A history of the United States through American Literature

Since I have nothing better to do (well, I could study for my Praxis, but I REALLY don't want to) I've been mulling about a hypothetical high school course that would teach American History through American Literature.

What I would ideally like to do is use a variety of texts, be it novels, short stories, poems, non-fiction pieces and speeches to guide students through American history. I would also really like to highlight how diverse this country is, and as difficult as it may be, not have text after text from a white man. Here's what I've got so far, with a brief explanation of why I chose them.

Pre-Revolutionary War
Select Puritan Speeches, namely "A Model of Christian Charity"

This speech is where the phrase "A City on a hill" comes from, and since that phrase is still used today in reference to what America aspires to be (or should), its still relevant. Puritan speeches could shed light on why the Puritans came over to the New World and what life was like here.

"Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell.

I read this book a few years ago for a class and I loved it. Vowell does an excellent job of combining history with a witty writing style and connecting it to contemporary culture. I'd also love to use "Unfamiliar Fishes" in regards to the annexation of Hawaii, though I don't know if it would fit into a school year. Obviously, Unfamiliar Fishes comes later in American History, but seriously...Sarah Vowell is a good read.

Revolutionary War:
"Common Sense" Thomas Payne
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" Benjamin Franklin
"The Declaration of Independence".

The most frustrating thing about Franklin's autobiography is that right about the time he gets to talking about forming a new country, he stops writing (perhaps stopped would be the more operative word). Still, it gives a good sense of life in colonial times. Common Sense is possibly the most famous piece of political literature in American history, and well, why not study the Declaration of Independence.

The 1800s, pre-Civil War

This is the realm of the Transcendentalists. I just took 19th Century American Lit, so I'm sort of full of these ideas at the moment. Emmerson and Thoreau are the biggest names. I think it would be necessary to include the writings of Margaret Fuller. For a longer text, students might read "The Narrative of Frederick Douglass".

This is also a time for Western expansion. A friend suggested to me "The Journals of Lewis and Clark", of which I think I may use portions. It is, after all, a very, very long text.

The Civil War

Here's where I think it might be interesting to do something unique. "Life on the Mississippi" by Mark Twain (another book I just read) sort of skips over the Civil War, but its impact is all over the second half of the book. One passage in particular discusses the difference between the war for the North and the war from the South, with the person talking to Twain saying that in the North, few families were affected, while in the South nearly everyone was.

Of course, from a speech perspective, this would include "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln.

Post Civil War:

I really do enjoy "My Antonia" by Willa Carther. Twain discusses the impact of the war on the South. Carther's novel looks at pioneers.

Early 20th Century

"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. This book takes a look at the lives of immigrants in the early 20th Century. So, let's play a fun game of contrasting with...

"The Great Gatsby" F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Of Mice and Men" John Steinbeck
OR
"Grapes of Wrath" John Steinbeck

America is nothing if it does not have a wide variety of social classes. From the lives of immigrants to the insanely wealthy to Depression era farmers and ranch hands, these novels all explore the idea of the "American Dream" and what it means to different people.

Also, we need Steinbeck.

Since I feel that I'll be teaching in Montana, I thought a regional book or two might be nice. "Legends of the Fall" is a good novella focused around World War 1 and dabbles in Prohibition.

This is sort of where I run out of steam, so to speak. I'm not as familiar with the late 20th Century as I perhaps should be, but I did come up with some things...

World War 2:

"Flags of Our Fathers" James Bradley. This is an account of the flag raising in Iwo Jima. I sometimes felt in my history class taking days (its been awhile since then) that the Pacific Theater was somewhat overlooked. I'd also include FDR's address to the nation following the events at Pearl Harbor. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech may make an appearance as well.

The Cold War:
"Cat's Cradle" Kurt Vonnegut.

