A Canon Under Fire
To understand literature, students must explore it by reading, thinking, and writing about it. According to the editors of Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama :
Through the weave of literary works and literary voices, students comprehend what a human enterprise literature is – the work of talented individuals like themselves. Not only do students explore what and how literature means – interpretation and analysis – but also two fundamental questions about it: How is it made, and how is it related to us?
“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, “I Like Guys” by David Sedaris (which is also a chapter in his book Naked), “Survivor Type” by Stephen King, and “The Crack Cocaine Diet” by Laura Lippman were four stories included on the reading list of an elective English course offered to upperclassmen at Campbell High School in Litchfield, New Hampshire.
They are no longer on that list.
After objections were made by a group of parents, which were then supported by the school’s superintendant, a school board meeting was called and the stories were pulled.
The parents are upset over the content of the stories which include: abortion, homosexuality, drug use, murder, and rape. (Insert obligatory comment regarding the content of several of Shakespeare’s works here.)
The department head approved these stories as she felt they were not only relevant, but would engage the student in a way classic literature could not. She and the teacher of the course understand “the importance of literature as a means to prompt meaningful discussion about many issues, similar to our prior discussion of mental health, racial equality, and the Holocaust.”
Remember, this is an elective. Since it is optional, it would make sense that the required English courses already have the students reading the classics.
These stories were not meant to be read alone. Through reading and then discussing them, students would learn the mechanics of literature and more. They would be asked to to find meaning not only in the story but how it was constructed. How the author used his or her skills in developing a piece of work that engages the reader, making them think about what they are reading, to question the characters decisions, reactions; to learn from what they do right, and what they do wrong.
The double-edged sword of diligence
As a parent, I kept up with what my son was reading in high school. If I disagreed with a book (and this only happened once), it was usually on the grounds that he was asked to read something far above his level. He wasn’t enrolled in an AP/Honors class, so I saw no need in him being assigned a book like The Iliad. It only fueled his belief that literature was old, boring, and assigned by teachers who couldn’t bother to develop a different curriculum for each of her classes. (Regular versus AP or Honors). Yes the discussions differed, as did the test questions. But that wasn’t the point. My son was almost completely turned off of thinking literature could be enjoyed. Luckily having an avid bibliophile like his mother and grandmother around, this crisis was averted.
I do believe parents should be diligent about what their children are doing in school. However, to the extent of the effect they had in New Hampshire: the pulling of several short stories and the eventual resignation of a well respected and loved department head – well, this goes too far.
As a result, a panel will be put together made of of parents, students, teachers, and administrators to help determine future reading lists. But this doesn’t detract from the fall-out of the reactionary attitude of the superintendant who, without much thought, threw a fellow educator under the bus and force Litchfield into the limelight – and not a very flattering one at that.
After learning about this story, I did some research and found an article that makes some excellent points. I don’t agree with all of them, but it is clear headed, and looks at the issue from an angle I think that panel in New Hampshire should take into account.
In, “Stories by David Sedaris, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, & Laura Lippman banned from English Class”, Michelle Kerns gets right to the heart of the matter:
“What is the purpose of high school English classes?
I would add, or clarify the above by adding: What curricula best suits regular English classes, AP/Honors classes, or electives.
There is a big difference between courses that are required, those that are optional, and advanced placement classes which are geared towards those students wanting to be better prepared for college.
In the New Hampshire dust-up, the course in question is an elective: optional. I bring this up, as optional courses are just that, and reading lists for these courses should reflect a selection not found in those that are required.
In her article, Kerns states reading and writing is an art. But they are more – much more. They are tools to a better understanding of culture and the world around us, which is made up of more than just the canon set forth by a generation that obviously doesn’t have the pulse of the current one.
I am not saying that works by Shakespeare, Steinbeck, or Fitzgerald should be shelved and left to collect dust. But that works by Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, Flannery O’Connor, and others can engage the student with more relevant themes.
