Why I teach "This Stuff."

This is an exerpt from the introduction of Teaching Literature Supernaturally.  It is an organized compilation of what I have been telling my students for the past eleven years.

I need to explain why I teach English (Or Language Arts, or Literature or whatever you call it).  My reasons speak to the heart of what I want to help accomplish in this group of ideas.  Every year the first “lecture” I give is titled, “Why do I have to take this class and why do we study this ‘Stuff.’”  When I pose the question to the class, my favorite answer is usually some derivative of “Soes we can write good?”  I suppose that is an easy answer, but a really imperfect one. I feel strongly that if I can’t explain why they need to know it, I won’t need to teach it.   Sometimes the reason is, “because it is on a standardized test,” …but at least that is still a reason.  Therefore I need to explain the rationale behind this course, or more generally the whole series of Language Arts courses that make up the elementary, middle and high school canon of education, in my opinion anyway.  I mean, Language Arts in all its carnations is the only course that is required at every grade level regardless of school, state, or rigor of program.  Math and Science change and are not always required past a certain point, Social Studies has several different forms, but Language Arts is Language Arts, every year.  

                My favorite movie when I was a kid was Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal.”  There is a great scene where the main characters are in a city park/square of sorts and notice marks on the wall.  The girl, Kira, says to the boy, Jen, “What is that?” and he replies “This is writing.”  She then asks, “What is writing?” and he answers, “Words that stay.”  I loved that definition.  At the time, I also remember learning that dolphins and apes, depending on your definition and criteria of intelligence, were as smart as humans and capable of abstract thought.  I found myself fascinated by what makes us different, superior, dominant or more prolific.  And in pondering that question, I began to understand why literature (and by extension Art and now Media) are so important.  

                When a dolphin dies, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean and ceases to affect the world around it.  When I die, because I am a writer (artist, or involved in media) even after my death I continue to affect others on an intellectual/emotional level beyond my geographical and chronological scope.  My words stay.  My influence remains.  This is how civilization exists; this is how we transcend being animals.  In my opinion (and it may be a bit grandiose) it is the epitome of humanity, the proof of our soul.  Oral tradition accomplished that at the beginning of time and over time Literature has EVOLVED to encompass many forms to this end.  Our words stay and we stay with them.  This is why I teach Language Arts.  It is the essence of our humanity.

That, kids, is why I teach, "This Stuff" and why I so desperately want you to learn it.