It is true that, for class credit
this should have been posted last night. I beg forgiveness on the grounds of
incomplete muse. It just was not ready. I had thought--good ones, but some
nebulous element was still missing (such is the messy art of writing, right). My
thoughts needed to stew, overnight, mingling with bizarre dreams of zombie
attacks in the classroom, before I could wake up, sit up, and catch that nebulous
last idea, pinning it firmly to the specimen board of my sleepy mind before it
could flutter away. Eager to share my thought-stew with the world, I intend to,
in about 30 minutes, ask my CT if I can lead a class discussion today over
humor in literature and life. I am hoping he will say yes when I explain to
him, as I will explain to you, the connections I just made and how I think they
will benefit my students.
It began with one of three events…..
Event 1: Stephen King
Stephen King--master of horror, suspense, thrill, and contemplation of the darker side
of humanity—is a funny, funny man. When I saw him speak a week ago today, I was
impressed with how much humor he brought to even the more serious topics he
addressed. At one point he compared himself to a cross between Godzilla and
Santa Claus because people frequently approach him with, “Your books scared the
@*^%$ out of me…can I give you a hug?”
Until seeing this dark and funny author in person I had not given specific
thought to the use of humor in his writing. I am sure on some subconscious
level I noted it, but I had not thought specifically of the way King uses humor
to take some of the edge away from the disturbing nature of his tales. Very “spoonful-of-sugar-esque”
actually. So pin that thought on your brain board and follow me to Event #2.
Event 2: The Boys Next
Door
While
my CT was gone to a conference this week, we watched the amazing movie version
of The Boys Next Door. While most of
the students were glad to fill out a character map to help guide the one-pager
they will do next week, one student bluntly asked me why we had to do filler
work like movie notes and what did it have to do with her grade anyway. I reminded
her of the one-pager next week and she quieted down for the most part, but I started
wondering how I could maybe connect this to the other things we had been reading.
I did not see any particular themes or character resemblances that struck a chord,
so I watched them watching the movie and hoped something might present itself.
What impressed the most about these student was their willingness to accept the
mentally challenged characters in the movie. One whole table of girls
alternately laughed and cried at the antics of Lucien and Arnold and Norman.
Well, pretty much everyone laughed at the antics of these lovable characters, but
why did that bother me. It seemed almost un-P.C. to encourage a class of
freshmen to laugh at the trials, blunders, and rather serious mistakes made by
mentally challenged people. I felt uncomfortable; I wonder if my students had
this thought and felt uncomfortable. I felt like I was on to something but
could not figure out what. Pin that thought—on to Event # 3.
Event 3: The Absolutely
True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and my Unit Plan Struggles
To the point, I am struggling to decide how to break up the
reading for the above story in my Unit Plan for my Methods class. I turned to
the interwebs for inspiration from those who have gone before and found a
plethora of plans, which of course I got distracted by (oh happy fate!). I
looked at one plan long and hard, though it did not offer suggestions for
breaking up the book; I looked at its essential question about humor’s function
in the novel. It noted how Junior (the main character) uses humor to diffuse
controversial situations and opinion, thus allowing the reader to traverse
those uncertain waters more comfortably and take in what the author is saying
rather than rejecting it because of discomfort.
Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner!!
Put all three events together and you have my newly formed
of understanding of how to tie The Boys
Next Door back to previous material (Diary),
while making a fresh connection to both print and non-print texts from
Stephen King to stand-up comedians and slam-poets, even to Saturday Night Live
commercials (some of which we already watched as a reward day). I am eager to
see if I can lead my students into making the same connections I did. I hope I
can get them to do the work. I have good questions planned out….now I just have
to ask my CT if he will entrust them to me for about 10-15 minutes. Fingers
crossed!! Guess I better get going. I’ll post a follow-up on how it went.
Cheers,
Ms. Iseminger
Krystal,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am utterly jealous that you had the opportunity to meet (in person) the man who not only first inspired me to start reading, but also inspired me to begin writing as well. I wanted to go sooooo badly, but sadly all seats were sold out by the time I attempted to purchase a ticket. If he ever makes it back to this tiny town, I hope to have a second chance to see him!
Second, I think this is an absolutely true dairy of how all great ideas are formed, and I love that you included all of your inspirations, struggles, and conclusions! This process is never easy, but I think it is a mark of a great teacher – someone who is constantly considering his or her students and looking for hidden connections, meanings, and break through lessons! Humor is so much a part of human nature and it really is a part of our individual voices as writers. Helping students use metacognitive thought in order to recognize this concept in the work of others and apply it to their own writing will be such a benefit to them as the learn to her and grow their own authorial voices!
Great post Krystal! Thanks for sharing!
Megan