T
he phrase “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” is typically seen as an anthem of independence. These words have been borrowed for everything from high-school commencement speeches to product advertisements to episode titles of over a dozen television series. We’ve seen this verse printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and refrigerator magnets just to name a few.[1]

But the closing lines of Frost’s poem aren’t actually a paean of bold self-assertion and uniqueness. In fact, as is often the case with such aphorisms, it’s quite the opposite. One reason this happens is that, quite simply, language evolves. To further complicate matters, all too often the context of these popular wisdoms has been forgotten.

In the case of  “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” the aphorism comes from a poem that is typically misinterpreted.

As Frost himself warned audiences, “you have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.”[2] Even the person who inspired the poem didn’t “get it” at first. What, then, is Frost actually talking about?

What Inspired The Road Not Taken?

As with prose literature, when engaging poetry the author and their life experience comes into play.  Inspiration for The Road Not Taken came from Frost’s mirth over a personality trait of his closest friend in England, Edward Thomas.

While Frost was living in Gloucester, he and Thomas would take long walks through the countryside together. Repeatedly, Thomas would choose a route on the promise of showing his American friend rare wild-flowers or birds’ eggs, only to have the walk end in laments and self-reproach when his chosen path failed to produce any such marvels. Ribbing Thomas after one of their best flower-gathering walks, Frost chided, “No matter which road you take, you’ll always sigh, and wish you’d taken another.”[3]

After Frost returned to the U.S., where he finished The Road Not Taken, he sent a copy to Thomas. Frost’s expectation was that his friend would understand the poem as a joke, and respond with something along the lines of “very funny”…  “stop teasing me.” But as noted above, that isn’t what happened.

Instead, Thomas praised the poem, his remarks indicating he missed the joke. Much to Frost’s chagrin, he would have to explain to Thomas that he’d been the butt of a joke. And, not surprisingly, Thomas didn’t find it the least bit funny. Frost’s joke had pricked Thomas’ already wavering confidence.

None too pleased, Thomas declared he doubted anyone would see the poem as a joke unless they had Frost to personally guide them through it. Frost came to realize just how tricky The Road Not Taken is when he read it for a group of college students – who didn’t get it either. Frost ultimately extended a “Mea culpa” to his good friend.[4]

It’s a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky

A careful reading begins with Frost’s title. His poem isn’t called The Road Less Traveled, though it’s often mistaken to be. Rather, it is titled The Road Not Taken. So, the poem is definitely not about the road the narrator chose to walk, less-traveled or otherwise.

When The Road Not Taken is read carefully, it becomes apparent that the poem functions on a fluctuating rhythm, one that reflects indecisiveness. More significantly, it is evident that the narrator isn’t simply telling us about these vacillating perspectives, he’s experiencing these emotions in real time.

But, here’s where Frost’s trickiness can trip up a reader. Given the way Frost structured The Road Not Taken, when read superficially it can act as a verbal thaumatrope – rotating two opposed visions in such a way that they, deceivingly, seem to merge.

Much like the Victorian-era toy in which two objects drawn on opposite sides of a card – a bird and a cage for instance – are, by quick spinning motion, made to appear as a single image of the bird in a cage.[5] In the case of The Road Not Taken, the illusion is that the poem is from a consistent viewpoint rather than fluctuating perspectives.

But if we engage Frost’s work deeply, and take it line-by-line, we can see the shifts in perspective that lead to the more nuanced understanding Frost indicated.

Line 1: Frost introduces his primary symbol, diverging roads in the woods.

Lines 2-3: The speaker expresses regret for the human limitation that restricts his travel to one road, forcing him to choose between them. It’s clear that making a choice isn’t easy for him, since “long I stood” before reaching a decision.

Lines 4-5: He examines one road as well as he can, but information is limited because the road takes a turn into an area covered by low-lying vegetation.

Lines 6-8: At first blush, these lines seem to suggest the speaker finds the second path a more attractive choice because it appears no one had traversed it recently.

Lines 9-12: Here’s a tricky bit. The speaker backpedals, pointing out that this road is no more or less worn that the first one, that they both “equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black.”

Lines 13-15: Another slippery passage – the speaker tells himself he’ll take a walk on the first road another day. Given the exclamation point at the end of this line, he’s clearly excited about having solved his dilemma.  But, “knowing how way leads to way,” he immediately reverses himself, doubting if “I should ever come back.”

Lines 16-20: The tone clearly shifts here. The speaker is no longer in the moment. Rather, he imagines himself in the future, near the end of his days, talking about the life he’s lived. In perhaps the most subtle nugget of all, the speaker will be telling his audience that “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

The “I—I” ever-so-deftly suggests a pause before the speaker recounts the story, as if he’s taking a beat to remember/decide how to characterize his choice.[7]

Psychologically Speaking

The Latin origin of the verb “to decide” means to cut off (de=off, caedere=cut). The act of deciding is supposed to cut off the deliberation process after a choice has been made. But psychologically, that isn’t the way it works. Instead, the deliberation process actually binds the options together in our memory, and the unchosen option lingers in our minds.

This psychological development leads to an inverse inference of value. In other words, after we realize the consequences of our decision, the perceived value of the unchosen option is inversely related to that outcome. And the stronger our memory is of deliberating between options, the greater the disparity between the value attributed to the chosen and unchosen options.

For example, if Frost’s speaker ended up having a lovely walk on the road he ultimately chose, he’ll remember the other road as having been inferior in some way even if it wasn’t.[8] This phenomenon is commonly referred to as confirmation bias.  And, it’s precisely what occurs in the closing lines of The Road Not Taken.

Remember, he told us both roads were equally fair and equally traveled. And don’t forget the speaker’s pause, as he mines his memory before recounting his story in the future. Plus, we end where we began our examination of The Road Not Taken, by noting that Frost’s title refers to the road his speaker didn’t choose.

So, rather than being an anthem of independence, Frost’s The Road Not Taken is an ode to the decision-making process, and how that activity effects memory. Albeit one that closes with an ironic jest, a witticism meaning – in the parlance of a modern quip – “and that has made all the difference”…  not.

#aphorisms unplugged           #the art of reading

Endnotes:

[1] Orr, David. “The Most Misread Poem in America.” September 11, 2015. The Paris Review.

[2] Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

[3] Thompson, Lawrance. Robert Frost: A biography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981. Pg 234.

Thompson, Lawrance. Selected Letters of Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1952. Pg xiv. https://ia801500.us.archive.org/15/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.111084/2015.111084.Selected-Letters-Of-Robert-Frost_text.pdf

Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[4] Hollis, Matthew. “Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the road to war.” July 26, 2011. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry

[5] Orr, David. “You’re Probably Misreading Robert Frost’s Most Famous Poem.” August 18, 2016. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/youre-probably-misreading-robert-frosts-most-famous-poem/#:~:text=Because%20the%20poem%20isn’t,the%20road%20he%20never%20tried.

