Book Review: The Postmortal

The last time I did one of these book reviews, I added that I would write up my review of The Postmortal the next day. Then school had to start and there went all of my free time, even though these things don't take all that long to bang out.

Anyways....The Postmortal.

This book is about as opposite as Drew Magary's first book: Men With Balls, which is a how-to guide of being a professional athlete. It is full of the humor that one would be used to from reading his posts at "Deadspin" or elsewhere on the Internet. And yet, there's nary a poop joke or dick joke to be found in The Postmortal, at least none that I can remember since I read the book two months ago.

This novel deals with a hypothetical, and a major one at that. What if science could make you more or less immortal. You take a shot and never age. Old age cannot kill you. Your body won't break down. Other things can kill you, but never your own body. "The Cure" as it is called is highly controversial, and even after it is legalized many fight against its use. Magary takes political imagry of today and puts it into his fictional story, adding a bit of realism to the story that sometimes falls flat. (Things get a bit too coincidental for me at times in the book).

One review I read took up a point that Magary briefly addresses the effect such technology would have on sports records. The passage the reviewer references is a one-sentence blip in a "links round up" (the book reads as if it was someone's blog) about the baseball home run record falling. This, complains the reviewer, is expected. Magary is a sports guy, why wouldn't he throw in this little bit? (Never mind that anyone who reads Kissing Suzy Kolber knows that Magary does not care for baseball in the least).

I actually think that this little blip added a bit of world-building to the novel. Due to its nature, the story doesn't really allow for much more than glimpses into the rest of the world. There are the wars in Russia and a crisis or two mentioned, but nothing is ever truly flushed out.

If the world of the Postmortal is something Magary wants to return to for a future book, taking the sports aspect could be a fun way to go. Maybe he wished to avoid it, given all the controversy surrounding steroids, but a sports science fiction book, something that blends Magary's first two novels together, could be a fun read.

Question on bidialectism in the classroom (ENGL 338)

Is there a way to promote code-switching, or teach code-switching skills? My take from reading the article was that no one wanted to just promote SAE and no one wanted to ignore AAE, so how can we improve upon both? I don't think that SAE is a tool of white supremacy and I doubt that many English teachers use it as such (if there are any, then they really shouldn't be teachers, now should they?).

What becomes tricky to me is that while it is apparent that AAE has a place in education and if it were used in the classroom could benefit its speakers, SAE is dominant. We can criticize society all we want for being (or at least pretending to be) dependent on one dialect, but that does not change the fact that SAE is vitally important. I think as educators, we have to make sure that our students are gaining knowledge and that they will be prepared going forward. This is why I think code-switching may be a way to get the best of both worlds. Does the use of AAE alone promote code switching, or are there tips that teachers can use to promote it.

Language barriers in the classroom (ENGL 338)

I might be at a bit of an advantage, as I've read ahead a little in the class. I read through "The Linguistic Features of the Language of Schooling" and will be using some of that text in my reflection.

The question posed is how do we, as English teachers (or any teachers, for that matter) over come language barriers, such as dialects, in our classroom. Given the controversy over the use of AAVE in Oakland, this is an important conversation to have.

The first thing to consider is that the language used in education is much more lexically dense than the language students use on an every day basis. While this is partly because of the academic content in education, there are gramatical differences. These differences, in some ways, make education less accessible than it could be. A text book might be to hard to read or might be written in a way that does not engage the student. I don't feel that this is a student-specific problem. I think everyone has read a text book or essay and just wanted to get to the end because it was dense. This problem is amplified if the students engage in a dialect such as AAVE. If the language used in academics is already denser than what "standard English" would be, then these texts and lectures could be all the more dis-engaging to students fluent in a dialect of English.

What I thought was very important in the discussion of the Oakland AAVE classes is that teachers that engaged in AAVE and worked with it, as opposed to those who suppressed it, saw reading and writing skills improve. That essay also points to work done in Norway, where regional dialects are used in classrooms, but students are gradually taught a standardized Norwegian.

I think one way to do this in an English classroom is to not instantly say that something is wrong (doing so might make a student shy in the future), but instead use it as a way to show that language is alive and changing. It could make for an interesting side lesson on how AAVE functions grammatically. In addition, if students are able to see how AAVE (or their dialect) functions grammatically, and that there are "rules" to their style of speaking, than they may pick up on the rules of what we consider "standardized English".

