Twilight...Seriously?

Recently for my Adolescent Literature class, one of the novels covered was the infamous Twilight. Now, this led me to question, is this really something I would ever teach in a classroom environment? Absolutely not. There are a lot of reasons, why this is so, but the principal one is simply that the quality of the writing borders on abysmal. Sorry to offend any fans reading this, but honestly there are chapters a sixth grader could have written.

Apart from that, a lot of the plot deals with some controversial issues. Now, I’m not one for censorship. However, after dealing with correspondence journals of eighth graders, it’s become apparent that these kids are so wrapped up in Edward Cullen that they have a hard time realizing that he doesn’t exist. Not to be cynical or anything. Even though I realize Bella is in love, it is essentially her falling in love with a “peeping Tom”. Edward is a complete voyer who does nothing but objectify his love interest.

Well, I don’t know that’s just my view. On the plus side, the series does get kids to read more than they normally would, but I feel like it is just another version of a classless, cheesy romance novel.

Thoughts on Grading...

So, I was sitting at my laptop, trying to think of something remotely interesting to write about for this blog. Needless, to say, I got distracted, but I started thinking. I came upon the realization that in less than one year I am going to be student teaching. As English major, I can more or less know what to expect as far as content goes, but this led me to think about my high school English courses and the way in which grades were normally given. We always got quizzes and tests about the content of the work . Every so often there was an essay thrown in to make us think critically.

But is that really how students should be tested? I mean the point of literature isn’t to understand the plot; it’s to take some kind of knowledge or lesson away from the text. Wouldn’t it be better to give essay assignments asking students to focus on certain aspect of the work, rather than rote memorization tests?