The pleasure of reading often diminishes (at least for me, and probably my students as well) when I know I have to regurgitate facts from the selected reading material. It was great to just read The Great Gatsby for the fun of it.
Louis Menand's article "A Critic at Large: Show or Tell: Should Creative Writing Be Taught?" reminded me of my own undergraduate experience of taking a creative writing class. I remember anxiously awaiting the first class with high expectations. I thought that I may learn some techniques to improve my writing skills, as I hope someday to write a children's book. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all. The Graduate Assistant who taught the course apparently did not want to teach this particular creative writing course. Her way of "teaching" was to assign a bizarre topic and set us free until next class time. Then the "fun" began. When we brought in our finished piece we were to bring in enough copies for all to critique and read for next time. This ended up like a three-ring circus with the student on stage being more like a freak show!! Many more negative comments seem to be spoken than the positive ones. As a writer, I shut down and seemed to produce worse and worse pieces. Indeed, I was an ant working on the ant farm, attempting to perform as the instructor wanted.
According to Menand, the definition of "craft of fiction" varies from writer to writer. He also states that "what is usually said is that you can't teach inspiration, but you can teach craft" (Menand, p. 111). In my case, the inspiration was not taught, but it certainly was squelched!
I want to end on a more positive note about creative writing, I just love what Menand said about creative writing teachers . . . "teachers are the books that students read most closely, and this is especially true in the case of teachers who are living models for exactly what the student aspires to be-a published writer" (Menand, p.112). (Of course, I guess this could have a (negative) flip side if the teacher did not like writing).
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Many of us who have read the Menand article have focused on the quote in the last paragraph of your posting..."teachers are the books that students read most closely..." This oce again affirms the notion of the importance of teachers serving as role models in the classroom, especially in the areas of reading and writing. Educators must remember that their actions can often speak louder than words. Students, of all ages, need to see their teachers reading and writing on a daily basis.
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