Anna's ENGL493 Blog

Learning Letter This class has been a great experience, and I’ve learned a lot though discussion, versus on my own, which I think is a good experience to gain from a class that can contribute to becoming a teacher. I think that teachers should teach and collaborate with both students and other teachers through discussion. Humans are a social species, which often learn though social, movement, and ultimately discussion. I liked the book talk aspect of the class, and I found it to be very helpful to acquire not only the books assigned to the class, but other books that my peers liked. I even got to add some books to my own fantasy collection. (I got to add more books to the pile that I have started) I liked the book about human trafficking, and the discussion that it started. First off, I liked the book in general because it sounded interesting and I also think I would enjoy reading it for my own pleasure. Secondly, I think that students need to be aware of the evil in the worl...

My thoughts on Night... Wiesel's  Night is an amazing book, but I would argue that the book requires its readers to have a certain amount of maturity. Sure, the subject of the holocaust is a hard subject to talk about, and I think that young people need to learn about it, but Night has some aspects that might be hard for younger readers to take seriously. I think this book would be a good fit for a reader that is in the eleventh or twelfth grade, and all those who are older than that. I would like to point out the importance of this book. I do not have any knowledge on the elementary/middle school curriculum in public schools, but my thirteen-year-old sister does not know what the holocaust was. She also has little knowledge as to what the Nazi’s are and who Hitler was. She has indeed heard of the nae Hitler, but she doesn’t know the connection between Hitler and WWII/holocaust. As a Social Studies major, I was immensely surprised that someone who was in middle school did no...

My thoughts on Into the Wild… I read Into the Wild in high school (I’m not sure what grade) and it was a great coming of age novel. This novel is about a young man who graduates college and donates all his savings to charity/gives away all his possessions to embark the Alaskan wilderness. Christopher McCandless was born to a wealthy family and chooses to travel the Alaskan wilderness instead of moving into a prestigious career after he graduates college. McCandless ends up using an abandoned bus as shelter and unfortunately, he does not make it to see the end of his travels in the Alaskan wilderness. Into the Wild follows the assumed journey of McCandless, and his coming of age story. This novel would be a great resource for a coming of age unit because it is about McCandless coming of age. I would most certainly teach this book, and a lot of good discussion can come from this novel. For example, a coming of age discussion, such as asking a student or group of students “would you...