[6] Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” The Atlantic Magazine. August 1915, Pg. 223.

[7] “The Road Not Taken.” Encyclopedia.com https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/road-not-taken

[8] Natalie Biderman, and Daphna Shohamy. “Memory and decision making interact to shape the value of unchosen options.” Nature Communications. 12, 4648 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24907-x

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Images:

The Road Not Taken. iStock.com/credit: Alex

What Inspired The Road Not Taken? Boulter, Liz. “Roads taken: the Gloucrstershire footpaths that were the making of Robert Frost.” The Guardian. June, 2021.  https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/jun/14/walking-gloucestershire-footpaths-making-of-robert-frost-and-revolutionary-poets

It’a a Tricky Poem… Very Tricky  https://teacherswebresources.com/2016/03/28/victorian-thaumatrope/  

Taking it Line by Line Photo by Johnny Briggs on Unsplash

Psychologically Speaking  Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

FYI:

This Book is Banned participates in the Amazon.com affiliate program, where we earn a small commission by linking to books (but the price remains the same to you).  This allows us to remain free, and ad free. [Our privacy policy]

I
t’s Rosa Parks Day! Despite efforts to silence teaching about race and racism, teachers are doing their darnedest to ensure that stories like Rosa Parks’ continue to be told. See some of the testimony that made Rosa Parks Day a reality. And take a look at the NCTE’s (National Council of Teachers of English) statement on antiracist teaching.

Some places celebrate Rosa Parks on her birthday in February. But, in keeping with the legislation introduced by Representatives, Terri Sewell, Joyce Beatty, and Steven Horsford to make Rosa Parks Day a federal holiday, we’re commemorating it on December 1st, the day of her history-making arrest.

As representative Sewell noted:

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks sat so that this nation could stand up for the values that our democracy holds so dear.

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Representative Beatty also pointed out:

Rosa Parks changed the course of history when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama – sparking a revolution that ignited the Civil Rights movement. She epitomized the Power of One.

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Plus, representative Horsford admonished:

Her brave and bold actions helped launch a movement for progress and equality, and her story must continue to be told as part of our nation’s history. [1]

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And teachers are determined to make sure this happens.

Despite recent movements to silence teaching about race and racism, teachers are doing their best to ensure that stories like Rosa Parks’ are told. Students engaging in an honest reckoning with our past is essential to creating a more just and equitable society, not to mention democracy itself. And teachers take that responsibility very seriously, as demonstrated in the NCTE’s (National Council of Teachers of English) position statement on antiracist teaching seen below:

Educators’ Right and Responsibilities to Engage in Antiracist Teaching

Overview

Knowledge of the past exists to serve the needs of the living. In the current context, this includes an honest reckoning with all aspects of that past. Americans of all ages deserve nothing less than a free and open exchange about history and the forces that shape our world today, an exchange that should take place inside the classroom as well as in the public realm generally. To ban the tools that enable those discussions is to deprive us all of the tools necessary for citizenship in the 21st century. A whitewashed view of history cannot change what happened in the past. A free and open society depends on the unrestricted pursuit and dissemination of knowledge. (American Historical Association)

Recently, an honest reckoning with the past has come under renewed attack at the federal, state, and local levels. Legislation has been proposed to cut federal funding for schools that use lessons based on the New York Times’s 1619 Project (Ujifusa, 2021) and 27 states with legislation either passed, pending, or under discussion would severely limit K–12 and university educators’ ability to engage with critical race theory (CRT) and antiracist teaching. Such legislation is “designed to stifle a full exploration of the role of race and racism in United States history” (Association of American Law Schools, 2021). In fact, such legislation stands in opposition to the principles of academic freedom and the comprehensive teaching of history, literature, sciences, and social sciences that are so integral to maintaining a democratic society.

Recognizing that the motivation behind this legislation comes from a desire to silence teaching about race and racism, we also know that many people support these bills because they are informed by divisive soundbites used to provoke fear and knee-jerk reactions. As a result, while many educators, educational leaders, and community members across the country may sense that the bills are unjust, they may also lack the necessary background to fully understand, support, and/or actualize their concerns.

This statement addresses these realities and asserts that antiracism must be a collective effort with educators, students, and community members working as partners, taking action together to bring about social change (Kinloch, 2017) grounded in our belief that “Americans of all ages deserve nothing less than a free and open exchange about history and the forces that shape our world today, an exchange that should take place inside the classroom as well as in the public realm generally” (American Historical Association, 2021). With this foundation, this statement was developed in response to legislation that obstructs antiracist pedagogical efforts to create a more just and equitable society, the principles of academic freedom (e.g., 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure), and the right to teach about systemic and ideological racism.

Statement

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) actively follows recommendations put forth by the Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English and the NCTE Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning (2007/2018) to inform and support accurate public discourse around antiracist education. Drawing from and remaining consistent with earlier assertions, educators have both the right and responsibility to engage in antiracist teaching. Recommendations on how to do so include:

• Identify and challenge individual and/or systemic acts of racism and other forms of discrimination and bigotry in educational institutions and within our profession, exposing such acts through external communications and publications.
  .
• Express declarations of solidarity with people of diverse human, cultural, and racial backgrounds to eradicate all forms of racism, bias, and prejudice in spaces of teaching and learning.
  .
• Promote not only cultural diversity and expansive forms of linguistic knowledge, but also explicitly advocate for antiracism by participating in ongoing professional development for educators to productively counter racism and other forms of bigotry.
  .
• Support the enforcement of laws and policies that provide sanctions against racial and ethnic discrimination in education. Also, advocate for legislative reform that will lead to policies that provide sanctions against discrimination in education based on race, ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, class, mental and physical abilities, nationality, and migrant, immigrant, and refugee status.