This may be out of a desire to teach Vonnegut, but not thinking I can get away with "Slaughter-House Five". "Cat's Cradle" satirizes the arms race. If I wanted to include a film element to this course, "Dr. Strangelove" might make an appearance as well.

As for speeches that would speak to the how high the stakes were, I'd include JFK's "We Choose to Go to the Moon" and Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall" speeches.

Civil Rights
The tricky thing about this course is that American history often has many big things happening at once. During the Space Race, of course, comes the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is sure to be in here, as is his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". If I was feeling daring, I might do Malcom X's autobiography.

The 1970s:
"Winter in the Blood" by James Welch. Another Montana book, looks at life on a northern Montana ranch in the 1970s.

Contemporary America:

"Arabian Jazz" Diana Abu-Jaber. As I said, I want to showcase the diversity of America (though I feel this list falls well short of that) and I felt this book could be an interesting way to do that. It focuses on the lives of an Arabic immigrant family in a small New York community. 

Along these lines of diversity, I think it would be interesting to look at Barak Obama's address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. 

The future:

"The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century" by George Friedman 

Look, I don't necessarily know if this fits, but this book is kind of fascinating. It sets out to do exactly what the title says. It is grounded somewhat in history, but from a reading for comprehension stand-point, this book might be worth a look. "What does Friedman say about X....Why?" 

I've asked for help on Facebook with this and I'm hoping people can fill in the gaps here. Help me make this list more complete (especially as we get closer to the present) and more diverse. I have African-American, Native American, and Arab-American authors on here, but I know there is much that I missed. 

For the most part, this is a hypothetical exercise, though maybe someday, I'll cobble it together and teach it. As you may have gathered, not all of these books focus on an event, but are rather a slice of life narrative about living in American society at one time or another. 

I turn it over to you on what I have missed.
 

Observing at Harrison

Since I have to do journals (whatever that entails) for my student teaching experience, I thought I might get this blog back up and running and do it here. Perhaps this will reach through the ethos and some kindly teachers will give me sage words of advice.

Or maybe two people will read it. I don't know.

I've been placed at Harrison High School, which is 50 miles away. Its a bit of a drive, but I think I can manage. A lot of my classmates are in town, but I really think that this placement is going to suit me well. I think it may be outstanding.

Harrison is a small school. The freshman and sophomore classes have five students each. There's one English teacher, whom I will be teaching with. While some of my friends have seventh graders at Belgrade Middle or sophomores at Bozeman High, I will be getting everything. I think this will be a great experience. I'll lesson plan for different classes, teach each grade and ability level, and get a lot out of it. There's talk of me helping out with their media production a bit, which I'm excited about. I did just write a capstone research paper on that topic!

The staff that I met were very welcoming. This started with the cook who asked if I needed assistance. I didn't know what the roads would be like, so I ended up arriving at school a good hour before classes started. I met with some of the front office staff, my mentor teacher (of course) and a few of the high school staff. All were kind and welcoming, and I look forward to working with them.

I did not get to talk to the students very much today, but they seemed like a great bunch and I think they'll be receptive to me coming in. I hope so anyways. The classes I observed seemed energetic and engaged, so I'm excited about going into that situation as well.

I have a plan for the next semester. I'll go back to the school on January 6 and go from there. Two weeks in, I should be ready to start with the Freshman and then add to my workload from there. It is sure to be a busy 14 weeks, one that will be long and yet somehow over before it started as well.

My mentor teacher has said I'll have free reign in teaching, which may be I get to realize my lifelong dream (slight sarcasm) of teaching "Animal Farm". I do get to teach the Odyssey, which I am excited about. When I get the Juniors, I'll be doing a research unit. Since I'm a research geek, I'm ready to go on that front. Since there is one English teacher, I'll do it all: lit, writing, grammar, the whole shebang. I know it will be challenging, but it's a challenge that I'm excited to undertake.

