A thought, a question, and a proposition...

1. Alvermann warns that "those in authority over school-related reading instruction are moving ever further toward a narrowed definition of what counts as reading" (p20). When reflecting on the restricting nature of what counts as acceptable literature, I am reminded of a very familiar term used throughout my English education called "the canon." The canon recognizes literature that literary scholars unanimously approve as the best literary works of history that all literati should know and understand. In this list would include works like Dante's "Inferno," Shakespeare's "The Tempest," and T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland." I think it is important to be exposed to these great works, but I think it is more important that teacher's work to find those connections that make those old writings relevant to student's current lives--incorporating contemporary literary media in with classical literature.

2. In his introduction, Silverblatt discusses the importance of teaching literary media. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being not important, and 5 being extremely important), in this age, how important is it to teach literary media skills that will increase student's ability to decipher credible sources and aid in the collection and understanding of information available?

3. Christel and Sullivan challenge, "Aren't schools supposed to be about preparing our students for the "real world"?(pxvii) As a Literature major, a reocurring neccessity in my classes was to search for the relevance of what we were reading in connection to the real world. The possibilities that literary media offer, is a way to keep the study of books alive. We must adjust, we must force ourselves to adapt to a changing society and embrace the potential of the "net generation."