Furthermore

• Administrators should secure funds and resources to provide opportunities for professional development for teachers and instructional programs that affirm cultural diversity and expansive forms of linguistic knowledge among all students.
  .
• All educational stakeholders—policymakers, parents and families, and the general public—understand that they can best support educators or teacher professionals and students by actively participating in public conversations about racism and bigotry in our multilingual and multicultural American society, defined in the key opening words of the United States Constitution’s Preamble, “We the People . . . . ”

NCTE also advocates for support for educators at all levels, administrators, students, parents and families, and communities to deepen understandings of antiracist education that includes and emphasizes:

• the importance of antiracist education in a democratic society;
  .
• that teaching racial histories and antiracist education do not constitute anti-Americanism but serve as one element in an education that supports the development of informed citizens who can work toward a more equitable society;
  .
• antiracist education as the antithesis of teaching that one race is superior to another or that anyone should feel guilty for the past actions of members of their race; and that “educators must provide an accurate view of the past in order to better prepare students for community participation and robust civic engagement” (American Historical Association, 2021) in the present and into the future;
  .
• antiracist teaching as that which encompasses the complexity of history including but not limited to systemic and ideological racism, as well as nuances and rich histories of who we are as peoples, including joys, accomplishments, resistance, and resilience;
  .
• research demonstrating how children receive racialized messages in the first years of life, necessitating that antiracist education begin with our youngest children;
  .
• strategies for countering rhetoric of fear and reactions to it that would prohibit antiracist teaching at any level (legislation, book bans, curricular bans, withdrawal of funding, etc.);
  .
• clarification that critical race theory is one of many research-based theoretical frameworks (such as behaviorist, sociocultural, constructivist, critical disabilities, and feminist theories, to name a few) originating in legal studies in the 1970s as a framework for “understanding . . . racial inequity within our social, economic, political, legal, and educational systems . . . even absent of individual racist intent . . . among other exclusionary systems [sexism, classism, homophobia, etc.]” (American Association of Law Schools, 2021).

Stories like Rosa Parks’ matter, because they’re part of our nation’s history. And teachers are on the front lines in the battle against silencing education about race and racism in this country. As this position statement demonstrates, they take this responsibility very seriously.

I
t’s Native American Heritage Month! November has been designated as a time to recognize the contributions, and unique, essential achievements of Native peoples both past and present. And, we’re shining a light on influential activist Zitkála-Šá.

Examples of fundamental contributions Native Americans have made to our society include:

• The cultivation of corn to make it more edible and bountiful. Then they taught European colonists how to grow it.[1]
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• We can thank Native Americans for baby bottles and infant formula too.[2]
  .
• And then, there’s American democracy itself. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention drew inspiration from the centuries-old Iroquois Confederacy.[3]

Native American communities have passed down rich cultures, traditions, knowledge, and ways of life since time immemorial. Also noted in this year’s presidential Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month is the difficult historical fact that:

Native people were pressured to assimilate, banned from practicing their traditions and sacred ceremonies, and forced from their homes and ancestral homelands.[4]

So, we’re shining a spotlight on Zitkála-Šá (pronounced Zit-KAH-la-shah), because her compelling accounts of life during this period and growing up in an Indian boarding school, are among the first not to be filtered through a translator.[5] Her books may not have been banned, but she wrote about traditions that were.

Born in 1876 (the same year as Little Big Horn), Zitkála-Šá (which means Red Bird in the Lakota language) was a Yankton Dakota educator, writer, translator, editor, musician, and political activist. In fact, she’s considered one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20^th century.[6]

Also known by her Anglicized and married name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Zitkála-Šá was an active member of the Society of American Indians, the first national American Indian rights organization run by, and specifically for, American Indians.[7]

She was also a co-founder of the National Council of American Indians, established in 1926 to advocate for Native people and the civil rights they had long been denied – United States citizenship in particular. She served as president of the council until her death in 1938.[8]

Zitkála-Šá was among the post-Wounded Knee generation of Sioux resistance fighters who realized there was little chance of restoring traditional ways. And, understood that the militant defense that had temporarily sustained a modicum of sovereignty was no longer an option.

So, she used the tools her historical period offered. Utilizing rhetoric, writing, organization, lobbying, and activism, she formulated a response to white rule that called for Indian cultural renewal and political independence.[9]

She sharply criticized the practices of Indian boarding schools she grew up in, highlighting the grievous loss of tribal culture that results from these schools’ assimilationist practices. Concerned about the effect such culture-squashing tactics were having on the tribe’s children, Zitkála-Šá’ set out to become the literary counterpart of her tribe’s oral storytellers:

...while the old people last I want to get from them their treasured ideas of life. This I can do by living among them.[10]

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The stories she collected became her first book Old Indian Legends, which retells stories of Sioux mythological and trickster figures.

Zitkála-Šá also wrote autobiographical stories, allegorical fictions, and essays, which were printed in national publications such as Atlantic Monthly, and Harper’s. This collection of writings became her second book American Indian Stories.[11]

And she wrote the libretto for an opera based on the Sun Dance, Wiwáŋyaŋg Wačípi, the most important ceremony practiced by the Lakota (and nearly all Plains Indians), which was banned by the U.S. government in 1883.[12]

The preface Zitkála-Šá wrote for Old Indian Legends parallels sentiments present in Rudine Sims Bishop’s landmark article Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.[13]

These legends are relics of our country’s once virgin soil. These and many others are the tales the little black-haired aborigine loved so much to hear beside the night fire.

For him the personified elements and other spirits played in a vast world right around the center fore of the wigwam.

Iktomi, the snare weaver, Iya, the Eater, and Old Double-Face are not wholly fanciful creatures.

There were other worlds of legendary folk for the young aborigine, such as “The Star Men of the Sky,” “The Thunder Birds Blinking Zigzag Lightning,” and “The Mysterious Spirits of Trees and Flowers.”

Under an open sky, nestling close to the earth, the old Dakota story-tellers have told me these legends. In both Dakotas, North and South, I have often listened to the same story told over again by a new story-teller.

While I recognized such a legend without the least difficulty, I found the renderings varying much in little incidents.  Generally one helped the other in restoring some lost link in the original character of the tale. And now I have tried to transplant the native spirit of these tales – roots and all – into the English language, since America in the last few centuries has acquired a second tongue.

The old legends of America belong quite as much to the blue-eyed little patriot as to the black-haired aborigine. And when they are grown tall like the wise grown-ups may they not lack interest in a further study of Indian folklore, a study which so strongly suggests our near kinship with the rest of humanity and points a steady finger toward the great brotherhood of mankind, and by which one is so forcibly impressed with the possible earnestness of life as seen through the teepee door! If it be true that much lies “in the eye of the beholder, then in the American aborigine as in any other race, sincerity of belief, though it were based upon mere optical illusion, demands a little respect.

After all, he seems at heart much like other peoples.[14]

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Zitkála-Šá clearly intended this collection of legends to be a mirror for the young people of her tribe, allowing them to see themselves and their culture portrayed in a loving and respectful manner.

She also makes it clear that these stories are also a window into the world of “the little black-haired aborigine” for “the blue-eyed little patriot.”[15]

And she’s hopeful that this collection of legends will function as a sliding glass door. That it will encourage the white children of her day to grow “tall like the wise grown-ups,” to see “the great brotherhood of mankind,” and understand that her people are “at heart much like other peoples.”[16]

Her books may not have been banned, but Zitkála-Šá was certainly writing about traditions that were. And she was doing so in the hope, like so many free speech activists today, that her efforts would allow a marginalized people to see themselves portrayed with respect. Also, to enlighten readers whose lives were different from those in that community. And in doing so, opening the door for empathy and mutual understanding.

