I have to begin by saying that I didn't like Twilight at first. I was gripped by it, definitely, but I scorned my best friend and others who swooned over the theme of "forbidden love." It seemed to me to be an obsession, an infatuation --unhealthy, and certainly not a great love story. However, as I continued reading, I became more convinced that such an unexplainable connection can begin as an infatuation (especially with their age), and, as they get to know each other better, this connection develops into something that those of us on the outside can understand, that appears more "acceptable" to skeptics like myself. Despite my strong opinions of the novel at the beginning, I teared up towards the end; I laughed aloud several times and gasped many other times. At one point, I actually called my best friend up and yelled at her, "Are you kidding me right now? Does he kill her?" I was out of control and totally sucked in.
So, at this point, I take back my assertion that Twilight most certainly will not be in my classroom library. Its theme unexplainable love and deep connection between a vampire and a human --and the danger it puts them both in--is not for everyone, but it is a thing of pop culture right now, and it seems everyone who reads it loves it. I certainly did.
Friday, November 7, 2008
My Antonia
My Antonia is the story of Jim Burden, a recent orphan who has moved from Virginia to Nebraska to live with his grandparents. It is the tale of his adjustment to frontier life and his friendship with the Bohemian girl on the next farm. The entire novel is a flashback; Jim reminisces as he looks back at Antonia's assimilation to farm and prairie life.
My Antonia is written by Willa Cather, a well-known author who wrote about life on the Great Plains, of settling out west in early 1900s. My Antonia is a canonical text, but I'm not entirely sure how I would use it in my classroom. I will fully admit that I went online to get ideas because I had no idea what to address in the novel. We could look at perspective, as this is a unique one: the novel is written by a woman as a flashback by a man reminiscing about his boyhood, telling the story of a Bohemian woman's migration to the Great Plains of America. Using this concept, the discussion could focus on how the novel would change feeling and perhaps meaning if written from a different person's perspective. We could also focus on description; we could look at class differences (it becomes more apparent once they move to town).
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and I'd recommend it to my students who enjoy historical fiction, but again, I'd have to do some serious thinking and researching before I decided to teach it.
My Antonia is written by Willa Cather, a well-known author who wrote about life on the Great Plains, of settling out west in early 1900s. My Antonia is a canonical text, but I'm not entirely sure how I would use it in my classroom. I will fully admit that I went online to get ideas because I had no idea what to address in the novel. We could look at perspective, as this is a unique one: the novel is written by a woman as a flashback by a man reminiscing about his boyhood, telling the story of a Bohemian woman's migration to the Great Plains of America. Using this concept, the discussion could focus on how the novel would change feeling and perhaps meaning if written from a different person's perspective. We could also focus on description; we could look at class differences (it becomes more apparent once they move to town).
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and I'd recommend it to my students who enjoy historical fiction, but again, I'd have to do some serious thinking and researching before I decided to teach it.
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