Good
morning everyone,
As we all know, Cherry Creek High School has traditionally held
our students to a very high standard. Being one of the top schools in Colorado,
we have very high expectations for all of our students. That being said, it is
critical that we continue to engage them. Every year students complain about
their summer reading assignments and every year, we try to figure out how to engage
them while still maintaining that critical aspect of learning. We want them to
be able to gain valuable life lessons from our reading requirements. Reading is
not only a life skill, it’s a method of learning. This is why Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony
Doerr are two perfect novels to add to the summer reading list for the
2017-2018 school year. Yes, these two novels present two drastically different
perspectives on World War II, however, they have many overlapping themes which
I’m confident have the power to impact a high school audience.
To start, Diary of a Young
Girl by Anne Frank is a classic novel that shares the hardships of World
War II firsthand. Anne Frank’s life is severely altered as a result of World
War II and this diary shows us how the major obstacles that she faces change
her outlook on life. She was living in fear for years, however, her
perseverance and courage are truly admirable throughout the entirety of her
diary. Anne begins this diary when she is thirteen years old and continues to
write in it for the next few years while her family is in hiding. So, she is at
the age where her voice has the potential to speak loud volumes to a high
school audience. It’s an age that is extremely relatable for them. They will be
able to compare and analyze her experiences and the time period that she lived
through with that of their own and it has the power to be incredibly eye
opening for them. They will also be able to recognize prominent themes such as
loneliness and hardship. In many ways, Anne’s diary acts as her best friend and
the only person that she can trust with her lingering thoughts and secrets
throughout the war. We are also able to see her mentality transition throughout
her diary posts. She begins the diary as a very lively young girl but that
mentality slowly begins to shift and alter towards a mindset full of fear and
sorrow.
In
addition to this, All the Light We Cannot
See is an incredibly touching story that has the potential to have a large
impact on a high school audience. Although it was not published until 2014, it
exhibits many considerable qualities and will undoubtedly become a “classic”
piece of literature. It’s already made quite a mark in the literary world; it’s
won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Australian National Book Award, it’s a
number one New York Times bestseller, and was awarded for best Historical
Fiction by Goodreads. Aside from all these awards, it’s a book that touches the
reader in ways that other books simply do not have the power to do. The
characters in this book are forced to deal with the grim reality of the war and
the pain that it inflicts upon their lives. Anthony Doerr plays with the idea
between good and evil throughout this story. He stressed in an interview that
he wanted readers to learn that “war is more complicated than the readers might
have thought, that there were civilians on both sides making really complicated
moral decisions.” By our students reading this story, they will be able to gain
access to an additional perspective on the war with a focus on how moral
choices have the ability to impact one’s life.
Both
of these stories allow the reader to reflect on historical events as well as the
present world that we are living in. They are tragic yet emotionally inspiring.
Classic pieces of literature tend to possess qualities which make them
timeless, create a discussion, include literary tradition, and have an impact
on a large audience. I can confidently argue that both of these books contain
all of these qualities. Diary of a Young
Girl and All the Light We Cannot See
are both incredibly powerful reminders that World War II was in fact real and
people suffered through tremendous horrors. However, there was endless strength
in their battle; it’s imperative that we acknowledge that.
According
to the Common Core, there are quite a few tasks that students should be able to
master after high school literature. First, students should be able to
recognize themes and central ideas within a text. Going beyond that, they
should then be able to analyze this text in detail and determine how these themes
are developed throughout the book. These books have numerous critical
rhetorical concepts and themes present throughout the entirety of their text. By
reading these stories, students would be able to determine how certain
prominent themes emerge throughout the text, and how these themes affect the
overall meaning of the story presented. Through reading these two novels, we
are able to recognize the tragedy of war, hardships, maturity, loss, lies, how
small actions can have a large impact on us, and how perseverance can change a
life. The characters in both stories are affected by the misfortunes and devastating
effects of the war around them.
Second, students should be able to analyze how
characters develop over the course of a story. This includes their interactions
(or non-interactions in the case of Anne Frank) with other characters and how
these interactions shape them as a person. This is a very relevant theme
throughout both of these stories. The relationship that develops between
Marie-Laure and Werner in All the Light
We Cannot See is critical to the plot. We can see how the theme of “good
versus evil” affects their relationship as well as their futures. On the other
hand, Anne Frank’s loneliness acts as a major theme throughout her diary. We
are able to see how her forced state of isolation transforms her as a person.
Lastly, students should be able to analyze
particular views or cultural experiences that are reflected in certain works of
literature, especially those which are outside of the United States. It’s
incredibly important for students to have a historical perspective on the world
around them that is not limited to the United States. These stories give us two
unique perspectives on World War II. World War II marked a turning point in
history and was one of the most destructive wars to date. This war affected
millions of people and many different nations. In fact, over fifty million
people were killed worldwide as a result of this. Through reading these two
stories, we are able to see the large and vast effects of this war. It’s
incredibly important that students are informed about the history of World War
II and what it was like to live through it. Each country and each person
experienced their own version of adversity.