Zitkála-Šá’s writings continue to be enlightening, and remain relevant – every month, not just during Native American Heritage Month.

#history       #Native American Heritage Month        #Zitkala-Sa           #banned authors

Endnotes:

[1] “Corn, Cultivation and Native Americans.” September 30, 2018. Real Archeology.

Kiger, Patrick J. “10 Native American Inventions Commonly Used Today.” October 5, 2023  History.com https://www.history.com/news/native-american-inventions

[2] Parker, Arthur C. “Iroquois Uses of Maize and other Food Plants.” Education Department Bulletin, 1910. New York State Museum. Pg 102.

[3] Little, Becky. “The Native American Government That Helped Inspire the US Constitution.” July 12, 2023. History.com.

[4] “A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month.” The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/31/a-proclamation-on-national-native-american-heritage-month-2023/

[5] Zitkála-Šá. Dreams and Thunder: Stories, Poems, and The Sun Dance Opera. Edited by P. Jane Hafen. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. Pg xii.

Lewandowski, Tadeusz. Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkála-Šá. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. Pg 12.

[6] Zitkála-Šá. Dreams and Thunder: Stories, Poems, and The Sun Dance Opera. Edited by P. Jane Hafen. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. Pg xvii. According to Dr. Craig Howe (citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and founder & director of the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies), Šá is the ceremonial form of “red” and is closer to “scarlet.”

Baym, Nina. Norton Anthology of American Literature (7^th edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.

[7] Rappaport, Helen. Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers.  London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2001. Pp 101-104.

[8] Baym, Nina. Norton Anthology of American Literature (7^th edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.

[9] Lewandowski, Tadeusz. Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkála-Šá. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. Pp 10-16.  Such demands would later be echoed during the Red Power era of the early 1970s.

[10] Letter to Carlos Montezuma dated February 20, 1901. In Fisher, Dexter. “Zitkála-Šá: The Evolution of a Writer.” American Indian Quarterly, August 1979. Vol. 5, No. 3. Pp 229-238.

[11] A collection of Zitkála-Šá’s letters, speeches, and previously unpublished writings, has recently been compiled and published as part of a series produced by the International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology.

[12] The Sun Dance – Wiwáŋyaŋg Wačípi. https://aktalakota.stjo.org/seven-sacred-rites/wiwanyang-wachipi-sun-dance/

[13] Bishop, R. S. “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Perspectives, 6 (3).

[14] Zitkála-Šá. Old Indian Legends. Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1902. Pp v-vi.

[15] Zitkála-Šá. Old Indian Legends. Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1902. Pp v-vi.

[16] Zitkála-Šá. Old Indian Legends. Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1902. Pp v-vi.

Image:

Gertrude Käsebier, 1898. National Museum of American History-Smithsonian.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1006125

W
hy is it important to know about these literary devices? Like symbolic language, literary devices are techniques that authors use to take their writing beyond its straightforward, literal meaning. They’re tools to guide the reader in how to read a particular work for more than simple plot.

Literary devices are often employed for emphasis or clarity. They’re also used to get a reader to connect more strongly with the story as a whole, specific characters, or even particular themes. And sometimes, they just make the reading more fun… but even that tells us a lot about the author and what they have to say.

Here’s a crash course in some of the more common literary devices:

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Alliteration:

A series of words that start with the same sound. These sounds are typically consonants, so there’s more stress on that syllable. Think tongue twisters, book titles and often poetry.

Example: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” In this tongue twister, the “p”  sound is repeated at the beginning of all major words.

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Allusion:

No, this isn’t an illusion, though the two are often confused with one another. An allusion is a reference to a person, place, thing, or even an event outside the text. Many allusions refer to other works of literature.

Example: The title of Steinbeck’s work Of Mice and Men is an allusion to a line in Robert Burn’s 1785 poem To a Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough… “The best-laid schemes of Mice and Men Go oft awry.”

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Anachronism:

This is when someone or something associated with a particular historical time is put in the wrong time period for effect.

Example: The entire premise of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court hinges on this literary device.

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Anaphora:

When a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences to create rhythm or emphasis.

Example: J.D. Salinger employed anaphora in The Catcher in the Rye: “It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place.”

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Anecdote:

A brief story or narrative used to engage the reader, provide real-world context, or humanize abstract concepts.

Example: In Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch, Meara relays an anecdote that provides the audience with insight into the relationship between the book’s main characters:

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I’ll tell you they were in love. Young and wild for each other. Happy in it, though they scraped and squabbled. She was going into seventeen when they came together the first time. It was after they’d been together the mark came on him. He didn’t tell her. I don’t know whether to blame him for that, but he didn’t tell her. And when she found out, she was angry, but more, she was devastated.

Anthropomorphism:

When nonhuman figures become human-like characters.

Example: A lot of cartoon characters function on this device, think SpongeBob Square Pants – kitchen sponges just don’t do the things he does. For that matter, starfish don’t behave like Patrick does either.

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Colloquialism:

The use of informal language and slang, which gives a sense of realism to the way characters speak. But this devise isn’t restricted to dialogue, it can also make any text more relatable… as if the reader is having a conversation with the author.

Example: It’s more colloquial to say “What’s up?” instead of “How are you doing?”

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Double Entendre:

A form of word play where a word or phrase has two possible meanings.

Example: Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest functions on the double-meaning of the word earnest. Protagonist Jack Worthing leads a double life. To his lover in the countryside, he’s Jack, while his lover in the city knows him as Ernest. After a series of deceptions, this character realizes the necessity of being true to himself. In the final line of the play, Jack comes to understand the importance of being “earnest,” a double entendre on “Ernest.”

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Enjambment:

A literary device used in poetry. Simply put, it’s when the end of a phrase extends past the end of a line.

Example: T. S. Eliot uses enjambment in The Waste Land to evoke the changing seasons. He ends most lines with verbs to describe and emphasize the metamorphosis that is taking place.

.
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

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Epigraph:

A famous quotation or short passage placed at the beginning of a larger text. As an introduction to a book, or as the header to a chapter. They’re typically written by a different author (with credit given) and serve to introduce overall themes in the work or messages within the chapter in question.

Example: At the beginning of The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway included a quote from poet Gertrude Stein, “You are all a lost generation.” Stein’s words came to define the literary community Hemingway belonged to (which also includes F. Scott Fitzgerald, T. S. Eliot, and Archibald MacLeish).

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Flashback:

An interruption in the narrative that portrays events that have already taken place… either before the work’s established “present” time, or before the time when the narration is taking place. It’s typically used to give the reader more background information about particular characters, plot points, and so on.

Example:  Most of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is a flashback, as Nelly Dean tells the Lockwood character about the childhoods of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, their budding romance and tragic demise.

