Ok, I have to be honest-- I did not enjoy reading Twilight one bit. I continually had to force myself to keep reading. I found it to be tripe nonsense with simple vocabulary and boring plot lines. Now, does that mean that I would discourage my adolescent students from reading it? No, of course not... unless I knew that my student was a voracious reader with an excellent vocabulary... then I might encourage them to read something a little bit more challenging. My theory is that as long as a student is reading something then I am happy, but it would be difficult to be "thrilled" to see my students reading this. I would never (I know, "never say never", but I think I mean it this time) use this book in my adolescent literature curriculum. I don't even think it would be a book that I would include in my classroom library. In short-- NOT A FAN!
I did, however, thoroughly enjoy reading the NCTE Guideline on The Students' Right to Read. This is an issue that I am quite passionate about, so I was quite happy to see the NCTE's stance on the matter of censorship. The article did an excellent job of summing up my thoughts on the matter, but I think that Justice William Douglas from the Supreme Court said it best in the case of Adler v. Board of Education in 1951:
"Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there can be no exercise of the free intellect... A problem can no longer be pursued with impunity to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a stimulant to adventurous thinking; she becomes instead a pipe line for safe and sound information. A deadening dogma takes the place of free inquiry. Instruction tends to become sterile; pursuit of knowledge is discouraged; discussion often leaves off where it should begin."
I couldn't have said it better myself....
What Do You Mean No More Books?!?!
13 years ago
Leah, I must admit that I am in complete agreement with you regarding "Twilight," I'll be curious to see if any of your classmate's took a different stance regarding the text. Even the journal article from the English Journal did little to persuade my views on the book's garrish, tweenie writing. But I must ask myself, as a teacher of adolescents, what is the appeal? Why do so many of our students plow through these texts? I'm feeling a bit left out of the entire "sensation." How do we acknowledge (or do we?) these popular texts in our own classrooms?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Shannon - appeal is a big part of drawing young readers in, as is peer pressure. If all of their little friends are reading Twilight, they will too. I use Twilight as a way to converse about literature with my students. If they can identify literary elements in the text and tell me about the plot, I'm a happy teacher. I don't use it beyond that.
ReplyDeleteMy book review book talked about censorship and the dangers that come with it. He talked about a situation in Michigan where "Huckleberry Finn" was banned because it was racist. Even though it was later added back in, the effects were lasting. Teachers started focusing on "safe" books because they were worried that it would happen again. Self-Censorship can be just as debilitating as its counterpart.
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