The editors in their introduction to Literature and Its Writers, explain:
We read stories, poems, and plays for many reasons. When you allow yourself to become fully immersed in an author’s words and ideas, you can bring to life an imaginary world that can tell you something about your own everyday reality. As a student of literature, you will find that the stories, poems , and plays…will often enable you to view life with a new clarity as you relate what you have read to your own experience.
In looking at the stories pulled, I see one in particular that is referred to, or included in many anthologies about reading and writing: “Hills Like White Elephants” by Hemingway. This work not only epitomizes his skill in developing a plot through dialogue, the story teaches writers (and readers) about the power of subtext. Hemingway’s story is an excellent example of both these aspects of dialogue and plot.
Here is where I disagree with Kerns. She states, quite vehemently:
But do I think the short stories used in the Chapman High School curriculum were the most appropriate examples to use from the talented authors? No. Do I think that there should be much MORE attention paid to classic authors in a high school English class? Yes. Do I think that the Chapman High School English classes were being hijacked by an agenda that did NOT include proficiency in English literature? Oh, hell, yes.
Uh. No. Hemingway’s story IS an appropriate example to use. As for the other stories, I will concede that better ones can be found. And yes, classic authors should be studied. However it should be recognized that there are contemporary authors who cover the same themes just as well, if not better.
And how is it that you can say, without being part of the class discussion in which the teacher helps the student connect the thematic and literary dots, that there is no way they were becoming more proficient in English literature? Oh, yes, that ‘canon’ thing. That very ideology that nearly ensured my son’s permanent distaste for reading.
Hijacked by an agenda?
It is this contention that has fueled the uproar more than any other: not the banning of the stories, not even their content or appropriateness. As Kerns pointed out earlier in her piece, “The only portion of this story that will be bandied about…will be whether or not parents should have the right to have literature that does not line up with their personal belief systems banned from high school classes.” The parents who objected did in fact raise the “agenda” banner, waving it about to get attention and prove their point. This fits in with Kerns assertion that “ANY English class that is diluted by a political or social science agenda is going to suffer…The end result will be high school graduates that go tripping off to college lacking the English literature foundation they sorely need.”
So if isn’t considered a classic, then it has no place in high school? They can wait to read that relevant contemporary stuff in college?
Well, by then it’s too late. We aren’t talking merely about teaching them literature as we are trying to instill in them that reading is good. It’s entertaining, enlightening, and thought-provoking. It will take you places and show you things you may never be exposed to otherwise. Writing about it will further this process, as well as teach one the finer points of interpretation and expression of one’s ideas and opinions.
So what is the answer?
There is no clear cut answer, no cookie cutter way of pleasing everyone, everywhere, every time. Parents do need to be involved in their child’s education. That is a given. However, a school board should never have subjugated themselves in such a fashion. It sets a precedence for those in the ideological majority believing they are justified in taking away the choices of those in the minority.
Upperclassmen curricula should take into account whether or not the course is required, upper level (AP), or an elective. There cannot be one set of standards for all English classes. Elective reading lists should be developed by educators working with parents and students. It must be made readily available.
The Western canon is that which many required classes should look to for guidance, however, it fails to offer a wider point of view that is necessary to understand our ever increasing diversity. In looking at the current canon, it is deficient in that regard. If students are truly supposed to be prepared for the world, and college, then greater attention must be paid to contemporary writers and themes.
Sounds like an agenda, doesn’t it? And perhaps it is.
But I would rather have one that builds a better person, as it does a reader and a writer, than simply an automaton full of knowledge and little appreciation for the reality of the human condition.
Articles and Resources:
- Stories by David Sedaris, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, & Laura Lippman banned from English class by Michelle Kerns
- Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama edited by Ann Charters and Samuel Charters
- Top English Teacher Leaving Campbell by Albert McKeon, Nashua Telegraph
- Board To Review List of Stories After Uproar by Joseph G. Cote. Nashua Telegraph
This is a wonderfully eloquent response Nick. Thank you so much for showing us a students perspective and the effect a teacher, and the curricula, had on you.
1I was a student of a fantastic AP english program. I also took several elective literature courses. The fact is that high schoolers are very near to adulthood, and if we continue to treat them as overgrown children, we can be hardly surprised when they act accordingly.
