Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.

This often inflammatory quote has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw, a famous Irish playwright who wrote at the turn of the 19^th century. Shaw is probably most well remembered for Pygmalion, the play upon which the musical My Fair Lady is based. The original Shaw quote is, “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches” and most likely was not his own invention, just an old proverb he chose to repeat and give some credence. At any rate, many a teacher today is faced with this aphorism and the question, “Why do we teach?”

Let’s be real…teaching is not only one of the most underpaid occupations in our country today, it’s one of the most thankless (supplanted from being MOST thankless only possibly my motherhood). Even in the socially and economically advanced twenty-first century, teaching is still one of the few jobs that allow a woman to pursue both motherhood and a career. Great, two thankless jobs for the price of one? Gluttons for punishment?

If an amazing salary and oodles of praise are not in the cards for a teacher, then again I ask, “Why teach?” I’ve asked myself this question several times over the years I’ve been a teacher, but it’s been even more in the forefront of my mind in recent months. I didn’t originally go to college with the intention of working in the world of education. For years I thought I would study art and become a commercial artist. By the time I was applying to colleges I thought perhaps I’d make use of my artistic gifts and academic prowess and pursue architecture or engineering. When push came to shove, however, I chose to major in English because quite frankly, I would’ve rather written a paper than crammed for an exam any day of the week. I had always loved reading and talking about books, so why not? I even tried a few education classes “just in case” I couldn’t find any other job than teaching, but I wasn’t hopeful after several semesters of very liberal educational philosophy. Straight out of college I took a job as an editor and administrative assistant and that was that.

Only when my son was in first grade did I seriously consider getting in front of a classroom. I realized that I still loved my books, and more specifically I had a hidden passion for juvenile literature. Maybe I could inspire young minds by bringing the written word to life while also teaching them critical thinking and writing skills. That, certainly, would be awe-inspiring and life fulfilling. Over optimism at it’s best, I guess. The reality of classroom life is not all blue skies and roses.

Students today are inundated by an instant world. Instead of learning everything they need to know in kindergarten (i.e. the classroom), everything they need to know, or think they do, is instantly available through the computer, the iPad, the iPod touch, Ask Cha-Cha, cable television, Netflix, or any other myriad of non-print sources. Surely those men and women who stand in front of them every day in that place called “school” can’t have any more information that they would need for life. Life? What’s that? What’s a “real world”? Each sophomore class I teach thinks it’s more and more intelligent and well informed than I am. Might as well start replacing teachers with T.V. screens and automate the whole process.

Yet, three days a week I still go to my classroom and send my son to his (homeschooling the other two days). There must be some purpose behind such an action or logic would preclude me from doing so. Undoubtedly my students could find most of the information I give them about American government and classic literature through outside sources in plentiful quantities. They might even be able to take the literary definitions they find online and make substantive associations to the texts they are reading all on their own. I didn’t say they weren’t smart. Can the technology care about them though? Obviously the technology can tell them about values and give them empiric definitions of these values, but can it hold them accountable? It can give them due dates, and even penalize them for failing to meet certain requirements, but can it be disappointed, and can that disappointment encourage them to do better next time? Is it always about a high score, or is it sometimes about hearing the human voice saying “Great job!”? Can the technology hold their hands when they are hurting, can it pray with them and for them, can it check back in and ask if everything is okay? Can it be hard and mete out necessary discipline with the hopes of correcting behaviors before they become too ingrained to change?

Honestly, I’m still not through asking myself the question. I’m also not sure I disagree with Shaw. Are there things I’m not doing because I’m teaching? Of course. Would some of those things be more rewarding both financially and emotionally? Perhaps. So why am I teaching? I guess I’ll keep teaching until I figure out the answer, because that one is definitely not readily available through our information age of sources.

Ode to a Lost Summer

Summer, oh summer,

Where have you gone?

I've searched in the closets;

I've looked on the lawn.

Seems that just yesterday

You had only begun.

Now you're fading fast

And leaving me glum.

School's 'round the corner

And creeping up quick;

All the work to be done

Is making me sick.

May start counting the days

To every last break,

'Stead of telling off kids

To go jump in a lake.

Alas my poor summer,

I'll be grieving your loss;

Bearing a busy schedule

Will soon be my cross.

Sixty-nine days 'til

Fall break will arrive;

I think I can make it,

Or maybe I'll die.

Han Solo, Byronic Hero?

I’ve been thinking about the Byronic hero lately. It’s no secret in my circle of friends and students that my all time favorite work of literature is Jane Eyre and I am hopelessly drawn to the dark, brooding character of Rochester. If I were honest, I’d say I’m drawn to this persona in various works of literature, and also in films and T.V. shows. For the moment, I have Han Solo on my mind.

