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Casey Jones
Charla Hughes
ENC1145 – 27
11 April 2013
Students Won’t Need a DeLorean for this Blast from the Past
Growing up I was often exposed to literary works when I was not intellectually mature
enough to grasp the underlying concepts of them, particularly experiencing trouble when
exposed to societal critiques. In my Books We Read Too Young course the main area of focus
will be transitioning from shallow interpretation to deepened understanding and appreciation of
works that have been introduced to us in past atmospheres through exposure to works that I have
experienced, and had trouble with, in my past. Through multiple writing assignments and
exposure to social criticisms like The Great Gatsby, The Awakening, The Handmaid’s Tale, and
Animal Farm, students will be able to gain a better understanding of books they have been
prematurely exposed to as well as improve their process of organization and thought while
enhancing their writing ability.
The works discussed in this class all share a common theme of critiquing the society in
which they are set in, though from very different scopes. Considered to be “the great American
novel” by nearly every American college and university, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
will be the first work that students analyze (Eble 34). Students will have the most success
delving past surface stories by working with a piece that they are already familiar with.
Therefore, because of Gatsby’s wide audience, short length, and easy-to-read language it will
serve as a great starting piece in understanding basic analysis and interpretation. In Marius
Bewley’s essay Scott Fitzgerald’s Critique of America, Bewley praises Fitzgerald for being “in
line with the greatest masters of American prose. The Great Gatsby embodies a criticism of
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American experience – not of manners, but of a basic historic attitude to life” (36). Students will
study Fitzgerald’s intended criticism of the ruling class and the shallow pursuit of the American
Dream as opposed to the shallow interpretation of solely lavish parties, forbidden love, and
extravagant lifestyle characteristic of first readings of the novel. Further, Gatsby will set the
mood for the theme of societal critique common to all works that will be studied in this class.
As students begin to develop skills in interpretation and deepening their personal
thoughts we will transition to The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Another critique of society, The
Awakening, like Gatsby, skirts on themes of selfishness and forbidden love through affairs and
lavish lifestyles, yet embodies the bigger theme of self-realization and liberation. The Awakening
challenges societal values and introduces a disregard for authority, particularly male dominance.
Because of its controversial elements Chopin’s novel was “dramatically received by society, yet
soon thereafter slipped into a state of neglect” (Griffin Wolf 449). As feminine criticism
becomes increasingly popular so does Chopin’s book, hailing Chopin as “an early advocate for
women’s rights” (449). While this novel is told from a feminine point of view it’s message holds
true to all readers. As college is a time of transition when most people find themselves and shape
their lives, I chose The Awakening as a sort of coming-of-age inspiration; insight into “the
pressures working against woman’s true awakening to her condition,” and the struggles of
transitioning into the desired state of being are essential because they can offer insight to the
experience of self-discovery that these students, regardless of gender, will soon experience (449).
The struggles that Edna Pontellier faces during her “awakening” are universal, inspiring a
connection between readers and the novel as the people experiencing self-actualization, like the
students in my class, have or will face similar struggles. As a young adult it is a common
struggle to face the reality of not necessarily knowing who you are and attempting to figure it
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out. Many college students worry about studying the wrong subject, not automatically making
friends that share their interests, not automatically fitting in, among other concerns. However,
this book will inspire the concept of discovering oneself through time, as a gradual realization.
Once the actualization is realized students will have to face societal interpretation of them,
another parallel they can draw to The Awakening as they read how Edna deals with society’s
acceptance, or lack thereof, of her.
While reading The Awakening I will introduce paper one to the class, a paper focused on
personal reflection during the study of coming-of-age works. This will be an opportunity for
students to express themselves through the discussion of their favorite childhood books and
stories that have helped them develop into the people that they are today. This will also be a
chance for students to delve deeper into their chosen works, through analysis skills learned thus
far in the course, and find deeper meaning and importance in them. As inspired by readings in
The Awakening, students can even go so far as to discuss their own ideas about themselves and
how they are coming along in terms of their own self-actualization.
