More on "Insider vs. Outsider"

After doing research on the Middle East Book Award and reading the articles for this upcoming week's class I feel like there is no escaping the "insider/ outsider" debate. It really seems to come up everywhere. Part of the reason I really enjoy this class is that we have read some really thought provoking articles about topics that I had never really considered before. I am especially engaged in the readings that pit one side against another because it forces me to check my own thoughts and opinions on the matter. When it came to the readings this week I realized that I had never even thought twice about the numerous different awards available for authors and illustrators to win, let alone how I felt about the criterion for winning such awards.

As I reflect on the articles I can see the benefits of each side of the argument, but I lean more towards Aronson's perspective that the various different awards should be kept, but honored based on content, rather than race. I mean, I don't think that there is a "right" answer when it comes to this debate, it's point of contention that people will battle over in the future, all I know is that this position in the argument makes more sense to me right now. I suppose I want to be the teacher that incorporates ALL the literature into my classroom- whether it be books written by insiders or outsiders, or books that feature characters not represented in my classroom.

At the end of the day, a book that has an award seal on the cover doesn't automatically make it a quality book anyway.

I stand corrected....

Contrary to my last post, I did end up enjoying Habibi. I'm not sure when the turning point was for me, but the action in the book seemed to pick up and I read it pretty quickly. Additionally, I thought that last Wednesday's class was very informative. As I read the book I hadn't even realized how controversial it could be because of how biased it is. I appreciated listening to Walters' lecture and hearing the Jewish perspective on the matter. It's a shame that the book has been banned from West Bloomfield because I think that if it was paired with a companion text reflective of the Jewish perspective it could really inform, rather than offend people. On another note, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the discussion, or lack there of, that took place in my questioning the text group today. I don't feel challenged or stimulated. No one really contributed anything and it felt like a waste of time. Although the purpose is to delve into the text and have a "rich" discussion, that's not what is happening, at least in my group. I prefer whole group discussions because they keep me engaged and thinking at the very least.

Aside from all that, I finished Bronx Masquerade a couple days ago. What a quick read! I enjoyed the book, but I do wish that it had been a little longer or that some of the characters' storylines would have been more fully developed. I liked how the poems were intertwined into the story. I really felt like the book could have been turned into a movie or something. The voices in the story were very prominent- it felt like real life rather than a fictitious story.

Habibi

I have been working on reading Habibi and although I am enjoying it, I just can't get into it. I will read thirty pages or so and then put it down and go do five other things. I'm going to finish it before class on Wednesday, but it feels like more of a job to complete rather than a story that I want to cozy up with. It could be because of everything else I've got going on. We'll see...

Also, I just wanted to make a comment about last week's class. I am SO glad that we didn't end up having to do the "fishbowl" discussion as was planned. Talk about pressure. I felt that the discussion we had was heated enough, there was no need to pit three students against three in the center of the room. There were definitely people who spoke out more than others and when I was feeling particularly passionate about one point or another it was a bit difficult to get a word in edgewise, but I'm not one for confrontation so it was okay.