Type in “characteristics of the Byronic hero” on a Google search and you’ll find a variety of lists and pages. I’ll try to combine a few to compare with our roguish Star Wars hero. According to Dr. K. Wheeler, professor at Carson-Newman College, “Conventionally, the figure is a young and attractive male with a bad reputation. He defies authority and conventional morality, and becomes paradoxically ennobled by his peculiar rejection of virtue.”

Young and attractive? Check.

Bad reputation? He’s a smuggler by trade and in trouble with his “employer” for losing a shipment, “You should have paid him when you had the chance. Jabba's put a price on your head so large, every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first” (A New Hope). At first he only helps the Luke-Leia-Obi Wan team for the money which Leia is quick to point out, “You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive” (ANH), as is Han himself, “Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money” (ANH). Later Luke accuses him of being selfish, “Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?” (ANH).

Defies authority and conventional morality? Smuggling would handle this alone, but he continually bucks authority in his quests against the Empire, not to mention ignoring Leia’s suggestions on a regular basis, “Look, Your Worshipfulness, let's get one thing straight. I take orders from just one person: Me!” (ANH).

Paradoxically ennobled by his rejection of virtue? Pretty sure this gets covered in the opening scenes to Empire Strikes Back, “You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life” (Han to Leia). This also goes with Peter Thorslev’s assessment, “the Byronic hero is often a figure of repulsion, as well as fascination.”

Thorslev goes on to say this hero is, “arrogant, confident, abnormally sensitive, and extremely conscious of himself.” Again in Empire, there’s the Han being arrogant, “That's a good story. I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight” (to Leia). In Return of the Jedi, we get a glimpse of the abnormally sensitive when he says to Leia, “You love him, don’t you… All right. I understand. Fine. When he comes back, I won't get in the way.” His self-assuredness begins to fade in the wake of his love for another person.

He is “isolated from society as a wanderer or is in exile of some kind” (Thorslev). This goes hand in hand with the smuggling career mentioned above. Han ends up in a somewhat self-imposed exile due to his need to hide from Jabba the Hutt as Greedo points out in a quote above.

The University of Houston at Clear Lake adds to this definition, “brilliant but cynical and self-destructive.” Not what one might typically think of as having high intelligence, Han exhibits his “brilliance” in his ability to successfully maneuver his ship and his passengers out of a variety of high stress situations. He saves the day time after time. His cynicism and self-destructiveness go hand in hand here though, “What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like... suicide” (ANH) and to Luke on Tattooine in Return of the Jedi, “You're going to die here, you know. Convenient.”

Houston also adds, “the dark Byronic hero is sometimes paired a more innocent, unmarked, even angelic figure.”

In Jane Eyre Rochester is paired against St. John; in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is paired against Edward Linton; in Frankenstein, as companions to Victor, the monster is paired against Henry Clerval. Star Wars is no different in pairing Han against Luke. Not only is Han a more experienced, roguish man of the world (or galaxy), his appearance is darker than Luke when they first meet. Han is dark haired, Luke is fair; Luke wears all white, Han wears a mix of white covered by dark. Luke is green and continually referred to as “kid.” Han has little respect for Luke early in the trilogy, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid” and “Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen *anything* to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything” (ANH).

The evidence is there, but I’ll let the audience decide on a final verdict. When in comes down to it though, whether Han’s Byronic or not, we all could use a few scoundrels in our lives.

Sources:

"American Renaissance & American Romanticism: The Byronic Hero." Coursesite.uhcl.edu - /. Web. 01 Aug. 2011. .

"Characteristics of the Byronic Hero." Web. 01 Aug. 2011. .

"Han Solo (Character) - Quotes." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 01 Aug. 2011. .

LEGO Pirates of Caribbean GIveaway

Just entered a giveaway on Lady and the Blog:

http://www.ladyandtheblog.com/2011/05/30/enter-to-win-disneys-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-queen-anne’s-revenge-lego-playset-from/

First Advanced Reader’s Copy Book Review

In March I stumbled upon this website called LibraryThing.com where you can throw your name in to receive advanced copies of books soon to be published for the purpose of reviewing them. I put my name in for maybe ten books, not sure what I would end with. The second weekend in April there was a new book waiting on my doorstep called Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf.

I’ll be honest, after looking at the cover art, I wasn’t really expecting great things. I mean, really, how many more werewolf/vampire/zombie books do we need these days. Was this just going to be another hokey take on the latest tripe filling local bookstore shelves? Well, I had the book in hand, and there was something mildly thrilling about having a book that wasn’t even going on sale for five more months, and I had signed up for it, so I sat down to read.

First off, the setting of the book is a fictional place called Wereworld. It’s a bit like Tolkien’s Middle Earth, with the time period feeling like the Middle Ages. The kingdom is called Lyssia and it is surrounding by the Seven Realms. There are common folk, soldiers, and what essentially makes up the gentry and ruling classes, the Werelords. While the main character does turn out to be a werewolf, there are werepeople of every species imaginable and they are introduced gradually as the story progresses.