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Foreshadowing:

When the author hints at what’s going to happen later in the story, through things like description, dialogue, or characters’ actions.

Example: Atticus Finch’s explanation of courage to his children in To Kill a Mockingbird:

.
It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

This passage foreshadows the outcome of Finch’s legal case.

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Hyperbole:

An exaggerated statement, one not meant to be taken literally by the reader. Used for emphasis, or often for comedic effect.

Example: “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” The speaker isn’t actually going to eat an entire horse. That’s a ludicrous proposition, but it serves to emphasize how hungry the speaker is.

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In Medias Res:

This latin phrase is used to describe when a story opens with the main character already in the middle of things, bringing the reader front and center into the fray.

Example: Within the first lines of Homer’s Iliad, the reader is dropped directly into the midst of the Trojan War, the actions of warring Greeks and Trojans unfolding around them.

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Irony:

The colloquial use of this word highlights the difference between “what seems to be” and “what is.” Someone having a bad day, for example, might say that they’re doing “greaaat.” But, when it comes to literature, the irony is typically conditional, creating situations that unfold in ways contrary to what one would expect.

Example: O. Henry’s short story The Gift of the Magi is a classic example of situational irony.  The story revolves around a couple who can’t afford to buy Christmas gifts for each other.  They each sell their most treasured possession, so they buy a gift for the other one. However, they both discover that, because of what each of them chose to sell, their gifts for each other are now unusable.

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Jargon:

A word or phrase specific to a profession or industry, typically only understood by members of the group who use these terms as part of their field of expertise. When used in dialogue, this device can help define a text’s characters.

Example: In 1950s-diner-speak, scrambled eggs on toast is “Adam and Eve on a raft and wreck ’em.”

In the case of George Orwell’s 1984, however, jargon serves to establish Oceania’s dystopian nature.

.
The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. Their names, in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty.

We wouldn’t understand the highlighted words without context, because we’re not part of the world Orwell created.

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Juxtaposition:

Placing contrasting ideas next to each other, typically to produce a thought-proving or ironic effect.

Example: The opening lines of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.

.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…  

Dickens situates his characters into a world of contrasts, reflecting the extreme wealth disparities of pre-Revolution France.

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Metonym:

When a related word of phrase is substituted for the thing it’s referring to.

Example: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s statement contains two examples: “the pen” referring to the written word, and “the sword” which refers to military force/violence.

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Mood:

The general atmosphere and emotional complexion, designed to evoke particular feelings in the reader. This can be achieved through setting, description, dialogue, and word choice.

Example: Hamlet is about death, grief, and madness. Shakespeare establishes an ominous mood by setting the first scene at night, and there’s a lot of dialogue about being fearful. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, on the other hand, uses fantastical imagery, and lighthearted language set a whimsical mood.

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Motif:

A recurring theme or element in a literary work, typically used to emphasize or reinforce a particular idea or concept.  Motifs can be images, symbols, actions, or phrases, that appear throughout a text.

Example: The color green in Shakespeare’s Othello represents jealousy. And, fire is a motif that appears throughout Jane Eyre, appearing around situations dealing with strong emotions.

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Onomatopoeia:

A word, or group of words, that imitates the sound it stands for.

Example: Honk, pow, meow, bow-wow, boom, clip-clop, plop are just a few.

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Oxymoron:

A figure of speech where contradictory terms appear together. They’re useful in creating unexpected or comical contrast.

Example: In The Call of the Wild, Jack London describes the Aurora Borealis as “flaming coldly.” Jumbo shrimp, and deafening silence are a couple of others.

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Paradox:

A statement that seems illogical or self-contradictory, but upon investigation, might turn out to be true.

Example: Hamlet’s line, “I must be cruel only to be kind.” Or Yogi Berra’s observation “nobody goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.”

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Paronomasia, better known as a pun:

A form of word play that functions on multiple meanings of a term or similar-sounding words to create humor, or a sense of playfulness.

Example: “I used to be a baker, but I couldn’t make enough dough.” Here’s another one for ya’: “Time flies like an arrow; and fruit flies like a banana.”

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Personification:

When a nonhuman figure or abstract element is described as having human characteristics. This differs from anthropomorphism, where non-human figures become  human-like characters.

Example: A rug that’s tired of being stepped on. When Rita hears the last piece of pie calling her name. Or when lightning dances across the sky.

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Satire:

A genre that criticizes something, such as a person, belief, government, or society, typically employing humor, irony, and hyperbole to make the author’s point.

Example: In Gulliver’s Travels when Jonathan Swift depicts Lilliputians as being at war with the empire of Blefuscu over religious doctrine that mandates which end of an egg should be broken.

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Soliloquy:

A type of monologue often used in dramas, when a character speaks to themself, and in doing so, reveals their inner thoughts and feelings to the reader/audience.

Example: Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech is probably the best-known soliloquy in the world.

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Synecdoche:

When part of something is used to represent the whole. It’s similar to a metonym, the difference being that a metonym doesn’t necessarily represent the whole – merely something associated with the word used.

Example: “The crown” is a synecdoche for the monarchy. Shouting “all hands on deck” is clearly a call for whole human beings.

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Tone:

This device has the power to shape the entire narrative. It’s closely related to mood. While mood is the overall feeling of a text, however, tone conveys the narrator’s attitude, opinion, or feelings about the situation being described.

Example: When describing the setting of a party, does the narrator characterize the red light falling a door as “fallen rose petals” or as “a smear of blood”? Needless to say, the difference between these two phrases lets the reader know whether the narrator is looking forward to this event, or terrified of it.

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Verisimilitude:

The appearance of being real or true in a literary work. It’s employed to make stories more believable and convincing.

Example: Realistic dialogue that reflects how people actually speak, or spoke during a particular period in history. Detailed descriptions of settings create a sense of place. Accuracy is key when describing an actual location.

Check out these companion articles on The Art of Reading:

Novels Are Like a Layer Cake,
Be Sure to Get Every Bite.

#the art of reading      #literary devices     #symbolic language

Sources:

Muniz, Hannah, “The 31 Literary Devices You Must Know.” January 25, 2020. PrepScholar.
https://blog.prepscholar.com/list-of-literary-devices-techniques

Glatch, Sean. “112 Common Literary Devices: Definitions, Examples, and Exercises.” January 26, 2023. Writers.com.
https://writers.com/common-literary-devices

“Literary Devices: 55+ to Enrich Your Writing.” Self-Publishing School.
https://self-publishingschool.com/literary-devices/

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Image:

Photo by Hunter Haley on Unsplash

FYI:

This Book is Banned participates in the Amazon.com affiliate program, where we earn a small commission by linking to books (but the price remains the same to you).  This allows us to remain free, and ad free. [Our privacy policy]

I
t’s National Family Literacy Day, so carve out some time to read with your young ones today, or perhaps read to them. Families have a lot to gain from reading together. And that doesn’t just apply to toddlers and kindergartners.