With the theme of societal ideals of female behavior and an essence of disobeying said
ideals we will make an easy transition to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, continuing
our study of societal critique through an introduction to dystopia. In an article on the resistance
portrayed in Atwood’s work it is stated that “The Handmaid’s Tale is an explicitly political novel
which became an immediate bestseller when published in Canada in 1985 and the United States
in 1986” (Stillman and Johnson 70). Atwood sets up a dystopian world, The Republic of Gilead,
in which women are forced to act as handmaids and bear children for the people in control. This
book dehumanizes women, transforming those “with viable ovaries into two-legged wombs” and
turning women that refused to act as reproduction machines into “unwomen” (Ketterer 209).
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This book “demonstrates the need for sustained political, feminist consciousness and activity
among women by exploring what may happen in their absence” (Stillman and Johnson 70). This
novel not only gives students an insight into the complete control a government can exude over
its people, but a re-reading can help the reader delve deeper into the recurring theme of woman
as a devalued object. It is important for students to recognize the common idea that women are
solely meant to procreate and are worthless outside of their ability to reproduce as it is a concept
that has shaped the way women have been treated throughout history. Like The Awakening, the
feminist undertones in The Handmaid’s Tale help students become more historically and
politically aware, especially in terms of female societal standing.
Furthering the study of dystopias is George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Animal Farm, a
criticism of soviet communism, was first published disguised as a children’s novel with the story
told through farm animals that held a likeness to political leaders. This precaution, though
detrimental to the initial distribution of his book, was necessary to protect Orwell from political
backlash. This novel, like Handmaid’s, gives further insight into the dynamics of political
domination as the animals overthrow the humans that own the farm and then engage in a
communist state with the pigs reigning over everyone else. Animal Farm is often taught in the
eighth and ninth grades, a time too young for the reader to move past the surface story of animal
taking control of their farm and understand the history of the rise of Communism in Soviet
Russia. Until and throughout high school, students are exposed to a “romantic” interpretation of
history; Orwell stated that “history as he sees it is a series of victories won by the scientific man
over the romantic man” and re-reading this novel from Orwell’s point of view can help students
obtain said scientific, factual ideal of history as well as give students a better understanding of
the detrimental effects of too much government power (Partington 48).
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The study of The Handmaid’s Tale and Animal Farm will lead the class to their second
paper which discusses the power of books. Drawing from their own experiences and historical
events students will consider the strength of words on personal thought, political action, and
social evolution. The main idea of this activity is to instill in students the knowledge of the
power and ability to change the world that can be achieved through literature. This paper will
lead us into the final section of our course in which we will focus on a thesis paper.
The thesis paper requires a compilation of the skills students have learned throughout the
semester. Students are going to test their newly developed skills by choosing a novel of their
choice, preferably concerning social criticism as we have studied in the course, and create a
though-provoking argument concerning said novel which calls upon their strengthened thought
process. Students will then have to fully analyze their chosen works and find support for their
argument, drawing on their improved interpretation skills. This will be a chance for the students
to fully express themselves and demonstrate the skills that they have learned during the course.
All of the novels I have chosen for my Books We Read Too Young classes are works that
I was exposed to at too young of an age. Upon re-reading I was able to gain a better
understanding of, and appreciation for, said works. I believe that through their readings and
assignments the students will have a deeper understanding of society, social values, history, and
the power of words. Further, I hope that students will leave this class with a greater sense of how
to analyze and apply the context of various types of literature as well as an improved ability to
communicate their thoughts through writing.
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Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. Ed. Margaret Culley. New York: Norton, 1976.
Eble, Kenneth. "The Great Gatsby." College Literature 1.1 (1974): 34-47. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Ketterer, David. "Margaret Atwood's "the Handmaid's Tale": A Contextual Dystopia ("La
Servante Écarlate" De Margaret Atwood: Une Dystopie Contextuelle)." Science Fiction
Studies 16.2 (1989): 209-17. Print.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm;. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print
Partington, John S. "The Pen as Sword: George Orwell, H.G. Wells and Journalistic
Parricide." Journal of Contemporary History 39.1 (2004): 45-56. Print.
Stillman, Peter G., and S. Anne Johnson. "Identity, Complicity, and Resistance in the
Handmaid's Tale." Utopian Studies 5.2 (1994): 70-86. Print.
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Thanatos and Eros: Kate Chopin's the Awakening." American
Quarterly 25.4 (1973): 449-71. Print.