My seniors' final exam: Why do we even read this stuff?

Well, today is the first half of the final exams for my seniors. I don't give a "traditional" exam-- instead, they have two tasks to accomplish. Today, they will be presenting in a round-table discussion. I assign each a modern poet (one that I think they'll like), and they need to talk about the poet and then share one poem with the whole class and discuss it. This way, we can cruise through many more poets than I would be able to in the short time we have left, and they get to explore one I have chosen for them, with their interests in mind. The other half of their final is actually started the first week of the semester. They have written five personal narratives that are reflections on things we've read, and how those things connect with their own experiences and aspirations. Then, there's a sixth section which serves as an opportunity to think and write about the "big picture"-- what have they to say about the literature and what we've talked about all semester. They edit these six parts into one cohesive whole, with an eye towards making corrections and revisions and focusing on good transitions. The final document is usually 8-12 typed pages in length, and the way that the topics have been assigned provides them with the architecture for the final narrative. 

It's always surprising to them to read the whole thing as one piece of writing, and to see what they've had to say about being a young person in America today, what the literature has to share with them, what challenges have been laid out, and what they are going to do about the challenges. It makes for good reading, most of the time. And I think it's a whole lot more telling to me (and to them) about what they've learned. It's not about individual authors; instead, it's about what American literature and culture has to do with them on a personal level. If we stop and think about the why of the literature-- why did the author write it? What was the impetus? And what should we learn/ consider as a result of the work we've read and discussed?--then we have honestly engaged with the texts, instead of merely skimming through them to pass some test that has no real bearing on life.

I'll have a bit of reading to do this weekend, but I don't mind. I've seen all of these essays in their initial stages, except for the conclusions. That will be my focus (and to take note of editing, of course). 

I hope you have a good day,

C