Reading aloud with our tweens and teens addresses a number of the issues that lead to the poor reading scores we see beyond the eighth grade.

As a parent, it’s easy to get caught up in daily concerns like deadlines, finances, and health. All too often, it seems like there just isn’t time to settle down with your children and crack open a good book.

But it’s never too late to start a good habit like family reading hour. Reading together not only provides valuable family bonding time, it helps your kids become better students and thinkers. And not just toddlers and kindergartners.

Over 50% of five-year-olds are read aloud to 5-7 days a week. But, this number drops dramatically with each additional year of age. The most common reason cited is that at this point “children can read on their own.”[1] But, it’s beneficial to continue reading to kids even after they become tweens and teens.

This diminishing percentage of children who are read aloud to parallels the striking drop in reading test scores between fourth and eighth grade testing brackets.

International statistics indicate that American children under the age of 10 are proficient at identifying words and summarizing the main topic of a text. By age 15, however, only 14% of U.S. children excel at reading.[2]

Reading aloud to our tweens and teens addresses a number of the issues that lead to the poor reading scores we see beyond the eighth grade.

As Susan Engel (senior lecturer of developmental psychology and founding director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College), and Catherine Snow (linguist and professor of cognition and education at the Harvard Graduate School of  Education) point out, “probing conversation is key to helping children become good readers.” [3]

When kids are more engaged, comprehension improves. Reading aloud allows you to tweak their engagement by asking what they think might happen next, why a character behaves they way they do, and so on.

You can boost knowledge acquisition by talking about the work’s genre, for example, and how it connects to the era in which the writer lived. And, by identifying common themes between different books.

In addition, according to educator Jim Trelease, a child’s reading level doesn’t catch up to their listening capacity until about the eighth grade. As a result, reading aloud increases vocabulary.[4]

Not only do kids who are read to encounter more words than they otherwise would, they learn to recognize and pronounce them correctly. And, not surprisingly, studies show that having a large vocabulary helps students perform better in school.

In a world filled with fast-paced games and television shows, reading aloud to our children helps them develop an increased attention span. By virtue of the slower-paced medium, they learn to slow down, focus, and concentrate.

Needless to say, reading aloud to your children no matter their age, is in itself a bonding experience. But it also allows you to talk about difficult subject matter in a safe place, some of which (like bullying) they may be experiencing themselves.

Unfortunately, a lot of books with such important themes may have been banned. All the more reason to read them together at home. And today’s the perfect day to get started (or resume) reading aloud with your young ones.

#benefits of reading            #literacy

Endnotes:

[1] Kids & Family Reading Report. 7^th Edition. The Rise of Read-Aloud. Scholastic, 2019.

[2] Susan Engel and Catherine Snow. “Our kids aren’t good readers. Here’s the reason.” Washington Post Opinion. October 4, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/04/reading-comprehension-knowledge/

[3] Susan Engel and Catherine Snow. “Our kids aren’t good readers. Here’s the reason.” Washington Post Opinion. October 4, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/04/reading-comprehension-knowledge/

[4] McMahon, Regan. “10 Reasons You Should Read Aloud to Big Kids, Too.” January 30, 2020. Common Sense Media.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/10-reasons-you-should-read-aloud-to-big-kids-too

Image:

Reading Family:    From Freepik.com

FYI:

This Book is Banned participates in the Amazon.com affiliate program, where we earn a small commission by linking to books (but the price remains the same to you).  This allows us to remain free, and ad free. [Our privacy policy]

And I got to see that in person in Florida when I did that event there. When I did the whole book tour, I did feel like I was preaching to the choir. I wasn’t allowed to go to the school board meeting, and all the things I set up were banned book events. So, if you came, you probably weren’t a person who needs to be reached.

There were a lot of people who came up to me and said they agreed but were afraid to say something, that they’re on a school board, or work somewhere that makes speaking up a problem – or they’re just trying to avoid being labeled a pedophile. But by the end of the event, they’d say “I get it now. It’s gonna be difficult, but I’m going to say something.”

Be sure to see what the other authors in our Power of Books Series
have to say about the importance of books: 

Dr. Michael Datcher,
author of Harlem at Four

Jamie Jo Hoang,
author of My Father the Panda Killer

Edward Underhill,
author of Always the Almost,
and This Day Changes Everything

#banned books      #on censorship     #graphic novels        #book banning       #activism

Endnotes:

[1] Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada, illustrated by Ko Hyung-Ju. Banned Book Club. Chicago: Iron Circus Comics, 2020. Back cover.
[2] NCTAsia. https://www.nctasia.org/awards/year/2020/
[3] Minuteman Library Network. https://www.minlib.net/booklists/award-winners/eisner
[4] Alverson, Brigid. “’Banned Book Club’ Authors Speak Out After Their Work Is Temporarily Banned in Florida.” May 02, 2023. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/Banned-Book-Club-Authors-Speak-Out-After-Their-Work-is-Temporarily-Banned-in-Florida
[5] The text of Florida law HB 1467 may not explicitly impose felony penalties, but that doesn’t mean failure to comply can’t result in jail time. Having books in classroom libraries not approved by a “certified media specialist” leaves school librarians and teachers open to charges of a “felony of the third-degree” under Florida statute 847.012 (regarding Obscenity Crimes), which carries a penalty of “a term of imprisonment” for up to 5 years.

School districts are taking this seriously. Administrators have sent guidance to their teachers and staff to remove any unvetted books from classroom libraries until they could be approved, citing urgency based on the Obscenity statute mentioned above. https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/02/01/felony-charges-unapproved-books/ , https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1467/BillText/er/PDF , http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0800-0899/0847/Sections/0847.012.html

T
he Crucible is a notable example of how literature is like a layer cake. Arthur Miller’s account of why he came to write this play also touches upon how it is written, outlining the multi-layered nature of the work. Miller’s delineation of his play’s layers demonstrates why it’s important to get every bite of literary confections like The Crucible.

