Erika Lindemann

Rebecca's presentation came at an opportune time in my life, and I am particularly intrigued by the debate on literature as the vehicle for teaching writing.

In undergrad, I took a class called THE RUSSIAN NOVEL. In 1 semester, we read Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and War and Peace, and wrote a paper on each. I will concede that this was a literature class, not a writing class, but the writing part was pretty intense, and included conferences and multiple revisions of the 4 required papers. It was a very difficult class, mostly because of the sheer volume of reading and then because of the richness of the literature, which demanded some study of history and religion. I did get all the reading done, but I know there were many who didn't. I also knew a number of people who didn't write all the papers, and perhaps didn't pass the class.

If composition teachers are going to use literature as the thing the students write about, they can't be sure everyone will have had the same reading experiences. So they have to pick some piece of literature for everyone to read. Wouldn't it be great if the teacher could be assured that everyone who graduated from high school in the U.S. had read Hamlet or The Great Gatsby (or how about something written in the teacher's lifetime, or the student's)? The teacher could then really teach writing, and there wouldn't be any burdensome reading for the students (although all would have to re-familiarize themselves with the text). Slow and poor readers are truly penalized in college; many of them are quite smart, but lack that quick eye and mind that good readers have.

I'm with Lindemann - there is no need to be teaching literature when you are supposed to be teaching writing. And there is no need to saddle students with a bunch of reading that takes up most of everyone's time, and leaves little energy for working on writing. I'm sure there are plenty of subjects students can write on, and there's shorter and more accessible literary work that could be used, if necessary.