As I drove home today, I felt a bit calmer about going in to the situation. I know I don't have all the answers, and will undoubtedly make mistakes in this 14 weeks. But, I also feel confident to work with the students and help them along their English careers.

I notice that when I talk about not just student teaching, but my future career as well, that I use the word "fun" a lot. "It would be fun to do this..." for example. This isn't to suggest that I take it lightly. Rather, I truly believe that learning should be fun. I think I should have fun teaching. I know it's hard work, I know it will be at times frustrating work, but I also think it's going to be a lot of fun too.

I can't wait for January 6.

Why I soured on NaNoWriMo

I used to love National Novel Writing Month. I've done it three times, even "winning" twice. The first time I did the event, I was in between jobs and the task of writing every day helped me stay as positive as I could. Those that were around me at the time might wonder (correctly) how I was "positive", but it is what it is.

For those that don't know, the purpose of National Novel Writing Month is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. The aim of this goal is kind of noble. How many people want to write, but don't? The event makes you carve out time for writing, makes you sit down and write. Even if it is "crap", you're writing. As someone who enjoys writing, I know that a lot of what I write is crap, whether or not it's part of a marathon sprint.

I enjoy the idea of National Novel Writing Month, but I also know what it has done to me as a writer. As someone who would like to get published someday, I decided to use National Novel Writing Month as  way to get a few ideas started. Both were fantasy novels.

Both are terrible.

I've gone back and read them and hate it. It's the worst stuff I've ever written. There's no thought to the writing. It's just getting words on a page so that I can say I accomplished a goal. While I don't use the "dirty tricks" to get there (I've seen things such as including a characters full name and occupation every time they speak, or just adding needless dialogue), it was still fairly rubbish. I suppose that could be expected for a first draft, but here's the thing.

I ended up hating my characters, my stories, everything. Hated it. Didn't want to look at it. The stories weren't finished at 50,000 words. I went back to continue on writing, but I could not do it. I just hated it to much. I grew sick of the story. Returning to these places that I created became a chore. 

When I first did National Novel Writing Month, I was beginning to flirt with the idea of becoming a teacher. I thought to myself, "wouldn't this be an awesome extra credit assignment? They could get a point for every thousand words they write!" And now, I think "what a better way to turn students off from writing". I will want my students to write, I will want them to engage with their creative side, but I want them to do it in a way that is productive and beneficial. 

I should note that this is my personal experience. But, I do wonder how many of the winners of National Novel Writing Month have similar ones? How many say, "well, that was terrible and I won't do it again". Those that win, but use dirty tricks to get there, do they feel as if they've accomplished something? Do they feel that they are Writers (as opposed to writers, who merely put words on a page, Writers are something more)? 

I came across this article from Salon about National Novel Writing Month. Ironically, I got it from a NaNoWriMo group on Facebook, where it was labeled as "anti-NaNoWriMo drek" . The premise of the article was basically that participants aren't writing anything good (again, stated goal of the event) are ignoring what it takes to be a good writer (reading....and lots of reading), and so if they aren't going to take the writing process seriously, than what is the point? The writing process is NOT just sitting down and writing. It is not just bulldozing your way to the end of your task. The writing process is something that takes time, concerted effort, and a lot of thinking and reflection. I fear that for many of National Novel Writing Month participants, they cut out all of that and just write.

For anyone that comes across this and is ready to blast me for hating on people who create, I am not doing that at all. By all means, write! Create! As one of the commenters on the Facebook post said, "write what you want, when you want". If you feel that you have a story inside of you, than by all means get it out. But, take the story seriously. Take your own creation seriously. Coax it out of yourself, give it lots of thought, develop your characters and your world. Do research to make it more real. Reflect on your story, where it has been and where it is going. Can you do this in one month? Possibly. And yes, I know the saying "write in November, edit in December". But, if you're rushing through the writing part of the writing process, are you really going to give the rest of the process the attention it needs?

Happy writing to you all. I think I'll go visit some of my own characters myself.