From: laura.kemp_at_att.net <laura.kemp>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 10:25:57 +0000

Is there a difference between reading and responding to these books as


I've thought a great deal about how literature can influence us, especially in childhood as we make the core choices of who we will grow to become. I grew up in an insular world in Wyoming in the 70's and early 80's. I was a shy kid and my strongest tie
 to the world was reading. In college, I learned about different theories of psychological and sociological development. One of the ideas that fascinated me was the idea that we have front stage and back stage behavior. Our front stage behavior is our public behavior. The back stage behavior is when we are with family and friends who know us and we can be ourselves. I combined this with the idea that we are influenced by our families (significant others) and the society around us
(generalized others)
, and as one might expect the significant others are a stronger more immediate influence. I think for most people the books they read are part of that broader buzz of the generalized other, but for some of us who had to have a second layer of front stage
 behavior imitating back stage behavior in order to be acceptable to our families, books could provide a more fitting significant other.

In grade school, Bridge to Terabithia was one of the books which gave me the most hope. I have no idea if we read it as a class or if I read it on my own. What I do know is the impact that it had on me. The scene where the May Belle tells Leslie that G od will damn her to hell if she doesn't believe in the Bible (something I was also taught to believe) let me know that the author understood my religious beliefs. Then after Leslie dies and Jess is crying by the river bank his father sits down with him a nd they talk.

[Jess says,] "Do you believe people go to hell, really go to hell I mean?"
"You ain't worrying about Leslie Burke?" It did seem peculiar, but still-- "Well, May Belle said . . . ."
"May Belle? May Belle ain't God."
"Yeah, but how do you know what God does?"
"Lord, boy, don't be a fool. God ain't gonna send any little girls to hell."

Katherine Paterson had already let me know that she understood the Bible (and what I was taught about it) in the earlier scene, so when I read that scene it wasn't just Jess's father reassuring Jess, it was an adult reassuring me that I could stop worryin g about my teachers and classmates because they didn't know or believe just right. As a writer, through a book, an adult had whispered in my ear what I needed from the significant adults in my life, but which they couldn't give me.

In high-school an English teacher introduced me to The Chosen by Chaim Potok. This was for the last project of the class. We had read many books as a class and then were individually reading books and writing book reports. I was fascinated by the interp lay of religion/family/society and how various understanding of the same religion impacted the individuals interactions in the family and society. The things I struggled with in my religion were the same things that the boys in The Chosen were struggling
 with in theirs.

Both of these experiences were positive. But I had other experiences with books that weren't as positive. One was The Yearling which we read as a class in high school. The killing of the yearling really shook me. I had a visceral reaction to the stor y. But even that negative experience taught me something valuable. When I have that type of a reaction to something, I look more closely to see why. I didn't think the family was worth the betrayal of trust.

Another negative reaction I had to a book was not a class assignment. It was a recurring nightmare induced by Dr. Suess's 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. In first grade I had a recurring nightmare that I was eating taffy in class. The teacher would ma ke me spit it out, and an even larger piece would magically replace it in my mouth.


These are just a few examples of how books played a role in the life/development of one kid who loved reading. I don't think we ourselves, much less our teachers, can know what our psyche's will do with a book. As to the question of whether students ben efit from an adult guide, I don't know. I don't remember what my teachers said about any of these books. Obviously the teacher who recommended The Chosen to me knew me well enough to think I would respond to it, but I doubt he knew how much it would mea n to me. My teachers blended into the buzz of my "generalized other" voice of society, the books themselves whispered in my ear and took on meaning as part of my
"significant other". Maybe the difference between assigned classroom reading and books we c hoose for ourselves is that we stop reading an unassigned book when our psyche warns us that we are treading on thin ice. I wouldn't have finished The Yearling had it not been a class assignment. But, even though reading it was traumatic for me, I learn ed something about myself that I find valuable. I don't regret having had to read it. A book that might be depressing for one child in a classroom might be a life line to the child in the next seat. I don't know how teachers can/should handle this. I know that the "depressing" books I read as a kid were a life line to me. They gave me hope.

Laura Kemp
Received on Mon 25 Apr 2005 05:25:57 AM CDT