The Power of Books

admin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:45:50 +0000

Teaching a Junior High English class is where I found myself early one morning, starring into the eyes of 26 students who for the most part were not at all interested in the book they had been assigned to read. I was substitute teaching and was used to being in situations where the students weren’t very excited about their assigned work. Most of the time I just ignored the complaints, did my best to require silence, and sat down at the teachers desk with one eye on the class and the other on my own book. Today was different though, I picked up the assigned book and looked at the Title. “The Giver” – hadn’t I read that before? I asked the kids what it was about. I got a lot of negative responses like “it’s a stupid book”, “it’s retarded”, “it doesn’t make any sense”. As I waded through the sea of Jr. High commentary, I was able to put together the beginnings of a story that I was familiar with. Then it came into my head, many of the things I had written down about it suddenly returned. It was awesome! I know they say that if you write it down, it will become a part of you, you will recall it easier, etc. I even say that to others all the time. But when you experience it happening to you, its really cool. I knew that this book could change lives. I began visiting with the class about other books I had read that dealt with creating a perfect society. I shared information with them that they were too young to possess. I told them about Plato and the society he wrote about, Thomas Moore and his Utopia, Karl Marx and the Manifesto, the commonwealth tried by the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock and many utopian cities that have been tried since then. What kind of society did they want to live in? Did they like the one they were born into? What kind of society will they create? Did they know there were people in the world that wanted to create societies like the one in the story? It was the shortest class I ever taught. I hardly had any time to read the book to them, which is what I wanted to do instead of letting them read it themselves, and when I did they all listened intently – well most of them did – it was Junior High. I went home that day grateful for my Literary Journal, for the notes I had written, and that by some unknown power they came popping back into my head as if I had opened a file in my mind. I guess its true; The things we record become a part of us and can more easily be recalled. Also, you never know whose lives you may impact with the notes you write concerning the books you have read. Books are full of ideas that change lives, instigate wars, soften hearts, create societies, and so much more.

Journaling » Books and Discussion

The Power of Books