I don't feel though that teaching standardized English in this way would necessarily demean other dialects. The essay on AAVE alludes to a "code switching" of sorts, that speakers of AAVE can also speak in standardized English. Students will be expected to communicate in standardized English in certain situations (such as job interviews) and as English teachers we should give them the tools they need to be able to do so. At the same time though, we cannot be insensitive to their culture and demean their language. Instead, we can show how their dialect works, how it compares to the standard, and have discussions on why the dialect is important to the students.

A less than formal introduction (ENGL 338)

Yes, I do own this tie. Yes, I look awesome in it.

My name is Alan Hoffmann. This is my second go-around for college. I graduated from Southern Illinois University (go Salukis) with a journalism and radio-television news degree. The idea was to use said degree to cover sports for a living. The reality was, I got to attend lots of really, really boring meetings. "My job is to go to public meetings and get bored so the public doesn't have to," I joked.

In between my two radio jobs, I lived at home. I even, just to be as cliche as possible, set up my computer in my parents' basement. I did complete National Novel Writing Month that November, but the best thing I did while hunting for my next job was to be a volunteer cross country coach. I called the head coach before the season started and asked if I could help out. He said yes. Simple as that I became a cross country coach. It was about three weeks into this that I noticed that I really enjoyed being out there. Not just the running aspect (which was also fun) but interacting with the kids, teaching them, seeing them develop their running skills, watching them interact. It was at about this time that another friend of mine (who was coaching football while looking for jobs) and I decided that we needed to do this for a living. We had to teach. Even though both of our fathers (maybe because both of our fathers) were teachers, we never considered the idea. Well, career choice #1 didn't work, but here was something exciting. 

Well, just as I was about to enroll somewhere and work on an English ed degree, I got my second radio job. So, off to Havre I went. I moved there in the winter and the temperature did not get above freezing for a month. I once called a 19-degree day, "nice". The next winter it got to be 40-below. Lest you think it was all bad, I did meet my wife while living there, so there's that. At any rate, I got tired of covering boring meetings and as soon as I was able to get in-state tuition, I moved to Bozeman and enrolled at Montana State. I'm the fifth family member to go to school here, which is more or less why I chose MSU. 

A few other fun facts....

~My wife and I got married this summer in what I called "the longest, shortest day of my life". Seriously, it is exhausting getting married, but it was a blast. Kodi is beautiful, smart and awesome and I couldn't be going to school and work without her.

~I work the night shift at the C'mon Inn. In a related story, caffeine is great.

~I'm a huge Seattle sports fan (well, not UW. They're evil, as I root for Washington State. My sister went to WSU, Go Cougs!) and against better judgement am a diehard Seahawks fan. That team will be the death of me.

~I love to read and write (an English major with those hobbies?). I really like science fiction and fantasy. As for the writing side of things, I do have two unfinished novels (both National Novel Writing Month efforts. I got to 50,000 words but not the end of the story). I have a tentative deadline of "Someday" to finish them.

~I also like to run and I'd like to coach cross country and track when I become a teacher. 

~I spent a semester of College Part One in Australia and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Seriously, if you get a chance to study abroad DO IT. Also, I sometimes slip into Aussie speak and will refer to people as "mate" and say "no worries". I will even refer to things as "dodgey" at times. 

~There were some perks to working as a reporter. I've met 4 U.S. Senators and a handful of U.S. Representatives. That was fun. One time, I called Brian Schweitzer's office for a quote from one of his press people and they said they'd just have the governor call me. Considering my last job was in Illinois, having the governor call me back was really cool. (Ironically enough, the most boring part of the job was school board meetings. Those are the worst.)

I think that's about it. Any questions, just leave 'em in the comments. Or talk to me in person, though a warning: I'll talk your ear off if you give me the chance.

I'll be educated well

Learn about delicacy

I'll be wearing pin-striped suits that say

"Renaissance is me"

Alan

(I will occasionally do lyrical sign-offs)

Language in Mark Twain's True Story (ENGL 338)

The first thing that stands out in this short story is how language is used to illustrate class. We don't know much about the narrator, but we can assume he is white and privileged to some extent. In a way, Twain also masks where the narrator lives as his few lines of dialect do not have any accent to them. "Why, I thought—that is, I meant—why, you can't have had any trouble. I've never heard you sigh, and never seen your eye when there wasn't a laugh in it." Compare this to Aunt Rachel, whose words are often misspelled and punctuated in such a way that makes her accent come alive even through written word. "Has I had any trouble? Misto C—, I's gwyne to tell you, den I leave it to you. I was bawn down 'mongst de slaves; I knows all 'bout slavery, 'case I ben one of 'em my own se'f." The second sentence there indicates a lack of formal education (or else she might have said I am going to tell you, and then I'll leave it to you.") Given her background (a former slave) we can use these contextual clues to key in on the character of Aunt Rachel, but the language and how it is written allows that to come alive that much more. It should be noted that her words aren't necessarily wrong. Aunt Rachel does communicate effectively, but how she speaks does give us more insight as to her background, especially when compared to the narrator.

