Olivet Nazarene University

 

In the area of teaching freshman composition, what challenges have you had to overcome in teaching a generation of students who have grown up on Facebook and text messaging?

Some professors will complain that students write papers the same way they write Facebook postings and e-mail—with emoticons and much more casual language. When that happens, it can be a problem.

Generally, however, I do not find that to be the case with my students. They seem to understand quite well the idea of writing in different styles for various audiences.

The better they are able to adapt their style to the kind of writing they are doing and the intended audience, the more competent they are as writers.

These technologies also have a potential up-side for writers, as all writing and publishing technological advancements have had in the past.

Students who grow up with e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, and twittering feel comfortable creating texts; they already have a sense of ownership over the language they create.

This, I believe, is a good thing. The main goal then is to help them hone those writing skills and see the various ways in which they can use those skills more effectively.

In the area of British and American literature, what are some characteristics that makes a classic a classic?

To label a book “classic” is always a bit dangerous. Readers, particularly young readers, are tempted to roll their eyes and think, “BORING!"

Really, though, the term is usually applied to books that have withstood the test of time. Readers keep coming back to them and find something worthwhile in them, even after a long period of time.

They may tell us significant things about the place and time period they were written in, but more importantly they touch on universal themes of what it means to be human.

The books that do this best keep drawing new generations of readers and are eventually considered “classics.”

What are some books you'd recommend to people in the 19th-20th Century category of literature that an average person could pick up and read - a sort of summer reading list?

My summer reading list may look a little different than others. I don’t do a great job of keeping up with the latest titles on the New York Times best seller list.

Generally I encourage people to read whatever captures their interest or has connections with some of their non-fiction hobbies. At any rate, here are some of my favorite picks currently:

• Flannery O’Connor, The Complete Stories: Southern and devout Catholic, O’Connor wrote stories which are funny, bizarre, and spiritually challenging. “Good Country People” and “Revelation” are two personal favorites.

• Graham Greene, any novel of his will do: British, marginal Catholic, intelligence agent during WWII—Greene’s personal background seeps into all he wrote, and readers are better for it. The Power and the Glory and Our Man in Havana are just two of his many fine works.

• Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: If you’ve never read it or haven’t read it since ninth grade, you really owe it to yourself to give it a read. Ernest Hemingway said all modern American literature comes from this novel. I’d say that sums it up nicely.

• George Orwell, 1984: The farther away in time we get from this novel (published in 1949) and the actual year 1984, the more Orwell appears to be a true modern political prophet. I reread this novel every few years and it always gives me a chill.

• Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies: Lahiri is a contemporary Indian-American writer.
This was her first collection of short stories—a strong showing from a talented young writer.

What do you believe are some of the reasons behind classic literature making a mainstream come back - for example 16th and 17th century literature becoming box office hits, like Jane Austen?

Who doesn’t love a good story? When it comes right down to it, that’s what people want. Hollywood has a long tradition of adapting literature for the big screen.

As long as it has a compelling story, viewers tend to respond well. Sure, Austen gives us a peek into a world foreign to our own—Regency-era England—but she also tells compelling stories of family drama and romance, and does so with a sly wit.