Overall,
I feel very strongly about incorporating these stories into our summer reading
list for the 2017-2018 school year. I would not be standing in front of you if
I didn’t think these books had the ability have a powerful impact on our high
school students.
Poster:
Reflection:
Over the course of my life, and even over the course of this
mere 10-week class, my own writing persona has evolved quite significantly. I
remember when I was assigned my first real writing report in middle school. The
teacher told us that it had to be ten pages long; this immediately shot a wave
of panic through my head. I had never written that much in my entire life.
Looking back now, I realize that I was prepared beyond belief to write this
paper; I just had no idea. I’d been composing notes, writing in journals, and
sending text messages for years. However, the thought of reading a dense
textbook and then having to do research on it made me fearful. I did not only
fear that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I was fearful because I wanted a
good grade. Unfortunately, I
know that I share this fear with many others. It’s something that has not been
cured over time. If you’re unlucky enough, it will begin in middle school, continue
through high school, and then on through college. In many ways, this idea of receiving
a “good grade” detracts from our capacity to learn. Students are so concerned
about the letter or number that they’re going to receive that they often forget
why they’re even asked to write these papers and take these tests in the first
place. Thus, we end up forgetting the overall meaning and importance of school
nonetheless.
In high school, I was the kid that always finished my summer
reading. However, I often cringed at the thought of it. I absolutely love
reading, but I hated the books that
were presented to me every summer. I vividly remember the play that my AP
Literature class had to read one summer. We were asked to come prepared to talk
about it on the first day of school. Naturally, I read the entire play, hated
the whole thing, and didn’t feel like I could write a single page on it. When
students aren’t connected and invested in a book, they don’t retain anything
from it and they lose that ability to learn from it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve
come to realize that sometimes you have to suffer through things in order to
better yourself - whether that be a book that you despise, or a hardship that
life throws at you. Many times, high school students don’t have the ability to
recognize this. And even if they can recognize this, they’re not always mature
enough to care. This is why it’s
critical that we present high school students with books that they’re genuinely
interested in reading. Reading is a major component of writing and a key aspect
of learning. Through reading novels and classic pieces of literature, we’re able
to gain knowledge and learn about different rhetorical principles. I don’t
think this necessarily means that we need to remove all classical pieces of
literature from high school reading lists, but I do feel strongly that we need
to re-evaluate how we are deciding which novels to make these students read. We
need to remember that high school students are still so young (ages 14-18).
They’re not going to be interested in the literature that the older generations
are passionate about. The second we begin to bore them with these long and dry
books, they’re going to begin to despise reading and writing altogether. If I
was asked to read either Diary of a Young
Girl, or All the Light We Cannot See for
summer reading, I would have been absolutely thrilled (and I probably would
have been able to write a kick ass paper about it). I would’ve been able to
recognize and acknowledge the rhetorical principles that I failed to be able to
do with other “classic” pieces of literature that were presented to me. And I
would’ve been able to do so because I would’ve been genuinely interested in the
text. As we have learned, writing has progressed significantly in the last
century; it’s a way of life. We are all constantly using it as a form of
expression, whether that means composing a text message, an email, or a paper.
We’re living in a world where we’re lucky enough to have the ability to write
throughout the entirety of the day in ways that were previously unimaginable.
It’s essential for the future of students that we keep their desire to read and
write strong.
The evolution of writing has led
us to a world full of opportunity. Yes, some are going to argue that this
transition into the digital age is having a negative effect on our written and
oral culture. People like Walter Ong can argue that it’s taking away from our
oral culture which he believes is the most important means of communication.
However, some (like Jenkins) are going to argue that it is incredibly beneficial
to my generation and that these new forms of media and the idea of “spreadability”
is leading to increased expression. They give us the tools that do in fact make
it easier to read and write. There are endless different perspectives on the
complexity of writing and how we define it. One thing continues to remain
constant: writing is not only a way of life, but a gift. It's the ability to
express, communicate, create, and reflect. It's a tool that we too often take
advantage of. We are now able to Tweet, Instagram, Facebook, blog, etc.
The list is endless. These new tools are presenting us with the ability to read
and write during every second of the day. We can post and publicize our
thoughts and opinions whenever we want. We all have a prominent voice in
society and that is easily one of the most important aspects of writing in the
21st century. As we all write papers, do research, and send text
messages, we are each making our mark in history. We’re all taking part in
something that is much larger than ourselves and we’re all connected by this
idea of writing, whether we realize it or not.