When The Crucible first opened on the Broadway stage in 1953, America was in the midst of what’s known as the Red Scare, a period of public hysteria about a perceived internal Communist threat.[1] The American psyche was fixated on the Congressional investigations being conducted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.[2]

The House Un-American Activities Committee targeted the Hollywood film industry, ushering in an era of blacklisting media workers. In order to promote their patriotic credentials, Hollywood studios implemented a blacklist. Scores of writers and media workers were banned from employment because of their perceived political leanings. And all it took was a rumored association with so-called “subversives” to ruin a career.[3]

In fact, Miller himself was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (in 1956). And he was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to point a proverbial finger in any other writers’ direction.[4]

Miller was motivated to write The Crucible in large part by what he describes as the “paralysis that had set in” among those who were unsettled by the committee’s violations of civil rights, but fearful of being identified as a covert Communists themselves if they protested too strongly.[5]

“In one sense,” Miller has stated, “The Crucible was an attempt to make life real again, palpable and structured.”[6] His hope was that the play “might illuminate the tragic absurdities” of what was going on in America during this period.[7]

The Crucible, as Miller characterizes it:

straddles two different worlds to make them one, but it is but it is not history in the usual sense of the word, but a moral, political and psychological construct that floats on the fluid emotions of both eras.[8]

He further notes that writing a play about the Salem witch trials probably wouldn’t have occurred to him if he hadn’t noticed “some astonishing correspondences with the calamity” of the period.[9]

While both historical moments involved the menace of concealed plots, the most startling thing for Miller were the similarities in their investigative routines, and “rituals of defense.”[10] Prosecutorial practices of the Salem witch trials were remarkably similar to those employed by the congressional committees.[11]

They were 300 years apart, yet both prosecutions charged membership of a clandestine, disloyal group. And, even if the accused confessed, their honesty could only be proven by naming others who were in league with them.[12]

Miller also noticed corresponding behaviors between members of the two communities. For example, avoiding old friends so as not to be seen associating with them, and zealous confirmations of loyalty. Not to mention a despairing pity for the accused mixed with an underlying sentiment that they “must have done something.”[13]

With this realization, Miller explains:.

My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse.[14]  

Miller was only certain a play about the Salem witch trials was possible, however, when a particular entry in the documents he was researching “jogged” the thousands of pieces of information he had found into place.[15]

It became apparent to him that Abigail Williams was fired from domestic service in the Proctor household because Elizabeth’s husband John had “bedded” the young woman. He saw the bad blood between the two women as being what prompted Abigail to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft.

“All this I understood,” Miller points out, “I had not approached the witchcraft out of nowhere, or from purely social and political considerations.”[16]

His own marriage of twelve years was teetering, and he was painfully aware that the blame lay with him. He had “at last found something of [him]self in it.”[17]

So, Miller began to build the play around the character of John Proctor. That Proctor might overturn his personal guilt and emerge as the most forthright voice against the lunacy that had a grip on the community was a reassurance to Miller. For him, it demonstrated that a “clear moral outcry could still spring” from a tarnished soul like his own.[18]

Miller sought a title that would literally indicate the burning away of impurities, “which,” as he explicitly states, “is what the play is doing.”[19] And the term crucible… well, it crystalizes that concept in a single word.

As Miller states, he couldn’t have written The Crucible simply to write a play about blacklisting – or about Salem’s witch trials for that matter.  His play centers on “the guilt of John Proctor and the working out of that guilt,” exemplifying “the guilt of man in general.”[20] And there we have the fourth layer in our literary cake… universal themes.

Though many people still consider The Crucible to be a tract-like against McCarthyism, it’s more than a political metaphor. It’s also more than a simple morality tale. As Miller maintains:.

On its most universal level, The Crucible is about community hysteria, fear of the unknown, the psychology of betrayal, the cast of mind that insists on absolute truth and resorts to fear and violence to assert it, and not least about the fortitude it takes to protect the innocent and resist unjust authority.”[21]

He draws a comparison between turning to Salem and looking in a petri dish. Three centuries before the cold-war, as Miller points out, Salem village displayed what he describes as a human “fatality forever awaiting the right conditions for its always unique, forever unprecedented outbreak of trust, alarm, suspicion.”[22]

And, he calls attention to the fact that this “fatality” isn’t about “just a crazy situation in a far-off place.”[23] Such events could (and often do) occur in a corporate boardroom, for example, or anywhere else unchecked power is prodigious. So, we can add ongoing relevance to the list of layers in our literary cake.

It’s important to remember that, as Miller makes abundantly clear, literary works like The Crucible function on multiple levels. As such, they aren’t intended to be read on a single level, whether that’s for plot and simple enjoyment, or the exploration of universal themes at the expense of historical and societal context.

Either of these common approaches flattens literary works, minimizing the diverse perspectives of unique identities, as well as the histories of various communities. Not to mention the fact that flattening a work hinders engaging it through the filter of current pressing civic issues.[24]

Where we arrive at what the reader “bring[s] to the party,” as Toni Morrison puts it.[25] This perspective also contributes to the layer count of our literary confection (which at this point is tall enough to resemble something out of Dr. Seuss.)

For example, educators have recently been teaching The Crucible with a view toward how mass hysteria, patriarchy, sexism, and scapegoating continue to operate today.

Some teachers use Miller’s play to initiate conversations about prison and bail reform. Still others employ The Crucible as a way to examine systems of privilege and power that marginalize people of color and other marginalized populations. [26]

When we examine all the layers within works like The Crucible, we begin to comprehend the real power of literature – to build understanding about the world we live in, to provoke questioning power structures that produce inequality, to foster empathy for those whose life circumstances are different than our own. And as a result, perhaps make our piece of the world a little better for everyone.[27] Which is why it’s so important to get every bite of these literary confections.

#the art of reading      #banned books      #witch trials     #published 1950s     #english literature   #Benefits of the Humanities

Endnotes:

[1] Navaskh, Victor. “The Demons of Salem, With Us Still.” Sept. 8, 1996. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/08/movies/the-demons-of-salem-with-us-still.html

“Red Scare.” April 21, 2023. The History Channel  https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare

“McCarthyism and the Red Scare.” University of Virginia Miller Center.  https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of-eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare

[2] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[3] Perlman, Allison. “Hollywood blacklist.”Sept. 22, 2023.  Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hollywood-blacklist

“A look back at the Hollywood blacklist.” July 8, 2018. BrandeisNOW. https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2018/june/blacklist-qa-tom-doherty.html

[4] “Excerpts from Arthur Miller’s testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee.” American Masters. April 2020. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/excerpts-from-arthur-millers-testimony-before-the-house-un-american-activities-committee/14006/

[5] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[6] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[7] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[8] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[9] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[10] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[11] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[12] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[13] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[14] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[15] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[16] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[17] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[18] Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible.’” Oct. 13, 1996. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible

[19] Mel Gussow and Arthur Miller. Conversations with Miller. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002. Pg 185.

[20] Mel Gussow and Arthur Miller. Conversations with Miller. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002. Pg 7.

[21] Navaskh, Victor. “The Demons of Salem, With Us Still.” Sept. 8, 1996. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/08/movies/the-demons-of-salem-with-us-still.html

[22] Miller, Arthur. “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” The  Guardian/The Observer (online), June 17, 2002. https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html

[23] Mel Gussow and Arthur Miller. Conversations with Miller. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2002.Pg 37.

