About the Book
What does it mean to 'teach' a poem, novel or play? Surely it is about lessons in comprehension and improvements in language facility, but what does literature teach us beyond literacy? Students can read substantive literature for what its authors intended: an insight into the human condition. Students, even those who appear indifferent, struggle with questions of right and wrong, good and evil, love and loss, self-interest and self-sacrifice. Using literature he has used with his students, MacLean insists that asking the right questions, discussing ideas that still matter, will show students that others have wrestled with the same issues, expressing that struggle in timeless stories. For the teacher of literature, the student of literature, the lover of literature, this book is a reminder of why, in the words of Maya Angelou, 'we stumble and fall, and how, miraculously, we can stand up.' What more important lesson is there?
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction: Why Read Good Books?
Chapter 2 "Who's There?" Cyrano de Bergerac and A Lesson Before Dying
Chapter 3 Rite of Passage - The Odyssey, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Heart of Darkness
Chapter 4 The Quest - Arthurian Legends, Siddhartha, The Song of Solomon
Chapter 5 I Want a Hero - The Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Hamlet
Chapter 6 Or an Anti-Hero - Native Son, The Stranger
Chapter 7 Literary Devices
Chapter 8 A Woman's Place - Medea, A Doll's House
Chapter 9 The Little Things That Matter - Emma, Pride and Prejudice
Chapter 10 Dealing with Loss - "The Wanderer," The Hemingway Hero, The Tempest
Chapter 11 The Need to Dream, Of Mice and Men, The Glass Menagerie, The Great Gatsby
Chapter 12 The Weight of the Past - Oedipus, The Piano Lesson
Chapter 13 Private Morality and Second Chances - The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, The Kite Runner
Chapter 14 Throwing the Good Away - Macbeth, Fences, Death of a Salesman
Chapter 15 Love, Actually - Twelfth Night, Othello, Wuthering Heights
Chapter 16 Some Great Deed, The Iliad
Chapter 17 Final Thoughts
About the Author :
With degrees in English literature from Fordham University and the University of Oxford, John MacLean has been a mill hand, merchant seaman, church sacristan and assistant district attorney, all of which has helped him teach high school English for twenty-eight years.
Review :
MacLean makes a compelling argument for introducing the classics in high school English classes. He cites the universality of themes such as the search for identity, dealing with loss, the need to dream, and other topics with which today's adolescents struggle, just as did those of previous generations. For each topic, MacLean provides activities and questions he has used to promote introspection while teaching such classics as The Odyssey, Canterbury Tales, and The Great Gatsby. He includes a wealth of information about books that could stimulate students' thinking and also help them realize that many of the choices, fears, etc., that they face have plagued humans for centuries. If You Teach It, They Will Read is a must read for teachers as well as administrators whose primary concern, in many case, has been to prepare students to pass state mandated tests, thus limiting students' exposure to quality literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
