Monday, January 25, 2010

Are Harry Potter and Twilight Worth Teaching?

For class, I read Frances Smith Foster's article "But, Is It Good Enough to Teach?" I believe the greatest thing I am taking away from this article is a 4 question criteria that will help each teacher to answer this question for themselves. I have copied the criteria verbatim below:

1) What are you trying to teach?
2) What are the course goals?
3) Why do you want to teach it? and even
4) Why are you teaching?

I believe whether or not something is "good enough to teach" is dependent on these questions. For instance, I believe that while Twilight and Harry Potter are not considered multicultural lit that this does not make them any less worth teaching than Copper Sun. Each of these selections has its own function in the classroom. I believe most books can be fit into a curriculum as long as the teacher knows and understand the material well and has a well-thought out plan for why the selection is important to the class.

Harry Potter could function to introduce children to British lit and humor. It could also serve to help students find and understand themes and symbols as well as generating a greater interest in reading for many students.

I consider Twilight to be much lighter reading than Harry Potter. There are fewer themes and symbols worthy of noting. However, it is worth examining this book because of its widespread popularity for teenagers. What makes it popular? This is a great thing for teens to thing about. It will also boost readership in reluctant younger audiences. Twilight could also make an excellent foil to Romeo and Juliet and other classic literature.

Copper Sun is a worthy piece to include for younger audiences when the teacher would like to cover African American slave literature. It covers the topic of slavery and middle passage in a way that is real and poignant; yet, the story maintains a sense of safety in its ending and in the lack of emotion Amari shows. There is also a little African culture included.

I think it is important for a teacher to include the literature they think best covers their purposes. For instance, in a British lit course, perhaps there will be less multiculturalism, and that is okay. In an American lit course, perhaps African Americans will receive a large spotlight, but other groups may have less page-turning time, and that is okay. What is important is that teachers take the time to consider why some works are on their syllabus and why others are not. Multicultural lit fits nicely into most curriculum, and is certainly worth teaching!

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