Potpourri

Drama and Audiobooks

As a high school teacher of English and teacher at the college/university level, I have often used audiovisual materials to show students the relationships between print and media. (I still believe in Marshall McLuhan. I can thank NCTE for the indoctrination.) Even though times have changed, I know that the use of good media, such as the BFA American Folklore Series, and well performed audiobooks can enhance teaching and motivate students to read and write critically and more creatively.

Random House Audiobooks deserves special recognition. They have produced unabridged versions of some of this year's prize-winning books:

A Single Shard, 2002 Newbery Medal novel by Linda Sue Park, read by Graeme Malcolm;

The Land, 2002 Coretta Scott King Award novel by Mildred Taylor, read by Ruben Santiago-Hudson;

True Believer, 2001 National Book Award novel by Virginia Euwer Wolff, read by Heather Allicia Simms;

The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spy Glass, novels by Philip Pullman, performed by the author and a full cast in wonderful dramatic versions.

I feel assured that playing any of these tapes while students listen will motivate students to explore the books. It's also a great way to have students discuss the talents necessary for being effective storytellers. I would have no qualms in having students sign up to become storytellers themselves. They might begin by reading stories for younger readers, no abridging allowed. If some want to attempt a dramatization for See You Later, Glaidator by Jon Scieszka, they can get on the Website for Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, http:// www.chucklebait.com/, and request information about the script that Jon has adapted on this funderful Time Warp Trio adventure. Students should feel free to select any books they want to read or dramatize. The Tower High School adventures created through the poetry of Mel Glenn are also good for readers' theater. Hooray for a little drama in the classroom.

I have found the Drama Book Shop, 250 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018, to be my most valuable source for any materials on any phase of the performing arts. Its toll free number is 1-800-322-0595, and its Web address is www.dramabookshop.com. It is a valuable resource; I have found copies of plays I have wanted to use as part of various themes. How many recent plays have you used recently?

Some Random Thoughts

Not too long ago I was asked to be a visiting professor to teach a course on young adult literature to students who were getting a Masters Degree in Teaching. These were students who had degrees in English as undergraduates and had since decided they wanted to become teachers. They matriculated in this special program which would lead to certification and also give them a master's degree. This program did require student teaching.

The students, for the most part, were young and bright. They had undergraduate degrees from a number of different colleges and universities. None had had any experience with young adult literature. Some even assured me they would never use young adult literature since they were going to become teachers of honor classes in various senior high schools, and therefore had little use for these materials. A couple thought they might wind up in middle schools. None of these students was thinking seriously about the possibility of getting jobs in urban areas where the reading interests and abilities are quite diverse. I still required them to read twenty-five books and wouldn't relinquish any of the oral and written assignments I had made.

Several students challenged me with this comment: "If these books are so important, why didn't our undergraduate professors mention them or advise us to take a course in young adult literature?" I replied that I didn't have an answer. Maybe the department had no one to teach such a course or anyone who had a particular interest in such books. How are we to answer?

I should add that most of these students admitted that the only course that they had in dramatic literature was Shakespeare. None, and I repeat NONE, had ever heard of Eugene O'Neill. A few had read Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. "If we wanted to read plays, we would have majored in drama, not English." I questioned how they could compartmentalize literature. We know we study literature by various periods in history, and the arts often reflect on the ideas and creativity of that period. Wouldn't it be important to know about the contributions of dramatists, as well as the novelists and poets, in the 20th century? Aren't there young adult books that reflect the various times of this past century? See Don Gallo's excellent anthology, Time Capsule: Short Stories about Teenagers Throughout the Twentieth Century. Each author has taken a different decade as the setting for the story. (For young adult literature that focuses on the future, please see Michael Cart's anthology, Tomorrowland: 10 Stories about the future).