Creative Writing and Good Reading... What we are doing in class

This cold/rainy/dreary weather pattern could stop anytime now. Yes, I fully enjoyed the handful of sunny and warm days last week, but seriously-- this dampness is depressing. We had to use the pellet stove last night and this morning because 41 and rainy is just dismal. Meg's middle school game got called for rain mid-first inning. Those poor kids have only had three games this whole season, and it's almost over. 

And I'm tired of sweaters. Today's "secret teacher dress day" has a theme of monochromatic. The only color I have for both pants and tops is black. I'm going to look rather dismal myself. But it's a fun little morale thing started by one of the more fun teachers, so I try to participate. And the bonus is that I can wear a sweater I forgot I'd bought last fall. At least it's not one of the usual rotation. 

Good stuff: my creative writing kids (all three of them) and I have been having a barrel of fun. They loved reading The Iliad (aloud! in verse!), Beowulf (aloud! in verse!), and now we are cruising through The Tempest (aloud, in parts!)-- these are great kids, and I get to have two of them back again next year for not only creative writing (again), but also for the new senior AP/DC class which will officially be AP Lit but will also be the college course Writing about Literature. We were literally guffawing in Act II when Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban are getting drunk and silly-- these kids hammed it up. It's not easy to read a full play with only four readers to share all the parts, but we are, and it's amazing how well they read aloud. That's a talent I've been afraid was almost lost; too much screen time, and kids are just not as willing or able. Huzzah! The Bard-- and literature that is meant to be read aloud-- live!

So today, we'll be back at it. The American Lit kids are participating in a round table discussion about what the literature we've studied this semester asks us to consider about the lived experiences of African-American/Black writers, through their own words, and also through the words of others (like Whitman, or even, obliquely, Fitzgerald, through the character of Tom Buchanan in Gatsby). We've read a lot of things: we have covered a wide variety, starting with Phyllis Wheatley and, more recently, Toni Morrison's Recitatif, and Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. We've gone into MLK Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech last night for homework (audio file of him), and I sent them links to "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" and "Strange Fruit" as well. They read Douglass' Narrative, and we watched Harriet. There have been so many poets, too-- there's more, but you get the idea.

Why are we reading these things? And why a round table discussion to focus on common concerns, themes, tropes? Because it will never be our own lived experience, and we can't be more than compassionate witnesses and informed allies. And because our area of the world, here in northern NH, is majority white and these kids don't have the experience of knowing people of color all that often. And I'm doing my level best to have them see that "American" is not just white and male. I know it's a tightrope walk for me, but they are good humans and they will continue to be good humans if we can fill their "toolkit" with ideas gleaned from literature. It's not polemic, it's just plain good education. I can't share my own opinions, but I can give them a wide range of authors to listen to.

Have a good day, and stay dry (if you are here-- if you are where it's warm and sunny, please share).

C