A Novel Way to Treat a Writer

January 2009

It is unhelpful to complain that "things are not what they were in my day", though I sometimes envy George Eliot and Hardy, Shakespeare, Donne and Keats, not so much for being great writers as for being dead and unable to be consulted. We studied dead authors at school and even when I read English at King's College, London in the '60s the course only went up to 1880. Modern Literature was a special option and one could get a degree without reading any living author.

I have no doubt that we should not turn back that clock. In the '50s, far fewer students studied for O- and even fewer for A-Level English Literature than now. Those who did were much better equipped to study the classic authors, simply because they were the academically bright and well motivated, having passed the 11-Plus to grammar school. The rest (disregarding the independent sector) went to Secondary Modern schools where more of them studied just English language. Of course, there were drawbacks - no educational system is perfect. But not all pupils should study literature to GCSE and A-level standard. They are not equipped to learn how to analyse complex verse and prose or to develop critical awareness. Not all of them need to, or will ever, find practical application for those particular skills. But all children can learn how to read for pleasure, and for the enrichment of their lives, understanding and imagination. If those who struggle with analysis and textual comparison were introduced to a wide variety of books which they simply might enjoy reading, far fewer would be put off all literature for the rest of their lives. It saddens me greatly to think that my own novels may be taught so badly, so dully and so mechanically that they will contribute to this loathing of books. I have seen enough school essays and coursework to know that standards are lower than they were. But which standards? Of teaching, of exam marking? Yet the Examination Boards' requirements are exacting enough.

This course aims to promote in students a knowledge of and affection for English Lit., and to lead them to an understanding of the literary uses of language and the human and spiritual dimensions of literary works. Students should develop the ability to read, understand and respond to a wide range of literary texts, appreciate the ways in which authors achieve their effects and develop the skills necessary for literary study; develop awareness of social, historical and cultural contexts and influences in the study of literature; develop the ability to construct and convey meaning in speech and writing, matching style to audience and purpose.

Tags:

Like this article? Share, save or print using the icons below:

Michael K.

April 23rd, 2012
11:04 AM

What a refreshingly honest post from one of my favourite authors. I teach The Woman in Black to my theatre students, and I will definitely be printing this article out. I did find this well-written and engaging study guide, which might be a good place to point students in the right direction: http://www.cheaptheatretickets.com/the-woman-in-black-exam-revision/

joan

January 30th, 2009
3:01 PM

I am so pleased to find someone who thinks,as I do, that analysing etc tends to take away love of reading for pleasure. My son hated having to write about what he had read at Primary school and ever since has hated reading fiction. Or is it partly an excuse?

Matthew Banes

January 26th, 2009
5:01 PM

This was a great read, Ms Hill. As an A-level student I'm kind of shocked to read of this kind of behaviour. I've been lucky, in the sense that for GCSE and A-level I've had very engaging, well-read teachers who have a passion for expanding our literary appreciation. I've had a great experience and read a lot of books, but find your experiences with students surprising, yet depressingly believable. A friend of mine is currently comparing your Woman in Black to Woman in White. She adores the book, and chose it out of reverance, of a sort. I'll be showing her this article as soon as possible. Yours sincerely, Matthew.

Moptop

January 22nd, 2009
9:01 PM

It doesn't surprise me in the least that students expect you to give them the "answers" for their assignments. I'm a lecturer and have just failed three students who plagiarised 80% of their essays - lifted wholesale from websites and not accredited. These are the dozy articles. We can't catch the clever ones... PS. Listening to books being read aloud is wonderful and mesmerising. I have happy memories of "heads on desks, close your eyes and listen" from my primary school. It seems there is little time to read to children in schools these days.

