Becca, Aly and myself decided that we wanted to do a text-movie combo that touched on the same things. We decided to use Speak by Laura Anderson and "It's Kind of a Funny Story", a movie based on the book of the same name. I'd read funny story before and knew enough about Speak to know that they would work well together, one being from a girl's perspective and the other being from a boys. Both character's are also around the same age (around 13-14) so that helps give perspective as well.
Speak was really interesting, being something I'd been meaning to read for a while and never getting around to. I thought that though some of the actions and dialog of the characters were a little exaggerated, it helped to show the surrealistic world Melinda was living in. I really liked how the book paralleled what was going on in her life with what was happening around her at school. From dissecting frogs in Biology class to reading The Scarlet Letter in English, everything external symbolized what was going on inside her head. I thought that was great. I also liked the way the cliques were set up, and the fact that though Melinda was going through all this inner turmoil, she assumed no one else was, even though her art teacher was having a mental breakdown right in front of her.
Funny Story is great and I would highly recommend at least seeing the movie, if you don't want to read the book (both are really similar). Funny Story is just that, funny. Which is hard to pull off on such a sensitive topic. The zaniness that happens around Craig allows him to put things into perspective. And like Melinda in Speak, Craig finds the best way of battling his depression is through art. This movie has a lot of heart, and characters that at first, may seem unrealistic, quickly become complex and moving. Great movie, great book. Fun assignment.
Those are some of the things we agreed that we liked about the literature. A few things that we weren't so stoked about was some of the content. Now I have no problem reading/watching anything, but I'm told parents can be a little huffy when it comes to certain topics. We decided that though we're against censorship in (most) forms, you do need to prep students and parents when introducing a touchy topic like rape and depression. You don't know what students will be dealing with in their personal lives and what might send them over the edge. But I also think it's important that, if done properly and with care, these topics should be touched upon. Who knows, it could really help a student going through something similar. Learning that you're not alone is one of the first steps to recovery. That's what the kids in the literature learn.
When it comes to including the literature in a classroom, as English majors we agreed that it's all gravy. Both book/movie has a movie/book equivalent, so you could show clips from the movie supplemented with exerts from the book. I think that would take care of the issues that might come with showing either books or movies. It would also allow you to do both of the texts in a shorter amount of time, cover more sides on the issue of depression.
As for the book club portion, it was GREAT to get to pick our own books. As I've said, I love Funny Story, (both book and movie), and was pleasantly surprised by Speak. After I learned the Twilight chick was the main character in the movie, I've been dubious of the whole thing. It was a little disheartening reading such a sad book this close to finals, but the humor in the story made it not only tolerable, but truly enjoyable. I could definitely see myself teaching both books in a class... maybe after tenure.
My first job was teaching in a "shelter school." Basically, the students who went to that school were in a "group home," meaning they had been taken out of their homes because they had been so badly abused, and they were waiting for placement in foster families--and some of them ended up going to detention or to the state's mental facilities instead.
ReplyDeleteI found that, instead of "pushing students over the edge," talking about gangs, suicide, and even rape provided a real catharsis. I would have loved to read "Speak" with them, but I didn't know about it at the time. I think it brings such comfort to know that other people are facing similar circumstances to what you are facing. I also think that personal writing is powerful in this regard, too--I had students who wrote about being raped, etc.--and I think it was a way of working out their feelings.
Teachers are not therapists or counselors; I know that. But I think literature+writing provides new venues for us to see our lives from new angles, to connect with others, and to re-write our life stories through re-framing our life events in a new narrative. English is a very special subject due to this power.