The first poem we read in my poetry class was “Uneasy Rider” by Diane Wakoski. The instructor calmly asked us what we thought it was about, and everyone sheepishly kept silent. She asked again, and still no one answered. She then pounded on the table to each syllable, belting, “IT’S ABOUT FUCK-ING. WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE ABOUT? Honestly, there’s no way we’ll be able to have an honest discussion about modern literature if you won’t grow up and talk about it. This is life.” It changed my life. Yeah, she could have been fired over it, but she took that risk to broaden our horizons.
When I grew up, I became a teacher myself, and I remembered how important those risks are to opening up the minds of developing children, whether I have to risk a dicey discussion of world religions in a peace education course for fourth graders, or the origins of the earth in a science class, or talk about sex to teenagers who are already having it. Children grow up whether we want them to or not; if we insist on narrowing their worldviews to comfortably fit within our own, we can’t complain when we get scientists who can’t think, artists who can’t express themselves, and writers that can’t write.
It’s time we realize as a society that progress happens at frontiers. Frontiers are often uncomfortable places, but if we never let our children go there, we do them more hurt than exploration ever could.
2Not at all. I am immensely flattered!
3I stumbled this essay. Hope you don’t mind.
4Absolutely brilliant essay, J.C. When we were discussing this on Twitter, I knew you would say what I would want to say as well. You take the words out of my mouth and then make them even more meaningful. You are a great writer.
I am still in disbelief and utterly repulsed by this situation. The banning of books and the absolute closed minded foolery of some people is enough to make me shake. I just cannot imagine why these parents are not intelligent enough to either a) pull their child from this ELECTIVE class, or b) discuss with their children their objections to the book and to be INVOLVED with the assignments so their points will be made clear with their students, thus eliminating all of this nonsense for everyone else.
I would be very interested to see research that studied the correlation between IQ and wanting to ban and challenge books. I am sure you can guess what I think the results will indicate.
5It’s things like this that make me very happy I don’t teach high school.
I particularly like the statement about school boards shouldn’t be browbeaten by parents into changing the curriculum. Unfortunately, I really think the parents are getting VERY involved in high school curriculum, and as result students are learning practically nothing. I know my brother, who’s a sophomore in high school, spends most of English class watching books based on movies, and has never brought a single book home to read. Now that’s enough to make a person weep.
6Wow. As an English teacher, who teaches both AP courses and regular courses, I have to say that the scenario your post centers on is not foreign to me. Every year I have a student who is either not allowed to read one of the pieces I’ve selected, or whose parents ask for a lengthy explanation behind its validity. I know, it’s my job, so I readily do my best to accommodate. A lot of times, the “canon” or “classics” are taught as a way of setting a literary foundation so that students see the progression that American and British literature have undergone. It’s HARD work, but there are definitely ways of drawing students into the canon so that they find personal connections, and ways of seeing the reasons a piece might have endured for so long. No, we don’t stick just to the oldies, but it’s funny how you’re “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” If you do teach them, people want you to teach more “relevant,” contemporary pieces. If you don’t teach them, people feel that you haven’t adequately exposed students to the foundation pieces of that curriculum. It’s a hard line to walk, and I know that with each year, I try to mix things up, and take away the best…tossing the worst! Who would have thought that my students would love what I had them do with Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (all read in class as a performance), and hate the contemporary short stories I shared with them out of Asia? In the end, I take responsibility, and have reevaluated my unit plans.
