Giving the cannon to the canon.

I'm not a reader. Most people know this. Read my first blog for proof. When I stumbled upon MSN Encarta's article Death to the Classics! it got me thinking. If I ever am teaching an English literature class, I wonder what books are going to be in my canon. I've never understood why Shakespeare was taught in high schools. I remember back in my day when I would sit in the rock hard desks of my two English classes learning about Romeo and Juliet or Julius Caesar. The lectures would drag on and on, sweat would drip down my forehead from the sun beating through the gigantic windows, and I wasted more paper scribbling and doodling then on note taking. Let's face it, I have a degree in theatre and I still don't understand why I need to know Shakespeare.

I also fondly remember the days of Mr. Moen and Mrs. Davidson's silent reading days. Usually, these days only taught me the best reasons (see "excuses") for having to go to the library to check out a new book that would be thrown in the back of my locker and forgotten until its due date. Silent reading tested my patience and my ability to stare at the clock's face. Silent reading days, to me, were a complete waste of class time. It wasn't that I would rather be using my learning time to learn, but at least lectures provided me with more entertainment than Mirror Lake's whitecaps.

However, it's inevitable that I'll eventually have to teach reading classes. While I'm still learning how to conduct such classes, I am continually thinking about what I might want to teach. I remember Mrs. Smith varying the books we read in class to include stories geared more towards girls and action adventure books geared more towards boys. In fifth grade, Mrs. Harper picked out a select few students who were more mature readers to read Lois Lowery's The Giver. This book still remains one of my favorites.

It was said in one of my education classes that we often reteach what we ourselves were taught in school. However, I believe in relevancy and being able to explain to students why something is being used in the classroom. Therefore, the classic canon, unless required by my school will probably be avoided. There is so much more richer, diverse, and interesting material available then Shakespeare, Harper Lee, Steinbeck. Maybe it's my own personal tastes in more modern, American texts, or maybe it's because I was never given the opportunity to learn about books that old, dead guys wrote in an engaging environment. In either case, my personal canon is still being developed, and I'm always on the search for the next great book.