Student Interpretation of Literature

Hello class,

Thinking about what I would like to comment on concerning our first assigned reading, the anecdote of four student athletes' interpretation of Ernest Hemmingway's The Three-Day Blow immediately came to mind. As we discussed in class on 9/2/13, giving student's a solid context of what they are studying is very important. I believe it is of the utmost importance, as it can engage students or keep them from asking the infamous, "Why are we even reading this?" Yet I am concerned by the ideas we prevent students from developing by telling them certain ideas are valid, fact, or "generally accepted" as the truth. Too often, it seems to me, texts (particularly Canonical texts) are taught in strict accordance with what is generally accepted by Academia as the "correct" or "most likely" interpretation of the artist's work. Sure, proposing that Hemmingway wants to warn his readers of the danger of alcohol consumption may seem ridiculous to anyone who has read Hemmingway, but as someone studying creative writing, I firmly believe in the power of creativity. In all of my lessons I want to encourage my students to embrace their creativity and their individuality, two attributes I feel teaching a text with very traditional interpretations can often stifle.

I believe that in giving context we ought to be thorough, and dig really deep into how we can specifically connect the text with our students rather than simply giving students a miniature history lesson. I'll illustrate with an example; when teaching the Old Man and The Sea, my ninth grade English teacher encouraged us to ask our family if they had ever read Hemmingway. I discovered, thanks to this, my grandfather knew Hemmingway in his younger days, who would park his boat in a small harbor near La Havana where my grandfather grew up. He regaled me with some interesting stories Hemmingway loved to shout over his drinks in the local tavern, and when I brought these stories to class, my teacher encouraged me to share them with the class. Everyone was engaged; suddenly there was a personal connection to Hemmingway, even a sense of heritage in the predominately Cuban-American classroom.

On the subject of creativity, I believe it is best to encourage our students to develop their own ideas. Cliche as it is (something we should never let our students write in, the subject for another blog post), there are no wrong ideas in an English class. There are, however, complex, well-organized, and engaging ideas supported by a close reading of the text and possibly outside sources. There also are ideas that were made up in lunch and citing wikipedia. As teachers we ought to encourage to develop their own readings, and to defend those readings just as we would expect any academic writing their reading of, say, the anti-Capitalist nature of Dos Passos' Manhattan Transfer. Though we should definitely educate students on prior academic thought concerning a text, we can't say they are truly learning how to read a text if they simply regurgitate established ideas and cite the same sources we taught them with. By encouraging students to think individually, we develop a whole host of skills related to doing proper academic research, writing persuasively, critical thinking, and a whole bunch of other key terms school boards love. Of course, by no means does the idea I've outlined here mean students can't agree with established academic thought; but again, there is a difference between regurgitating information and explaining in a well-written essay why you agree with it.

- Jordan