English Class
- Thread starter MandyPug
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I will never forget my highschool english teacher, who insisted that every single book we read had a hidden allusion to the crucifixion of jesus. I mean EVERY book. If there were 3 of something, that was symbolic of jesus and the two who were crucified along with him. If anyone died in the book in any manner, that was symbolic of the death of jesus. It made me absolutely nuts.
In Gatsby there is some reference about him being a man of hope or something like that,which was obviously a reference to jesus dying for our sins and leaving us with hope. Put that one in your paper and see how it flies LOL
In Gatsby there is some reference about him being a man of hope or something like that,which was obviously a reference to jesus dying for our sins and leaving us with hope. Put that one in your paper and see how it flies LOL
It's funny to read some of these responses. My favorite thing about literature is tearing it apart and analyzing it. I love that it's not about a black and white answer but rather how well you can support the conclusions you come to after thoroughly analyzing a text. My mom has a Masters in English and was a middle school English teacher for years and started training me as a kid to spot symbolism and just generally read between the lines when reading. Critical thinking is an essential life skill.
I hate math with a burning passion though--lol. My personal hell would involve sitting in an algebra class with Yanni playing over the intercom for eternity.....
Then again I'm an English major so I might be a tad bias.....
I hate math with a burning passion though--lol. My personal hell would involve sitting in an algebra class with Yanni playing over the intercom for eternity.....
Then again I'm an English major so I might be a tad bias.....
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I'm usually on the fence with these kinds of things. Really though, I think it's all in the approach.
My last (and best) English class involved a lot of reading and analyzing. I, like several others, was not a big fan of such things. I didn't like being told what I should or shouldn't have gotten out of the story. But my teacher was very good about letting us kind of speak our minds when it came to the messages and symbols we perceived. There was the general stuff that was being taught in lessons (symbolism and the like) but she also wanted to hear if you had picked up on anything else. Or if you disagreed with something in the lesson. You just had to be able to make a case for your line of thinking. So I had a lot more fun with it because it became less of a "In this story the king represents god - tell me why/how that is" situation and more of a "What do you think the king represented? Why did you think this" type deal.
What surprised me most of all, was I actually ENJOYED discussing the books after that. We would have class discussions/debates where everyone shared their views, commented, etc. It turned out to be really fun. Which basically tells me that my problem was more with being forced to come to a specific answer in the past rather then the actual analysis part.
Now all that rambling aside, my point is that for me at least, it was all in finding the right teacher with that right approach. I wasn't at all a fan of English up till that last class. I'm glad I did get a chance to change my views though since as many have mentioned, critical thinking, analysis and all that are very much useful later in life.
My last (and best) English class involved a lot of reading and analyzing. I, like several others, was not a big fan of such things. I didn't like being told what I should or shouldn't have gotten out of the story. But my teacher was very good about letting us kind of speak our minds when it came to the messages and symbols we perceived. There was the general stuff that was being taught in lessons (symbolism and the like) but she also wanted to hear if you had picked up on anything else. Or if you disagreed with something in the lesson. You just had to be able to make a case for your line of thinking. So I had a lot more fun with it because it became less of a "In this story the king represents god - tell me why/how that is" situation and more of a "What do you think the king represented? Why did you think this" type deal.
What surprised me most of all, was I actually ENJOYED discussing the books after that. We would have class discussions/debates where everyone shared their views, commented, etc. It turned out to be really fun. Which basically tells me that my problem was more with being forced to come to a specific answer in the past rather then the actual analysis part.
Now all that rambling aside, my point is that for me at least, it was all in finding the right teacher with that right approach. I wasn't at all a fan of English up till that last class. I'm glad I did get a chance to change my views though since as many have mentioned, critical thinking, analysis and all that are very much useful later in life.