In tenth grade English, which was American Literature, we read some Puritan religious writing. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is intense.
I would have understood what Steinbeck was trying to do with Grapes of Wrath so much better if I'd known a bit more about the Christian Bible when I read it. Pretty much everything I knew at that point was from Godspell, and I didn't actually understand several large parts of that, because I just didn't have the background to understand a lot of the references. (The youth theatre program that I was in performed Godspell, and almost all the kids in that group were Jewish, and most of us had the same issue with just not getting the references. It wasn't until about two years later that I realized that in "Prepare Ye the way of the Lord," that the Lord being referred to was Jesus. Also, had no idea why John the Baptist threw a handful of glitter onto each of us as we danced onto the stage. The director realized the problem and told us all to go read Matthew, but none of us had a copy of that at home, and reading it in the library would just require too much explanation to anyone walking by.)
As I've obviously said before, I have found people to be really handicapped in reading American and English literature without a familiarity with the Bible and with the phrasing of the King James Bible, which is a brilliant piece of literature. It has nothing to do with the impact of Christianity per se. (I just watched the PBS series on the Inquisition. Do not get me started.) For a couple of hundred years, the Bible was the one book that almost everyone who could read had read and was frequently the only book a family owned. The King James Bible and Shakespeare form the bedrock of English writing.
I also think trying to teach it at the public school level would either violate the separation of church and state or cause an wingnut explosion of massive proportions.
On the other hand, I've been burned before by thinking, "No, that's just too craxy."
It is impossible to overestimate the crazy. The crazy is infinite.
Woah - I just had to open all the blinds (my desk faces a wall of windows) because it got too dark to see my keyboard. We are in for one HELL of a storm.
As I've obviously said before, I have found people to be really handicapped in reading American and English literature without a familiarity with the Bible and with the phrasing of the King James Bible, which is a brilliant piece of literature.
I agree. I've taught literature - the students who did best were always the ones with the most 'cultural capital', including a familiarity with religious tropes (very lacking in current UK culture). Such background knowledge is possible to teach only to a certain degree in a busy advanced-level syllabus for 16- and 17-year-olds. Some classes on the Bible as literature would definitely help. That's a far cry from teaching creationism, of course...
I already did a "Headline o' the day," right? Well, here's another one:
Chihuahua With Earrings Stolen At Gay Bar
Police Seek Man With Britney Spears Tattoo
WILTON MANORS, Fla. -- A man with a tattoo of Britney Spears' name on his arm or neck allegedly stole a Chihuahua with pink earrings from a South Florida gay bar.
Brian Dortort, 48, said Thursday that he has spent weeks searching for his 4-month-old pooch, named Hudson Hayward Hemingway. The dog, about the size of a softball, was in a specialty pet bag.
Dortort said he let a man hold the Chihuahua for a moment during a friend's birthday party, then the man and dog disappeared.
Police said a suspect has been identified, but it's up to the Broward State Attorney's Office to decide whether to an issue an arrest warrant.
The fact that it's Texas should let you know all you need to about what kind of class it will be. I have actually heard/read people argue that anything but "Bible-as-word-of-god" in that class is blasphemy and so there can't be a comparitave study of it. Bah! Don't make me hate people today!
Only slightly related, but a friend of mine had a story in some summer reading material that caused some...issues [link] here's his blog [link]
I worked a lot and hard today. I think I should get to go home now.
Sarah Gronert Sparks a Whole New Gender Dispute in Pro Sports
She was born with both male and female genitalia and has had surgery to be certified female.
Schlomo Tzoref, the coach of Julia Glushko, another pro tennis player whom Sarah Gronert beat, says, “There is no girl who can hit serves like that, not even Venus Williams.
That's an interesting quandary. Certified woman is certified woman, I guess. But what an advantage she might have.
We had a thunderstorm a few hours ago -- it didn't last for very long, but it was very loud while it was here.