I really think that teachers need to already have a plan in place for possible accommodations, where they have to give a student another option. I also think though, that parents should get a global view behind why a novel is being taught before demanding it not be taught at all. If someone flat out told me that I couldn’t teach something, I’d be pretty gutted, because I wouldn’t have put it in place if I hadn’t thought through how I wanted to use it! Just this year I had a mother who refused to allow her daughter to read Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, on the grounds that it’s “dirty,” and that women don’t feel that way. Because it was an AP course, I couldn’t excuse her from the novel, but gave her some alternatives. The funny thing is though, that her banning from this book caused a real stir in my other classes, and we had several days of in-depth conversations about expectations we place on wife, mothers, and women. The conversations were fantastic, AND that test ended up being on the AP exam! By the way, to the first comment, please be aware that many AP programs are trying to grade students NOT according to where they will score on the AP exam, but on their progression across a hard, rigorous curriculum. I have no doubt that I probably have students that scored an A-/B+ in my class who probably showed up on the day of the test and didn’t pass. Do I feel those students are prepared for college? Absolutely. The difference…they didn’t get credit and will be taking literature courses rather than jumping ahead. In my opinion, high school students are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to the the AP Literature Exam, as they don’t have the brain development and life experience to really “get” it. That’s a hard test, and we go into it with a full understanding that they have a lot they have to do to prepare for that test. I think it’s pretty unfair to say, “Ok. You did all the assignments, read all the pieces, but can’t intellectually understand the plight of an unhappily married wife and mother, so I’m going to dock your grade.” We give them the skills to get there, but they can’t all wrap their heads around it, and I can’t just fail them. Most of my students work their tails off, and do all they can to pull a high B, high A in AP, but still might not pass the test. We do our best, but that’s the nature of using a test to quantify what a student knows. Honestly, I don’t give A+, but can say that there will be some students that will not do well on the test, even after all we’ve done to prepare them. Listen, I get what you’re saying, and I don’t think kids are better prepared for college, because very few of them are motivated. To that end, I have my opinions (need more integration of technology and possible splitting of schools according to skill), but watered down curriculum comes as much from outside pressure as it does to a teacher’s lack. Sometimes, as with the situation created in the article, a teacher feels defeated and does whatever makes parents, students, and administrators off their case. Is that good? No, but I see why it happens. Thankfully, it’s not happening for all of us.
In the end, there should obviously be differences in expectations and curriculum for the different types of classes. Communication between all involved, and some accommodations in place “just in case,” would probably have solved a lot of the bad scenarios presented.
7First off, fascinating stuff. I have my own personal problems with censoring, etc. that stories like these get me particularly angry but that rant is especially long and I won’t get into it now. I definitely agree with you that the curriculum for AP English vs. lower level English should be different, particularly when one takes into account the fact that students going to AP English probably like and appreciate reading a lot more than those taking the normal, lower levels. And that AP is supposed to be equivalent to college level… meaning it should probably be a whole lot more in depth, critical and difficult.
I think the middle is the king’s way. Teach plenty of good, cool classics to get kids interested in reading (I’m thinking “The Count of Monte Cristo”, which my class was lucky enough to read in ninth grade, albeit abridged) alongside some great modern fiction and you’ve got a diverse curriculum that provides that “literary basis” people are looking for. If teachers pick wisely and don’t teach pretentiously, students can easily emerge readers. In an AP class, there’s no doubt about it that students should be exposed to a wide variety of writing. Not all should necessarily be “classic”.
8I think parents sometimes forget the differences between required, elective, and AP classes. There’s needs to be a mixture of both classic and modern texts. We want students to read for pleasure also, not just for class.
9Great post!
My daughter is 11, and right now, I do concern myself with the content of what she reads. I would hope that by the time she’s 16, she will have the ability to judge for herself what is appropriate for her to read.
If she was to object to the content of a course she was taking, I’d expect her to talk to the teacher/administration, and I’d back her up entirely. That decision would be hers, not mine.
I’d hope by that point, she’ll be ready to look at the stories described here.
10I agree! And, btw, great new site. Love it!
11Great essay. I whole heartedly agree.
Most AP classes these days are watered down (I am speaking as an ex admissions person now)–they are supposed to be college level and not basic stuff (you have no idea how many times a kid gets an “A+” in the class by the teacher only to get a “1″ on the exam). Not exposing kids to all forms of literature only does them a disservice.
If these stories were given to a freshman, required class–then I could understand the hoopla. I, personally, read some of these stories when I was in middles school. I would not be surprised if the kids in question have already gone out and obtained these stories on their own.
It would be my reaction to such hoopla.
Oops. I am rambling.
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