library. These books needed more action, because the reader of the time period didn't have as much leisure time. They weren't looking necessarily for a book to take up the countless hours of their day, but rather for a book to relax them after a hard day of work. In other words, they wanted something that moved quicker.
Fast forward now to today. Authors know that for their book to be a bestseller it has to be able to be made into a movie. More detail is being added in, but the story lines are also more complex. Take two writers in particular: John Grisham and Tom Clancy. Their novels, especially their later novels, are designed for action movies. Their chapter breaks align perfectly with jumping back and forth between two story-lines in a movie. Reading the books you feel like you're reading the screen play of a movie.
So now, you have to ask yourself. Do you like the type of novels coming out or would you rather have a higher class of literature to read. Would you like to go back to being the "gentle reader" that earlier authors wrote to. If so there's only one thing you can do... buy books that live up to your standards. Sure the public library is a great place to find new books and read something before you buy it, but if you really love a book buy it. Authors won't continue to write their books just because they're very popular at the library. They need to be a best seller. So if you find a book you love, do an author a favor and go buy it... not second hand either, go to a bookstore and buy a brand new copy. In tha way you can support the authors you love.
I love the way he writes. He incorporates so much description into the plot line. Instead of introducing the setting and the backgrounds of the characters before setting up the plot, he incorporates it all together. Which is beautiful if you ask me. As much as I love Jane Austen, I must admit that at times her novels are a bit verbose when it comes to descriptions. Not that it's a bad thing, but you can definitely tell a difference in the intended audience between the two time periods.
In Jane Austen's time period, the people reading books were the wealthy who could A) afford a book and B) had the leisure time to read a book. The authors were catering to a class of people who would really savor a book and had plenty of time to read. John Steinbeck on the other hand, was writing for a much more current time period. The average reader was anyone between the people who could afford to buy books during the Great Depression and the people who would borrow books from the library. These books needed more action, because the reader of the time period didn't have as much leisure time. They weren't looking necessarily for a book to take up the countless hours of their day, but rather for a book to relax them after a hard day of work. In other words, they wanted something that moved quicker.
Fast forward now to today. Authors know that for their book to be a bestseller it has to be able to be made into a movie. More detail is being added in, but the story lines are also more complex. Take two writers in particular: John Grisham and Tom Clancy. Their novels, especially their later novels, are designed for action movies. Their chapter breaks align perfectly with jumping back and forth between two story-lines in a movie. Reading the books you feel like you're reading the screen play of a movie.
So now, you have to ask yourself. Do you like the type of novels coming out or would you rather have a higher class of literature to read. Would you like to go back to being the "gentle reader" that earlier authors wrote to. If so there's only one thing you can do... buy books that live up to your standards. Sure the public library is a great place to find new books and read something before you buy it, but if you really love a book buy it. Authors won't continue to write their books just because they're very popular at the library. They need to be a best seller. So if you find a book you love, do an author a favor and go buy it... not second hand either, go to a bookstore and buy a brand new copy. In tha way you can support the authors you love.
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