My first class was last night, and it felt really good to be back in a classroom. I've missed interacting with students: the class clowns, the crazy-imaginative readings, the long discussions, and those electric moments of "ah ha!" insight.
We spent a big chunk of our class time discussing Alice Walker's "Everyday Use." I'd never read much Walker before this class. I enjoyed The Color Purple a great deal, but I'd read it a long, long time ago, so "Everyday Use" was a revelation to me.
Alice Walker
"Everyday Use" is beautifully written, wonderfully smart, and subtle enough to make students really think. Walker's grasp of human nature is extraordinary, especially in her depiction of Dee, a college graduate and social climber who returns to her childhood home in the rural South. It's a story about what "heritage" really means, about embracing one's past honestly instead of exploiting it for social gains.
Walker's piece is ideal for a classroom because its characters are challenging and complex enough to inspire discussion, but its structure is simple enough to illustrate the basics of how short stories work. We used the story to discuss the standard elements of fiction (plot, character, point of view, etc.) and how plot is different from structure and theme. We also used it to talk about the importance of context when reading literature (understanding the Black Muslim movement makes Dee's character a little more accessible).
But our best discussions of the night came when we delved into why Dee's mother rejects her: my students were torn between appreciating Dee's desire for a better life and resenting how she treated her family. The complexity of Dee's character forced my students to really analyze her motives and what her past meant to her. They were forced to really focus in on the clues and characterizations that Walker sprinkled throughout the text.
Teaching this story reminded me that I'm at my best as a teacher when I'm passionate about the literature I'm teaching. I love to share great writing with my students, and I love it when I'm able to convey how damn cool a piece of literature is. I mean, anyone can write a story with a beginning (exposition), a middle (rising action), and an end (climax and resolution), but only a great writer can use such a simple form to illustrate how personal ambition and rapid social change can tear families apart. And making my students aware of that skill, aware of a writer's unique art and brilliance, is what makes my day as a teacher.
1 comment:
I love this story, too. It has been a long time since I have taught it. (I think I was teaching a Lit. class for a juco.) Learning about Ruby Payne's "Framework of Poverty" since then makes me want to go back and look at it again. My guess is the relationships document what Payne asserts. I've always disliked Dee, but I think I understand her more now.
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