[24] Mirra, Nicole. Reading, Writing, & Raising Voices: The Centrality of Literacy to Civic Education. 2022. NCTE: National Council of Teachers of English. Pg 5.

[25] Morrison, Toni. “The Reader as Artist.” O, the Oprah Magazine. Vol. 7, Issue 7. (July 2006), 174.

[26] Torres, Julia E. “Chat: Disrupting The Crucible.” June 12k 2018. DisruptTexts
https://disrupttexts.org/2018/06/12/disrupting-the-crucible/

[27] Ebarvia, Tricia. Disrupting Texts as a Restorative Practice.
https://triciaebarvia.org/2018/07/11/disrupting-texts-as-a-restorative-practice/#:~:text=%23DisruptTexts%20is%20a%20type%20of,choices%20we%20make%20as%20educators

Images:

First Edition Cover with “banned” lock.

The Environment of the Day: Senate Hearings http://www.senate.gov 

Reference to American History: Cauldron-Photo by Matt Benson on Unsplash

The Personal Level: Broken pocket watch-Photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

Symbolism of the Title: A crucible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucible 

Ongoing Relevance: Fanned Book-Photo by Anastasia Zhenina on Unsplash

Beyond Themes of Paranoia: Silhouette and bird-Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash

L
iterature is an excellent resource for school programs that address bullying. But not if books with themes of bullying behavior are banned.

Forty-two percent of all books that are banned contain topics pertaining to health and wellbeing for students, like bullying, and the substance abuse and suicide it can lead to.[1]

Yes, depictions of human cruelty can be intense, but we can’t afford to be silent on the subject. Banning books with bullying themes is doing more harm than good. Because, banning these books eliminates one of the best tools for addressing the behavior.

A recent survey of public-school superintendents indicates that over 75% express concern over one form of bullying or another.[2] The concern is understandable.

One in five high school students report being bullied at school in the last year. But it doesn’t just happen among high school students. Reports of bullying are highest in middle schools, and yes, bullying takes place in primary schools too.

Bullying can, of course, result in physical injuries of varying severity. But whether it takes the form of physical, emotional, social, or online bullying, the psychological effects are far-reaching and significantly more concerning. Bullying of any kind can not only lead to social and emotional distress, but also self-harm, and even death.

Being bullied can increase the risk of depression, sleep difficulties, anxiety, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.

Though we typically associate such concerns with students who are being bullied, youth who bully others are at increased risk for academic problems, substance abuse, and experiencing violence later in their adolescence and adulthood.[3]

School-based programs are being implemented to deal with bullying. Sometimes referred to as social-emotional learning, these programs are designed to enhance emotional and interpersonal skills. This includes empathy, emotional awareness and regulation, communication and problem-solving, as well as conflict management and teamwork.

This approach also seeks to change the way youth think about and engage with violence, by providing information about the psychological repercussions for all parties involved.[4]

Not surprisingly, books are an excellent resource for teaching these social and emotional skills. Needless to say, literature is chockfull of emotions as characters experience the ups and downs of their often-dramatic lives. When students examine the emotions of the characters they’re reading about, they not only gain a greater understanding of the text, but also their own feelings… not to mention those of their classmates.[5]

Yes, sometimes the emotions we feel when reading about bullying and its associated mental health issues can be difficult. But empathy, emotional awareness, and interpersonal skills can’t be developed without engaging such emotions. Social growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

So it’s disappointing, and more than a little disconcerting, when books containing themes of bullying are banned. Because these books happen to be the best ones for opening dialogue about bullying. So when they’re banned, one of the best tools for addressing bullying behavior has been eliminated, leaving students vulnerable to its damaging psychological effects.

For all you educators, here’s something from McGraw Hill
regarding literature as a tool to address bullying.

And check out this discussion guide to get you started.

#banned books    #benefits of humanities    #bullying

Endnotes:

[1] “Book Bans in Public Schools” PEN America.

[2] 2023 Voice of the Superintendent. EAB (Formerly Education Advisory Board). Pg 12.

[3] Preventing Bullying. 2018. CDC.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-factsheet508.pdf

[4] A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016. Pg 21.

[5] “Developing Social-Emotional Skills Through Literature.” Thoughtful Learning. https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/blogpost/developing-social-emotional-skills-through-literature

[6]“Why you should read these 51 banned books now.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/09/29/banned-books-read-these-books-now-and-why-in-defense-of-books/71008499007/

[7] “Don’t Ban Books Like Eleanor and Park, Teens Need Them.” Book Riot.
https://bookriot.com/dont-ban-books-like-eleanor-park-teens-need/

[8] “Banned Books 2018 – Gutless.” https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/gutless/

[9] “Why you should read these 51 banned books now.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/09/29/banned-books-read-these-books-now-and-why-in-defense-of-books/71008499007/

[10] Martin, Jennifer. “the 50 Most Banned Books in America.”  https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-50-most-banned-books-in-america/45/

O
ur freedom to read has been under assault for what seems like an eternity. And, the books being banned are consistently those of marginalized voices. Books with diverse characters, primarily characters of color and LGBTQA+ characters were overwhelmingly targeted. And continue to be.

Throughout this collection of conversations with authors, we talk about the power of books, and the question of why it’s important for stories containing characters that have diverse backgrounds and life experience to be told.

In considering this vital question, we also touch on the dangers of restricting or erasing these narratives – what damage is being done when books about diversity are banned and reading is restricted?

Needless to say, each of the authors in this series brings s different perspective and life experience to the conversation, adding nuance and depth to the combined answer of why it’s important for stories about diverse lives to be told… as well as the dangers that arise when they’re expunged from our national discourse.

Be sure to check out what the authors in our Power of Books Series
have to say about the importance of books:

Federico Erebia,
author of Pedro & Daniel

Ryan Estrada,
author of Banned Book Club

Edward Underhill,
author of  Always the Almost,
and This Day Changes Everything

Dr. Michael Datcher,
author of Harlem at Four

Jamie Jo Hoang,
author of My Father the Panda Killer

W
hat can you do about book banning? More than you may realize. Take at least one action each day to help in the fight against censorship. Peruse the suggestions on the let’s do something about it! list below. Then incorporate these efforts into your day… not just for Banned Book Week, but all year long.

The American Library Association has recorded 695 demands to censor library books and resources between January 1 and August 31, 2023. That’s a 20% increase over the same period in 2022, which saw the most attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.

These attempted bans include 1,915 unique titles. So, be sure to check books that’ve been challenged out of the library… doing so documents that these works are beneficial to the community. Begin with one of the top 13 most challenged books in 2022. They’re also listed below.[1]

#banned books     #celebrations

Endnotes:

[1] “Book Ban Data.” American Library Association.  https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data