LGBTQ Literature

We recently had to listen to a podcast, by Crisp, online for class about LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Questioning) in relation to children’s books as well as using those books in the classroom. This podcast brought up a few very good points that I had never really thought that much about.

One of those points was regarding people not wanting literature in the classroom that dealt with LGBTQ, or by authors who were LGBTQ. Crisp made the point that we wouldn’t not allow books in our class by authors that were female, or books by authors that were Jewish so why do people have problems with books by authors who are openly LGBTQ? He brought up a strong point and it made me think that if the book is a good piece of literature, why does the author’s personal life matter?

Crisp also talked about how no matter what you do, whether you bring LGBTQ books into your classroom or not, you are not being neutral. Many people think that by not having LGBTQ books in their classroom, they are being neutral, but by not having them, it is silencing a voice. Not having them says just as much, if not more, about your opinion as having them. I believe that it is good for teachers to have LGBTQ books in their classroom. There are going to be children in your classroom who either are LGBTQ, or know someone who is thus they should have access to books dealing with LGBTQ. Students like to read books about people who are similar to them, and who are going through the same things that they are, and thus teachers should have as great a variety of books as possible so that every students needs are met.

Reader Response

I’m sure we have all taken those classes where we are expected to read a book and to have the same response to the book as the teacher. And if/when we disagree with how the teacher interprets the book, we are automatically wrong, no matter how much evidence we have to support our opinion. This happened to me a lot throughout my school career and, as a result, I began to believe that there was only one way to interpret each book, and I was supposed to be able to see it immediately.

I have been thinking about this lately and I now realize how ridiculous the thought that each book only has one interpretation is. I believe that by teachers telling students that there is only one interpretation of a book, and that every person has the same response to a particular book inhibits learning. Each person has different past experiences and thus a different response to a book. If students are told that how they interpret a book is wrong if it’s not the same as the teachers, they are not given the opportunity to think critically about books. As long as the student is able to provide evidence from the book to support their claims, the teacher should not dismiss them.

Allowing each student to express their opinions about a book will also help the other students in the class. Since each person has different past experiences and thus a different response, by hearing other student’s interpretations of books can help students to expand their views and learn more about the people around them, as well as the piece of literature.

Graphic Novels

Growing up, I was never a big comic book or graphic novel reader. In fact, I had never really read a comic or graphic novel until I got to college. The first one I read was Persepolis for my IAH class. After reading it I thought to myself: “why have I never read a book like this before?” I really enjoyed it. I like the fact that a lot of the set up information in the story, such as the setting/scene, was done so through illustrations as opposed to being written out. Although by having pictures less was left up to the imagination, I like the fact that I saw what the author wanted me to see.

In class, we read Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. In reference to that, we talked about some of the benefits of reading graphic novels. One such benefit is that graphic novels may help get kids who are not interested in reading regular books interested in reading (Ide_GraphicNovel_with_Narration PowerPoint, 35). If a kid is not interested in reading regular novels, they may enjoy reading graphic novels more since there are pictures and the book is not completely words. Also, graphic novels may help students to increase their appreciation of art, as well as their “ability to critique art and writing”(Ide_GraphicNovel_with_ Narration PowerPoint, 35). By reading different types of literature such as graphic novels, students can develop the ability to understand and critique different literay works.

Print Books vs. E-Books

I recently read an article from the New York Times that talked about a study that found that even though many children wouldn’t want to give up traditional print books, they would be more likely to read for fun if they could do it on a digital device such as a Kindle or a computer (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/books/29kids.html). This got me thinking about reading on digital devices.

I have never used a Kindle, computer, or something similar to read a book, and I’m not sure that I would like it. To be honest, I don’t really like to even read shorter article on a computer. I much prefer to print out an article if I have to read it. I like to have the actual book in my hands, and to be able to physically turn the pages. I don’t think that I would like staring at a computer screen for extended periods of time in order to read a book. I think that it would give me a headache.

I am curious to see what other people think. Have you ever read a book on a digital device? And what did you think of it? Do you prefer reading on things like the Kindle, or do you prefer to have books in print?

Which is Better: The Book or The Movie?

We recently read The Hunger Games in class and during the discussion someone mentioned that they were now making it into a movie. It got me thinking about all the other books that had been made into movies, and whether or not I liked the movie after reading the book. I feel as though I am always disappointed by the movies that are based off books I have read, especially when what happens in the movie is different from what happens in the book. One example of this is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I absolutely loved the book, and while I liked most of the movie, they added some things in, that weren’t in the book, that kind of ruined it for me. For example, in the movie, there are many parts where the main characters Noah and Allie are old and living in a nursing home. Many of these parts aren’t in the book, but they put them in the movie. I didn’t really like these parts, and it made me not like the movie as much.

There have also been movies that I have refused to see because I liked the book so much and knew that the movie could never live up to it. One such book/movie is Dear John. I really liked the book but I couldn’t bring myself to go see the movie. While reading the book, I got a certain picture in my head about things such as what the characters look like, but I didn’t think that some the actors lived up to that. As a result, I refused to see the movie.

Has anyone else had these experiences? Or do you find that movies made from books are as good, if not better, than the books they are based off?

Historical Fiction

Growing up I always hated reading historical fiction. I always thought it was boring probably because I didn’t really find history that interesting. Now that I am older, I have really started to enjoy historical fiction novels. I think that now that I know more about the history aspect behind them, I find them an interesting way to learn about different time periods.

A few of my classes in college have required me to read historical fiction such as The Book Thief, and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. I found both of these books to be very interesting and they gave me a better look into how things were during these time periods. Both of these books deal with a time when groups of people were being persecuted; Jews in The Book Thief, and African Americans in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. I have found that by reading about these events in a novel, I am able to connect to the characters and get a feel for what it was like for these people. Reading about these things in a history text book, I always knew that they were terrible, but by reading about it in a novel where I could connect to the characters, I really got a better idea of all the little things that people went through back then.

One thing that was brought up in class that I had never really thought about was the believability of these types of books. This is especially prevalent in The Book Thief. Being in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time plays such a huge role in this story especially involving life and death. In reference to this, someone asked at what point does the story like that stop being believable? Personally, I tend to be an optimist and like to believe that something like that could have actually happened in real life, although when I really think about it, I feel as though it is not very likely. What do you think? Do you think that historical fiction books are mostly believable, or do you think that sometimes the author takes things too far making it unrealistic?

Multicultural Childrens Books

I recently came across this article from Scholastic entitled “How to Choose the Best Multicultural Books”. The article talked about different books that are good for children to read about different cultures. It listed a bunch of books, and also gave tips for picking out a high-quality multicultural children’s book. I found this article a little ironic because we had just discussed Scholastic’s book clubs in class. In class, we looked through several flyers for books offered for various age groups. None of these flyers had very many multicultural books, if any at all. The characters in the vast majority of the books offered are white. I thought it was interesting that Scholastic tries to tell people what books provide good depictions of different cultures, yet they don’t offer very many multicultural books in their ads. This article makes it seem as though Scholastic really cares about getting children exposure to books that properly depict other cultures. If this is the case, however, why don’t they offer more multicultural books in their flyers, which would give children more access to the books that they claim are great ways to learn about different cultures? I believe that it is important for children to have access to many different books about different cultures. Since Scholastic reaches so many different children, providing ample multicultural book options in their flyers would be a great way for children to have access to books that they otherwise may not have access to.