I think: What English teachers should be teaching (ENGL 338)

(Note: Since I originally set this blog up to chronicle my journey to get an English Education Degree, I figure I could just incorporate a required class blog into this existing one. If you're new here, feel free to read my previous posts. They're mostly just book reviews.)

I've often asked myself what I want to teach when I get a classroom (a science fiction genres course if I could swing it, if you're curious. Read my book reviews, you'll notice a trend in what I read!), but rarely have I asked myself what I should teach. I think ideally what an English teacher should teach can be broken down into a few groups: basics, creativity, and exploration.

The basics are things such as grammar. Knowing how to write and speak correctly is an important skill. I think students should know how the parts of speech operate, how punctuation works, and how everything connects together. Taking a grammar course last year, I liked learning about how English works (sometimes in its own special way). Beyond that, knowing the basics gives students the tools they need to take on bigger and more complex ideas.

Creativity is letting students (as much as you can, anyway) find things that interest them. Reading is a great way to learn more about the world and one's interests, and I think that as English teachers it would be alright to embrace our students' interests and let them find stories and books to read that they'll engage in. I think that would make it all the more likely that a student picks up valuable reading skills. In addition, I think having freedom to write is another great way to shape skills. This is not to say we shouldn't teach some stuff universally (for example, I feel Romeo and Juliet should be taught to everyone. Some stories are so engrained in our cultures, that its important to look at where it originated from. Once could argue that such teachings could be listed under "the basics"), but giving students some control over what they read and write about could have benefits.

And finally exploration. One thing we talked about in class today was the differences in English in different parts of the world and country. I think exploring these differences and looking at how language works around the globe can open up the world of language to a student. Teaching students about regional dialects would also expose them to a kind of diversity that is often overlooked. You can also look at different writing styles and see what the style can tell you about the time and place of the writing. I think its neat to look at how English has changed even from the 1800s (the Journals of Lewis and Clark, for instance) to now.

I read: Roadside Picnic

Are you ready for some rapid fire book reviews? Because while I have been reading this summer, I haven't been writting about it. So, here's the first of three book reviews: Roadside Picnic. Roadside Picnic is a Russian science fiction novel by Arkandy and Boris Strugastky. I came across the book through the absolutely awesome blog, io9 and the concept seemed like an interesting one. Aliens have come, they left without saying anything, and now in order to figure it all out, people go (often illegally) into the zones where they landed and take stuff out. A point is made in the introduction of my copy that in most sci-fi novels with an alien encounter, it is the result of something heroic. Our brilliant scientists have communicated with them. Our brave soldiers have fended them off. Our wise president has negotiated an agreement with them. But, what if they just came and left? The thing that the story does that I really enjoy (and is also pointed out in the introduction) is it looks at how this event, a global event, one of the biggest events in human history, impacts a commonor. The main character, Red, takes advantage of the situation by being a stalker (someone who enters the zone illegally and sells artifacts on the blackmarket)as well as working for a scientific agency devoted to the zone. He's not a scientist, really just someone who goes in and out of the zone. Through his eyes, we see how the visit has impacted other parts of society: there are abandoned cottages, the scientific inquiry into the area leads to a slight population boon (though in other parts of the world, no one is allowed near the zones for quite some distance). The story focuses on Red and his day to day life, inserting speculation on the visit and commentary on things happening elsewhere are sprinkled in from time to time. Seeing through Red's struggles and triumphs makes his wish of "happiness for everybody, free, and no one will go away unsatisfied" all the more enduring. This was my first time reading anything Russain, and it was very enjoyable. I thought the ending was beautiful. But would I reccomend it to a high school student? Possibly. The version I bought has an afterword from the authors detailing why it took eight years to get the novel published. Soviet censors had no qualms with the subject of the book, or its message, but rather the swearing and questionable actions by the heroes. As a teacher, I would have nothing wrong with a book with heroes that do questionable things (I do love Breaking Bad, for instance) but the swearing might put this book out of my comfort zone for teaching it. I personally am not opposed, but for job security sake I'm not sure this one would make my bookshelf when I get a classroom. Though, would I reccomend it to a mature student? Absolutely. Next up (tomorrow, maybe!) The Postmortal