Duly Noted

When I chose to teach a handful of Hemingway short stories in my twelfth grade English class, I did not expect to moderate a heated discussion about acquaintance rape.  Yet, to veer away from the conversation directly counteracts my belief in literature’s ability to tackle the most human and difficult of topics.   Hemingway’s “Up In Michigan” begins innocently.  Liz is infatuated by Jim.  Jim thinks Liz “had good legs,” but “he never thought about her.”  Suspense builds as Jim gets drunk and Liz waits for him in the kitchen.  Thanks to the omniscient narrator, readers learn that Liz is frightened but she goes for a walk with Jim anyway.  Even though Liz verbally resists, the narrator describes, “She was frightened but she wanted it.  She had to have it but it frightened her.”  After the deed is done, Jim passes out, and Liz, though miserable, covers him with her coat before walking away.   Whether Hemingway intentionally wrote Jim...

It's been a while.  I know.  I started to outdo myself with the monthly mommy posts.  Misha is an objectively small wonder, but the world is full of wonder and it is okay if he isn't always in the spotlight.  Especially on the interwebs. So...what ELSE? My classroom is a space that restores me and my gratitude for life.  It is my book club.  Unlike adults, teenagers are reckless.  They don't think twice about criticizing Langston Hughes, and then, in the same breath, commenting on the relevancy of his 1926 commentary on white supremacy and artisthood.  In my class, it is OK to change your mind. Besides Langston Hughes, we've been reading this by bell hooks, this by George Orwell, and watching some of this . At home, I have been reading this and listening to this !