June 26, 2010
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I cannot stand ignorance!!!!!
Today my family went to a graduation party honoring the son of a very good friend of ours. The party was lovely and the young man who was being celebrated was much deserving of the honor being bestowed upon him. His parents are proud of him and well they should be. The should also be proud of themselves for the cooperation that they gave to God in raising such a fine young man. They are not the ones with whom I have a beef.
We have been to other parties at their home and have encountered most of the people who were there today. While at the party I entered into conversation with a man that I had met before. A gentleman with a large family who is also homeschooling his children. As most of you out there know I have also educated my children at home, this is not a beef against homeschooling. It is a beef against those who make statements against that which they have no real knowledge. Against those who supposedly homeschool their children to protect them from something about which they have no knowledge or experience whatsoever and yet feel they are qualified to expound on such topics at great length.
This gentleman, upon finding out that I am studying to get my degree in English Literature, made the statement that in schooling his children he is “avoiding the use of so called classical literature in his family’s classroom because there is nothing of virtue to be found in it.”
He continued on to say that such authors as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, and Louisa May Alcott, wrote works that contained such shocking things in them that he felt it was a crime to expose his children to these works of literature, amoung others.
Rather, he and his wife insisted on using short, virtuous works written specifically for “Christian” homeschooler that each had a moral and told a virtous story that were far more uplifting for his children than what could be found in the “classics.”
Had any of my family been standing by to hear this being said to be they would have been cognizant of the red flags that were being waved in front of me. I try my best to be a lady in company and to hold my tongue when, in ordinary conversation, folks say things that I find either irritating or ignorant. But this was far more than even my self-control could stand. Not meaning to offend my friends or to disrupt the party, I very quietly asked the gentleman whether he had read any works by any of the authors that he had mentioned. Bet no one can guess the answer.
Not to leave anyone in suspense, the answer was no. His only experience with any of the aforementioned authors was the viewing of hollywood’s interpretation of their work. I then asked him what his definition of literature. He said it was a story written in a book. Nothing could have been farther than the truth. Again, I mustered all the control that I could and proceeded to explain to him what literature truly is. That the works that he uses, while not bad are merely stories written to prove a point or to capture the imagination for a short time. Literature is much larger and deeper than that. Literature is meant to develop not only the plot but the characters within the story. That the whole point is not only to tell a story but often to bring the reader to a realization of a fact or a situation. Literature is so much than just the telling of a story.
Finally, I tried to firmly, yet convincingly tell him that there is much to edify and teach his children in the great works of literature. That by depriving them of Shakespeare’s Henry V he deprives them of one of the greatest speeches ever written. The speech that Henry gives to his men on the eve of the battle of St. Crispian Day. By depriving them of Hugo and Dumas he deprives them of some very in depth and insightful tales of the French Revolution. By depriving them of the works of Alcott his daughters are being deprived of some of the most pure and beautiful romances ever written and his sons are being robbed of some of the best examples of how young men should behave. The works of Charles Dickens are full of some of the greatest depth of emotion ever written and some of the most beautiful language set to paper.
I don’t know if my impassioned defense of the great works of literature made a dent in this man’s mind but it sure made me feel better. I cannot bear someone who speaks without knowing of what he speaks, especially someone who is, at the same time, giving homeschooling a bad name.
Comments (10)
Go get ‘em! If I hadn’t had an English teacher in HS that thought learning was what school was about I’d have never read “The Ancient Mariner” or “Silas Marner”. She read these works aloud to her classes or had us read them aloud and then there was discussion. No one just told to do it at their own speed in their own time. Many didn’t appreciate her. (She was a bit dorky and had some odd ideas.) But now I know she was one of the best teachers I had. You were right speak up but doubt he is going to change his ways. People like that seem to be totally close minded and not open to anyone with different ideas. His kids will be the ones that suffer when they try to get into college.
People like that do give homeschooling a bad name. I’m glad you spoke up.
It is unfortunate that some people do think like this. To be sure, there are harmful works out there and ultimately it is up to the parent to make the decision. However, it ought to be an informed decision.
@Arnobius_of_Sicca - AMEN!!! My whole point. If you are going to keep your kids from reading some work or other please know why it is that you are doing so. Don’t just ban it because you heard there is bad stuff in there.
Thanks for this excellent article which tells so much about the value of the great classics in English literature! I do hope this man will have been stimulated to think a little deeper by what you shared with him. Hopefully his appreciation for worthwhile reading will be enlarged beyond what he currently is willing to accept.
I applaud your own stated love for good reading. The authors whom you have mentioned made very significant and worthwhile contributions to the literature that we surely need in order to have a well-rounded education.
GOOD FOR YOU! (Thanks too for your friendly comment on my pulse yesterday.)
David
I read a fiction book once of which I honestly can’t recall the title, though it was reviewed as an excellent book. (I was in a book club of sorts.) The main story of the book is of a woman trying to get back to Russia (from America) where her family was murdered, and where her very young daughter had been taken by a neighbor, thinking the little girl’s family had all been murdered. However, many times during this book, the author mentioned, in great detail, of doing a home abortion with lye, a homosexual scene, and many other disturbing things this woman went through of a sexual nature, including becoming a prostitute to earn money. (I had to flip through the pages and hope I wasn’t missing anything when I came upon such filth!) I wanted to stop reading, but didn’t because I thought, what if I do, but the book got better? It certainly didn’t. My question to you is, if there are such things in a book, that certainly didn’t enhance the plot, would you consider not reading further, or do so for the sake of literature? It would have been a good book of a mother’s love for her daughter if the author had not had so many sexual details, things I did not want to know! I believe there are ways that such atrocities can be in a book, but written so as to not think one is reading a dirty novel.
@whteroses I have put down many books that have contained that kind of descriptive scenery that I find totally unnecessary. Even if the book has something else in it that might redeem it, such as a mother’s love for her daughter, that sort of thing takes away from it. Literature to me is more than just a good story or a good plot. Literature is uplifting. Literature, such as works by William Shakespeare which have some quite explict and suggestive stuff in them, these scenes contribute to the totality that helps the work lift the mind to what the story is trying to do for the reader.
I know I am not explaining myself well but I express myself better in speaking rather than in writing. Read the Song of Songs in the Bible and you will see my point. The sexuality is quite explicit in that book of the Bible and yet it does nothing at all to drag the mind and heart down. Rather the whole book seeks only to lift the reader’s mind and heart to thoughts of God. It is not only an allegory about the love of Jesus and the Church but it is also an allegory for the way that couples should pour themselves out in love for each other. Read The Cantata of Love to understand what I mean.
Back on topic, true literature, lifts you up. If you find a book dragging your thoughts down or you find it distasteful, put it down. If you want help with suggestions for worthy things for your kids to read or to read to your kids at all age levels let me know, I’d be happy to help.
Ignorance. The world is full of it. Well-meaning ignorance is often the hardest to fight.
@P_Obrien - You know what happens when my Irish/Italian/ back gets up!
Well said! I also get frustrated at people who makes judgements about books without reading them. I have a friend who thinks Harry Potter books are evil, but she’s never read them. I respect her right to withhold them from her kids, but I also suggested that if she is worried her children will get “bad ideas’ from them, why not read the book together? Then she and the child can discuss anything questionable, and the kid learns how to deal with “bad ideas”. My mom did that for me in high school. I was assigned a book called “Go Ask Alice” but my teacher made us get permission from our parents to read it. My mom read it first, then let me, and made sure to ask me about it when I finished. I respected her for that. She didn’t try to hide the evil from me, but instead guided me and taught me to recognize and resist it, and was there when I had questions. ~ L