The storyline itself was actually not half bad. Young farm boy, Drew, finds out he is really a werewolf, and not only just a werewolf, one of the last werewolves and apparently displaced heir to the throne of Lyssia. His struggles, his role and the relationships he develops are a bit predictable, but given that it is written for younger audiences, the predictability is fairly acceptable. The vocabulary choices start out feeling fresh, but after a while, I began to feel like the author was getting too much use out of his thesaurus. The description of the settings was above par and did draw me in and help me visualize fairly precisely what things looked like. The dialogue was a bit clunky and awkward; however, younger audiences probably won’t be bothered by it. I felt it was a little heavy on the foreshadowing early on and I wasn’t really surprised by much in the story. The names for the various lands told me exactly what to expect in their descriptions and the types of characters to be encountered there.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed as much as I did. I wouldn’t place it up there with my favorite stories, but I would read it again to my thirteen-year-old son. I think I would even consider reading further installments. Not a bad first attempt for a new author.

Another must-read series for young adults…

Late last night I finished another fantastic book series written for children and young adults. Fablehaven is both the series and first book title and Brandon Mull authors them. Mull has one other stand alone (for the time being) book, The Candy Shop Wars, as well as a new series called Beyonders, both having rave reviews and if Fablehaven is any indication, I will be added these to my ever growing summer reading list as well.

Fablehaven for those unfamiliar with it, reads a bit like Spiderwick Chronicles meet The Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel. If you didn’t care for other of those two series, though, do not let this dissuade you from reading Mull’s books. I say it’s like these other series simply as a frame of reference for what it covers topically. I could also see some similarities to Artemis Fowl, though except for dealing with the same types of magical creatures, it really has little in common with a rich spoiled brat who’s decided to join forces with a rule-breaking fairy in an attempt to “save the world.”

What Fablehaven that the other series do not is engaging character development and more positive “light” moments. Flamel’s character’s drive me crazy in their predictability and oftentimes their whininess and Spiderwick just had a dreary, dull feel that failed to fully engage me as a reader. While the main two characters of Fablehaven are the somewhat recently predictable brother and sister pairing, their growth and development take some interesting turns and their rivalry is very realistic without making readers want to slap either one of them. New characters are introduced as the five book series develops, but readers are given time to watch these characters grow and develop as well and they never feel “thrown” in there. If you stick to the series for all five books, each and every significant character is given a chance to shine. Of course, not all characters are as fully dynamic, but the static characters serve their purposes well.

I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to get into another magical/supernatural series. Surely Fablehaven would prove to be yet another rip off of whatever else is currently crowding the shelves of the local bookstore’s independent reader section. I can honestly say, that while I did pick up on many allusions to myth and older literature, nothing screamed out at me as being a “knock-off” or a better original. I’d have to go with Aristotle on this one in that most art is somewhat imitative, but that’s not always a bad thing.

I purposely gave no plot points away because it truly is better to read and see for yourself what it’s all about. Take a peek, it’s worth it!

Finally...something new to blog about

I recently whipped straight through the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I have to say, for someone who doesn’t normally enjoy dystopian literature, I was quite surprised at how quickly they sucked me in and completely engaged me. The stories follow main character, Katniss Everdeen, as she goes on a physical, mental and emotional journey representing her home “district” in a survival of the fittest competition put on by a self-indulging, self-serving government. Plot spoilers would abound if I were to get too much into the storyline, but suffice to say, Collins's writing struck a chord and satisfies a niche of readers that books like 1984, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World just can’t. Partly this is because the books are written with a middle school audience in mind and they are telling a story through an age appropriate filter. This doesn’t mean the savagery is watered down too much, but they are refreshingly unsexed. My own seventh grader has studied WWI, the Great Depression, and the Russian Revolution so far at school this year and is about to go into the Holocaust and WWII. While I’m not sure he’s completely there yet, I think these books would provide a nice summer bridge for him after the history he’ll have been exposed to this year. For parents who are not thrilled with some of the content of the aforementioned books, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay provide a good compromise that cover many of the same themes and characterizations.

My only complaint would be that the last book feels a bit rushed and doesn’t tie the story up quite as neatly as it could have had it been two. I think there was definitely some room to develop Katniss’s character further and explore and bring better closure to some relational dynamics. Overall though, a thoroughly enjoyable read that I will probably pick up again in the future.

Currently on my couchside table: Jane Slayre, The Lost Hero, and The Twelfth Imam. Then, of course, there’s my new acquisition of a UK set of the Harry Potter books. I’m told they’re not drastically different than the US, but when I start reading them I’ll let you know. I may just have to keep up a running tweet of the anglo-isms.