Josie

January 11th, 2009
7:01 AM

That was a splendid article, Ms Hill - many, many thanks for it. But what a rude way for those children to write to you! Please don't think all your teenage readers are like that. Some of us are actually quite nice. Me for example: I've all of your books - I discovered "The Woman In Black" in my fourteenth Winter and fell in love with your writing style. And I read them for pleasure, not for school as I was I'm schooled at home. Anyone who does not like such books as "The Woman In Black" and "I'm the King of the Castle" must be a half wit of the first order. Yours tolerantly Josie

Miranda

January 9th, 2009
10:01 PM

I am glad that you're discussing the value of students being read to, or listening to audio-books, versus being limited to reading print books. This has been tremendously important for my home schooled kids. Their interest level, at various points in their development, has been higher than their reading level. Reading aloud and audio-books has enabled them to read novels that engage their minds and imaginations versus being bored with ideas that are "dumbed down" to fit a certain reading level. And it has not held back their reading development in the least, as some teachers seem to fear it might. Thanks for the thought-provoking article!

Susan Hill

January 7th, 2009
5:01 PM

I am absolutely DELIGHTED that they should listen to it being read to them. It does not trouble me in the least that someone else is doing the physical reading bit. That is why I am delighted that the downloaded audiobooks of the novels are extemely popular among students. They are wonderfully well read and they help them to concentrate. I published a children`s book last year for the 7-12 age range and had a letter from a teacher to say she had started to read it aloud every Thursday morning to a class of unruly 9-10 year olds with many boys among them who found it almost impossible to sit still. But they became so engrossed in her reading that nobody so much as wriggled, and they were all sitting on the mat waiting for her, eager and attentive, every Thursday. Most of them had reading difficulties but once they had heard the book, wanted to try for themselves. She also reported several who had asked parents to buy it so that they could read at home. In three cases this was the first book the parent had ever bought. I am more proud of this, as I am of hearing about the army-bound older boys listening to the reading of The Woman in Black so attentively, than I am about almost anything. I don`t want them to have to strain to analyse and answer exam questions on my 'text' if this is something they genuinely find difficult, I want them to read or listen to the books and find that a positive and enjoyable and enriching experience which may encourage them to read or listen to another book.

kit

January 6th, 2009
12:01 PM

To add a more positive note. I have regularly taught 'The Woman in Black' to GCSE students in an FE college. They have all failed the exam in school and so they aren't the brightest or the best motivated students. I don't believe in doing 'bits' of a novel or a play - it just spoils the whole thing, apart from any more academic considerations but I have to say that they way I cope with the whole text would not please any Ofsted inspector. I read the whole thing to them and they sit and listen, folowing in the text. It's like Jackanory. They're mostly boys and many of them are planning to join the armed services. After the first week, when they're understandably a bit sceptical about it, they're in the room before me, pushing the tables together so we can all sit round one space. Some even stop me round the campus to ask: 'Are we doin' more of that story about the ghost?' I'm too old to care that my methods would not be seen as interactive enough. I know most of them can't read well enough to enjoy the text on their own.

Joe Nutt

January 5th, 2009
9:01 PM

One of the points being missed here is the crucial part the misuse of technology plays in this whole sad situation. There has never been anything to stop a child from writing to a (not dead!) author in the past, and I am sure some enterprising and polite children did exactly that, but only after having been taught by their teachers the etiquette of letter writing, a convention designed to protect and satisfy both correspondents. Today’s teenagers are given the technology, but none of the etiquette. Worse, our entire educational landscape is being driven by techno-zealots and edu-bloggers whose own use of English wouldn’t gain them a grade C at GCSE but whose mish-mash of jargon and marketing speak, masquerading as academic work, has managed to persuade politicians who ought to know a lot better. At a couple of speeches I gave to teachers last year I showed examples it had taken me a matter of minutes to locate, and they were suitably horrified. I can point anyone interested in the right direction, should anyone wish to see the evidence, but believe me, it will be frighteningly easy to find for yourself.

Badger Madge

January 5th, 2009
5:01 PM

I did English Lit for my degree (2.1) and got away with reading around the subject for a lot of the time as I simply didn't have enough time to read everything PLUS all the critique. No, rilly. It killed my joy of literature; someone who constantly had her nose in a book from the age of seven. Something has to changeâ€¦!

Post your comment