Twilight

After months of pretending that "Twighlight" didn't even exist, I finally decided to break down and read it. I suppose I thought that anything that caused such a craze among teenagers (teenyboppers as we so affectionately refer to them as) would be a waste of time. However, I must admit that I was a little curious about what all the rage over this book was about. So, alas, I broke down and read it. In less than 24 hours. It is incredibly addicting! I started the novel at 10 pm and finished it by 10 the next morning. It is not as if the writing is all that complex or moving, but the story envelopes the reader and won't let go. In fact, I was so hooked on this book after reading it that I ran to Blockbuster and rented the movie (a huge disappointment after reading the book!)

In any case, I really like Kelly Byme Bull's analysis that part of the pull on readers for this book is in the characterization. Bull writes, "Readers are drawn into this story because the characters are intriguing and develop complex relationships as the story progresses" (113). I think she has a point. There were points in reading the novel that I winced at the cliches that Meyer uses, and yet I couldn't put it down. In fact, Meghan and I discussed this very issue last week. I kept wondering what is going to happen as Meyer took me deeper and deeper into the plot and into the character's thought processes and I was hooked.

I can't imagine using this book in the classroom, although many of the students would certainly love it! Still, I'm sure that we could pull out themes from the novel that coincide with other, more traditional literature. Perhaps using a few pages or chapters would be beneficial. The other way I can see using this text is in a writing class. Meyer clearly excells at characterization, and it would be interesting to study how exactly she pulls us into the story as an example to be used in developing their own stories.

Final Project Ideas and Information

Topic: Inclusion of students with a reading disability in the secondary English education classroom.
Questions:
1. What kind of testing accommodations are appropriate for students with a reading disability.
2. What curriculum changes are appropriate for students with disabilities? (Is it appropriate to
give students with an LD the same material as given to other students? If we give them
separate material, is there a way to help them "fit in" with the rest of the class?)
3. What kinds of techniques are beneficial to help students with a reading disability develop and
progress towards goals (as stated in IEPs).

I found a great deal of information on this topic. A reading disability is especially important to be aware of when teaching English, and if a student is labeled as having a disability in high school levels, it will likely be quite severe (since many districts require a 4 year achievement gap before providing any special education once the child reaches the secondary education level). Also, students with learning disabilities are the most common group to "include" in the general education classes--partly because this group makes up about 50% of students with disabilities, and because those who only have a learning disability are less likely to cause classroom disturbances. I think the difficulty will be narrowing down what areas I am looking to use in my paper. Pennsylvania supports in inclusion, but many other states are more hesitant, so it is a controversial issue. Further, the question of full inclusion is still being debated. I think I will need to focus on full inclusion, though, because that is going to be the extreme example. There are problems with this too, though. I am not sure if I need to talk about the different resources that English teachers would have--as far a consulting with a Special educator, co-teaching with a special educator. There are just so many possibilities of how this situation would be handled. It is a little overwhelming, but I am looking forward to narrowing down what I am focusing on and getting into the writing.

Persepolis

After a good experience with "American Born Chinese" I found myself anticipating the week when I would read "Persepolis". Is was interesting to see how Satrapi would develop her adolescent girl character and deal with the tough issues that she faced in the Iranian Revoluation. Like "The Book Thief" I appreciated having an Iranian character, because, like the Germans during World War II, I often consider the common citizens in Iran to be just as radical as their leadership. It was also a fascinating read because previous to this book, I never really knew anything about the Iranian Revolution. I feel that it is an important issue that still affects the world today, and since the US was connected to the circumstances, I am disappointed that none of my American or World History classes discussed this particular Revoluation at all.

I also think that this book would be wonderful to use in a classroom setting. As we saw with the article, there is definitely a place for Graphic novels in the classroom, and this one in particular would be a good fit. Satrapi deals with some tough issues--growing up amidst war, conflict, religious zealousness, and so on. She handle's it well, and like Liesel in "The Book Thief", we are again dealing with a young girl who is caught in the middle of something that she had nothing to do with starting. Although most American students have probably not been in the middle of a Revolution, the issues that Satrapi deals with are relateable in the sense that they are--aside from the setting--the same issues that a typical American teenager would be faced with. Satrapi gets a lot of information out for such a small book, and so few words. Like the article said, it can be a starting point for so many things, and since Graphic novels can portray emotion through both pictures and words, it is the perfect place to address the issues of war and struggles.