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No school cheers if Cliff Notes the norm
by Al Brown
[Reproduced courtesy of the Mira Costa newspaper La Vista]
My enthusiasm has been desecrated and slaughtered, left to the cold and ancient memories of my youth. My will to continue on in this constant struggle of catch-up has all but been destroyed. While I was once a happy and studious youth, my recent scholastic escapades have left me weary and downtrodden. The precipice of my recent failure has come via the wondrous subject of English.
Think back to the days of your youth. If you were anything like me, many a fabulous day was spent reading. Books like Roald Dahl's The BFG and James and the Giant Peach filled me with fantastic visions. Lynne Reid Banks' The Indian in the Cupboard showed me the possibilities of an imagination and unlocked many doors inside my burgeoning mind. Shel Silverstein's ingenious works A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends brought moments of pure and unbridled joy. I wanted to read as much as I could, figuring that each book would unleash a new world to explore.
Soon enough, the tides turned, and literature came to be my arch nemesis.
Before I began my high school career, I can honestly say that I'd loved every English class I'd had up until that point. In those days, reading was not a chore but a pleasure, not a hassle but a blessing. Granted, there was the occasional book that fell far short of entertaining me, but that was the exception rather than the rule. From Tom Sawyer to Anne Frank, my literary adventures served an interesting, didactic, and socially significant purpose that drove me to do nothing but read more.
Then began the endless desert of scholastic boredom and toil better known as high school English. The joy that I once had for reading has been obliterated by insipid reading lists, tedious writing assignments, and impractical due dates.
The point of this narrative is not to complain that teachers give out too much homework, or are by any means unreasonable (though we all know they can be). But I refuse to blame myself for the lack of enthusiasm I now have for reading.
The big factor for my objection lies with the books that are put onto reading lists. Teachers often chose works that, yes, are classics that should be studied for a better understanding of mankind as a whole, but are not socially significant to any student. While books like Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities do contain a great deal of importance within the world of literature as a whole, they are often taught in the wrong fashion and time in our lives. While the moral lessons taught in both of these works are quite pertinent, the novels fail to gain any personal link with me or my life. As a result, I lack the will to read such books, and often opt for the rosy pathway of Cliff Notes.
Teachers would do much better if they only gave their students books to read that were not only didactic, but were also able to connect to the reader and make him want to read. They have shown their ability to do this with such fine picks as Herman Hesse's Sidartha and J.D. Salinger's A Catcher in the Rye. These books have stayed popular because they teach students about life, and do so in a fashion that interests the reader.
This piece is an honest plea from one student to all of the English teachers to attempt to better the system that they have so valiantly tried to master. I do not question the morality of their demented lesson plans, only their ability to accurately interpret the needs of their students. Indeed, when the yellow sea of Cliff Notes has become more commonplace to see than an actual book, I implore you to consider the effectiveness in your teaching and choice of books. Either the reading lists must be changed to attract the intrigue of students, or teachers must change the way they teach the books selected.
The words of the wise Dr. Seuss come chillingly to mind when I think of the books that I have had to devour here in high school: "I do not like them with a goat, I do not like them in a boat. I do not like them here or there, I do not like them anywhere!" ER