How opportune: one of my favorite present television shows, one of my favorite authors, and a book I've continued to teach to 10th graders for going on 10 years or more, and still can call the most hated book in the 10th grade curriculum, all coming together in one place.
George Pelecanos is a Washington DC based crime novelist who wrote for "The Wire" and now for "Treme". "Treme" is a little watched show--compared to things like "America's Got Talent" an "Sponge Bob Square Pants"--on HBO, created by David Simon (creator of "The Wire") and about life in post-Katrina New Orleans. "The Awakening" is a short 19th century novel by Kate Chopin about a young bourgeois woman in New Orleans who arguably awakens to her place in the world and then, definitely, kills herself with this knowledge. I teach a Pelecanos novel, "Drama City", which one student said was the only book in high school he looked forward to reading at home, and another student said was a book that shouldn't be taught, since it was a white writer writing about black characters. I teach "The Wire" also, in particular the Pelecanos penned episode that comes at the end of the first season: students want to see more of this show. I can see using "Treme" in a class once it comes out on DVD. And "The Awakening"...well, sophomores aren't on the fence about this one: they love it or hate it. And the ending is what always causes the most argument. So it was fascinating--and useful for me as a teacher--to read this blog which addresses that ending in a way I can use in class.
So: Technology wins this round. Go technology!
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