We live in a world of juxtapositions - although beautiful, the Earth is plagued by ugliness. We may be surrounded by birth and growth, but death and deterioration journey hand in hand. At the same time, kindness, happiness, and love fill our senses with possibilities. Still, these are accompanied by clouded shadows - evil, misery and hatred lurking in corners waiting to taint gaiety with gloom.
This is why I fell in love with the written word and storytelling when I was young. It was because of fantastical and fabulously amazing English teachers like you!
I was very lucky to have two, one at secondary school and one at college. The one at secondary school brought the written word alive for me. I couldn't believe it when other students appeared not to be as engaged as I was; particularly when he would get into character - if the part he was reading required a certain emotion such as sadness with tears, that's what he'd give us. I was captivated.
My college teacher was so imaginative with his assignment setting. I almost exploded with excitement when after reading 'Brighton Rock' over some weeks, the assignment was to write our own final chapter. I lost myself in that one, however to my 17 year old embarrassment and horror at the time, he read my finished chapter out to the class as he was so taken by it!
This was a really interesting read. I picked up Revolting Rhymes the other day for myself as i remembered how thrilled i was by its rhymes (and possibly also the brilliant telling by the teacher i had).. but had never read them as an adult. Now with a 2 year old I was curious when something like that would be apt... Not for a while... Roald Dahl was irreverent in his unforgivably modern and slapstick retelling, so its not quite Brothers Grimm I admit... It has all of the harsh cruelty of life that the originals told and then the perverse darkness of modern life thrown on top. I guffawed at some of the lines that were right on the edge, and these days you'd probably be fired for reading to kids. But its still refreshing to see the stories told hard and true. Picking the right time and ensuring that the child understands the fantasy and asks the right questions afterwards must be key.. I love that my daughter is focussed on books rather than TV and perhaps the fairly tales of old will teach her more than any sanitised cartoon or fetching advertisement.
Great read. Thanks for writing and sharing your insights. !
How often it is clear that a great teacher inspires just like your piece on fairytales. I don't know if fairy tales are about killing dragons and now reading those old fairytales, I see them in new light. They colour and shape our perceptions as adults and carefully we should select what we read to children, young and old. I loved this piece and it was not what I expected. It gave me so much more. And a mermaid? I just wrote a poem and a mermaid sneaked in. Maybe because I've been talking about them recently.
This is why I fell in love with the written word and storytelling when I was young. It was because of fantastical and fabulously amazing English teachers like you!
I was very lucky to have two, one at secondary school and one at college. The one at secondary school brought the written word alive for me. I couldn't believe it when other students appeared not to be as engaged as I was; particularly when he would get into character - if the part he was reading required a certain emotion such as sadness with tears, that's what he'd give us. I was captivated.
My college teacher was so imaginative with his assignment setting. I almost exploded with excitement when after reading 'Brighton Rock' over some weeks, the assignment was to write our own final chapter. I lost myself in that one, however to my 17 year old embarrassment and horror at the time, he read my finished chapter out to the class as he was so taken by it!
This was a really interesting read. I picked up Revolting Rhymes the other day for myself as i remembered how thrilled i was by its rhymes (and possibly also the brilliant telling by the teacher i had).. but had never read them as an adult. Now with a 2 year old I was curious when something like that would be apt... Not for a while... Roald Dahl was irreverent in his unforgivably modern and slapstick retelling, so its not quite Brothers Grimm I admit... It has all of the harsh cruelty of life that the originals told and then the perverse darkness of modern life thrown on top. I guffawed at some of the lines that were right on the edge, and these days you'd probably be fired for reading to kids. But its still refreshing to see the stories told hard and true. Picking the right time and ensuring that the child understands the fantasy and asks the right questions afterwards must be key.. I love that my daughter is focussed on books rather than TV and perhaps the fairly tales of old will teach her more than any sanitised cartoon or fetching advertisement.
Great read. Thanks for writing and sharing your insights. !
How often it is clear that a great teacher inspires just like your piece on fairytales. I don't know if fairy tales are about killing dragons and now reading those old fairytales, I see them in new light. They colour and shape our perceptions as adults and carefully we should select what we read to children, young and old. I loved this piece and it was not what I expected. It gave me so much more. And a mermaid? I just wrote a poem and a mermaid sneaked in. Maybe because I've been talking about them recently.