Snowed in thoughts

I think I'm pretty much snowed in until further notice. Word is that 25N isn't good, and that's where I live! Some thoughts for this week's topic: Boys and YA lit

I'm intrigued by the articles this week. I'm becoming more and more aware of the students I teach, both males and females. As I was reading the articles, it was like a lightbulb of realization lit up, and I had an epiphany. So many times as a teacher, I have to play a tug and war game with my male students when it comes to reading literature. The boys tend to like stories with male characters, especially Lord of the Flies, while many of them prefer not to read "books" because "they don't read." They seem to laugh when Piggy dies for reasons that I thought stemmed from not wanting to have emotion for a feminine boy character. As one can imagine, I appreciated the attention given to this novel in the first article, "Rough Flight: boys Fleeing the Feminine in Young Adult Literature." Some quotes that I marked while reading this article:

"...in order to be fully masculine, man must establish dominance over and, metaphorically, kill off his feminine impulses and inflluences" (212/59).

Quotes from the analysis of Lord of the Flies:

"...if they were to listen to Piggy, they would risk being associated with the feminine themselves" (216/63).

"...Ralph is by no means entirely un-masculine, he does embody many feminine traits. By rejecting Ralph, the boys take their final flight from the feminine" (216/63).

[Regarding the naval officer at the end of the book], "The fact that he is moved shows a glimpse of his femininity. And by turning away from the crying boys, the officer illistrates his own flight from the feminine" (217/64).

I read Lord of the Flies as well for this week's book choice because I didn't make it through all of Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger. The first half of Hard Love that I did read, though, shows many external flights from the feminine yet many internal embraces of it as well. At one point the protagonist says that he felt like crying but of course didn't. He becomes a writer, meets and somewhat falls in love with a lesbian. He is at war with himself and his parents who divorced when he was young. His mom won't even touch him, and he is crushed by it. This is a story, not of a coming to age, but trying to come to an identity. I don't forsee this book being taught in the classroom, or at least in my school, because of language and other content.

Other thoughts from the readings:

Donna Lester Taylor's article "Not just boring stories..." was another realization point for me. I realize that I have many male students who just won't read, but they can program computers, operate combines, or rebuild engines, etc. They are motivated by passion towards their interests. Individual reading is key in my classroom setting to reach students like Gabe. I try to be open about all kinds of reading opportunities. If "Damon" wants to read the latest car magazine, who am I to keep him from that aspect of literacy, just because it's not The Great Gatsby. I am always compromising by making project choices that fit to all levels and interests. Usually when I make learning the text at hand fun, the students are more likely to read. I have many examples to share the next time we meet. On April 3, I will be focusing discussion on motivation and reading. For now, I will save some of this discussion until then.

To conclude this very long blog, I think we need to pay more attention to the needs of both genders and how we can productively address issues of literacy. Not all girls are going to be psyched about car magazines, if any at all; but if we address the gender/literacy gap that is among us, we can ultimately better benefit all students. I would love comments and such if I missed anything, etc.

Snowily yours,
Lisa